CAUTION: I'm about to write a long thread about the state of home health care in Michigan right now following the upheaval of our state's system of care for catastrophically injured motorists.
Michigan legislators, take cover...
Michigan legislators, take cover...
John Wicke, the 52-year-old quadriplegic man I wrote about last week, is still living at Sparrow Hospital because his home health care agency quit because the Legislature & @GovWhitmer cut their pay by 45% on July 1.
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
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crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
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Wicke's case manager told me this morning that MediLodge, a chain of nursing homes, declined to accept John last week.
Now she's trying to find 1 or 2 home health care agencies that will take on his case. He requires 2 aides to move him in his apartment in Corruna.
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Now she's trying to find 1 or 2 home health care agencies that will take on his case. He requires 2 aides to move him in his apartment in Corruna.
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But there's no guarantee a home care agency will take Wicke's case.
Again, any company that was in business on July 1, 2019 is subject to a 45% reduction in its rates.
If you charged $30/hour then, auto insurance companies are entitled to pay you as little as $16.50/hour now.
Again, any company that was in business on July 1, 2019 is subject to a 45% reduction in its rates.
If you charged $30/hour then, auto insurance companies are entitled to pay you as little as $16.50/hour now.
Some providers are STARTING NEW COMPANIES with hopes of exploiting a potential loophole in the 2019 law that appears to make the 55% provider rate cap only apply to companies that were in business on Jan. 1, 2019.
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
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crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
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I first reported in early May on this scramble to form new home health care agencies for no-fault billing purposes.
Also noted that the 55% rate cap rewards the price gougers and kills the providers who were charging fair prices for very skilled care.
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
Also noted that the 55% rate cap rewards the price gougers and kills the providers who were charging fair prices for very skilled care.
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
Back in May, I told y'all about M&M Home Care, the Livonia-based agency that staffs caregivers for my brother, who is on Medicaid because he suffered a brain injury in a freak electrocution accident.
M&M had to get out of no-fault biz due to 55% rate cap
M&M had to get out of no-fault biz due to 55% rate cap
https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/status/1392850292291645442?s=20
Just before 9 p.m. Friday night, while my daughter and I were playing Uno with my parents at their home in Chelsea, the owner of M&M called my mom and said they were going to drop care for Brian after Sunday (yesterday).
You read that right: They gave us two days notice.
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You read that right: They gave us two days notice.
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We just had one of my brother's two caregivers quit.
Combined they care for him 67 hours per week overall seven days. The burnout rate in direct caregiving is high and the pay is low.
@annaleighclark wrote about this in #CrainsForum in December: crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/l…
We just had one of my brother's two caregivers quit.
Combined they care for him 67 hours per week overall seven days. The burnout rate in direct caregiving is high and the pay is low.
@annaleighclark wrote about this in #CrainsForum in December: crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/l…
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M&M's owner was blunt: He needed Brian's remaining caregiver to shift to higher-paying private pay customers whom he charges $25-30/hour. Medicaid pay pays about $19/hour, $14 of which goes to pay the worker.
(Full disclosure: I'm on M&M's payroll as a backup caregiver.)
M&M's owner was blunt: He needed Brian's remaining caregiver to shift to higher-paying private pay customers whom he charges $25-30/hour. Medicaid pay pays about $19/hour, $14 of which goes to pay the worker.
(Full disclosure: I'm on M&M's payroll as a backup caregiver.)
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Now, I don't fault the owner of M&M Home Care for making a business decision here.
Michigan's Legislature has literally torn a hole in his business, which relied upon higher-paying auto no-fault clients to make up for the razor-thin margins of Medicaid clients.
Now, I don't fault the owner of M&M Home Care for making a business decision here.
Michigan's Legislature has literally torn a hole in his business, which relied upon higher-paying auto no-fault clients to make up for the razor-thin margins of Medicaid clients.
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I do think there should be waaay more notice for a home health care agency to discharge and drop a client. I got on the phone with the owner of M&M and he agreed to let us keep the remaining caregiver for two more weeks at FT.
In the meantime, we're scrambling for care here
I do think there should be waaay more notice for a home health care agency to discharge and drop a client. I got on the phone with the owner of M&M and he agreed to let us keep the remaining caregiver for two more weeks at FT.
In the meantime, we're scrambling for care here
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The big picture here is the GOP-controlled Michigan Legislature and Democratic @GovWhitmer have thrown the entire home health care industry into chaos.
Axing auto no-fault is having a downstream effect on other care.
I told you this would happen.
The big picture here is the GOP-controlled Michigan Legislature and Democratic @GovWhitmer have thrown the entire home health care industry into chaos.
Axing auto no-fault is having a downstream effect on other care.
I told you this would happen.
https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/status/1392855468888973313?s=20
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Origins of 55% rate cap on home care agencies + brain/spinal cord rehab centers is a mystery.
It wasn't in SB1 when it came out of the Senate or the House committee. It got added in a House floor sub on the last day before it was sent to Whitmer.
Origins of 55% rate cap on home care agencies + brain/spinal cord rehab centers is a mystery.
It wasn't in SB1 when it came out of the Senate or the House committee. It got added in a House floor sub on the last day before it was sent to Whitmer.
https://twitter.com/johnmoz/status/1424762210467844100?s=20
You don't have to tell me what kind of a boondoggle ANF had become.
I documented how medical costs were completely out of control.
crainsdetroit.com/article/201710…
But reform didn't mean gutting an entire industry, leaving thousands of vulnerable lives in limbo.
I documented how medical costs were completely out of control.
crainsdetroit.com/article/201710…
But reform didn't mean gutting an entire industry, leaving thousands of vulnerable lives in limbo.
https://twitter.com/maryannmom/status/1424761914698178562?s=20
In March 2019, I reported on how the number of auto insurance lawsuits in Oakland County rose 295% between 2016 and 2018.
Were some medical providers & trial lawyers bilking the system? Absolutely.
Reason to kill off home care industry? Absolutely not.
crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/c…
Were some medical providers & trial lawyers bilking the system? Absolutely.
Reason to kill off home care industry? Absolutely not.
crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/c…
As an aside, our 1 caregiver quit last Monday. No 2 weeks notice. Just left and didn't return.
My Dad put an ad on Indeed for $14/hour (because these agencies struggle to recruit, so we help with that) and quickly realized the going rate now is $16/hour.
My Dad put an ad on Indeed for $14/hour (because these agencies struggle to recruit, so we help with that) and quickly realized the going rate now is $16/hour.
https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/status/1424758696614191118?s=20
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My family will figure out how to get my brother the daily care he needs. We always do.
A more immediate need is getting people like John Wicke out of hospital beds and back home.
Who in the Legislature would like to take up that cause?
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
My family will figure out how to get my brother the daily care he needs. We always do.
A more immediate need is getting people like John Wicke out of hospital beds and back home.
Who in the Legislature would like to take up that cause?
crainsdetroit.com/voices-chad-li…
20/ I meant to add this to the thread earlier…
Michigan’s Medicaid reimbursement for in-home care is broken and not sustainable, even with the recent $2/hour pay hike.
$14/hour doesn’t cut it in the job market these days.
My December column on this: crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/c…
Michigan’s Medicaid reimbursement for in-home care is broken and not sustainable, even with the recent $2/hour pay hike.
$14/hour doesn’t cut it in the job market these days.
My December column on this: crainsdetroit.com/crains-forum/c…
https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/status/1424758696614191118
INBOX: @MIDIFS Director Anita Fox has issued a bulletin addressing "an apparent misconception" that the 2019 auto insurance law capped family-provided attendant care at 56 hours.
It's a soft cap: Insurers can contract with friends & family of injured drivers for more hours
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It's a soft cap: Insurers can contract with friends & family of injured drivers for more hours
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