AFSCME Privatization Update

Source: JOHN BURGESON, Connecticut Post, 05/06/2008 11:05:15 PM EDT

Mayor Bill Finch, excoriated in recent days over his proposed budget that would deeply cut the school health clinics, said Tuesday the clinics could remain open if they were privatized. Finch, at a news conference in City Hall Annex, announced the formation of a seven-member committee that will make recommendations for turning over operation of the 10 school clinics to private health care providers.

....... Finch was referring to the reimbursement the city gets from Medicaid for services provided at the clinics. Other health care providers can bill Medicaid at a higher rate than the city if they're federally qualified, officials say.

Posted by Info Center at 1:55 PM in Health | Schools K-12 | Permalink
Tags: Connecticut

Source: AFSCME Works Onlin Xtras, February 22, 2008

When it became clear it would cost taxpayers too much, plans to outsource the jobs at three state hospitals where employees are represented by AFSCME Council 62 were formally dropped last month.

AFSCME has said for years that all privatization efforts are costly to taxpayers. Two years ago, when Council 62 members first learned of the plans to privatize state hospitals in Richmond, Evansville and Madison, the direct care employees held rallies, put up signs and drummed up community support to defeat the proposal.

Posted by Info Center at 2:13 PM in Health | Mental Health | Victories | Permalink
Tags: Indiana

Source: BY REID J. EPSTEIN, Newsday (NY), March 25, 2008

A week after County Executive Steve Levy proposed studying selling Suffolk's John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility, the fight over the facility intensified yesterday as Levy warned of possible layoffs and employees protested any sale.

About two dozen nurses and other employees picketed over any potential sale outside the 264-resident nursing home in Yaphank, holding signs saying the county should sell Levy rather than the Foley facility.

......."To balance the budget on the backs of the sick is unconscionable," said Deborah McKee, a vice president of the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees.

Posted by Info Center at 11:00 AM in Health | Permalink
Tags: New York

Source: K R Desai, C Van Deusen Lukas, and G J Young, Health Affairs, March/April 2000

..... This study addresses two questions: (1) Does privatization affect the amount of uncompensated care provided by public hospitals? (2) Does privatization to nonprofit
status have a different impact on the provision of uncompensated care than does privatization to for-profit status?

...... Our analysis reveals that public hospitals that were privatized provided significantly less uncompensated care before privatization than did other public hospitals, both before
and after privatization. E

Posted by Info Center at 2:25 PM in Health | Permalink

Source: By ROBERT PEAR, New York Times, February 28, 2008

Private Medicare plans often cost beneficiaries more than the traditional government-run Medicare program, Congressional investigators say. Many private plans advertise extra benefits and low costs.

But in a report to be issued Thursday, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, says that many people in private plans face higher costs for home health care, nursing homes and some hospital stays. About one-fifth of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries -- 9 million people -- are in private plans, known as Medicare Advantage plans.

Related testimony from GAO: Medicare Advantage: Higher Spending Relative to Medicare Fee-for-Service May Not Ensure Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Beneficiaries

Posted by Info Center at 2:44 PM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: By CRAIG SCHNEIDER, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA), 02/26/08

In a move expected to secure hundreds of millions in private and state funds, the DeKalb County Commission approved a lease agreement Tuesday that would shift operational control of Grady Memorial Hospital to a new nonprofit corporation. The unanimous vote is one of the last hurdles in the management restructuring designed to save the financially crippled hospital.

Posted by Info Center at 2:42 PM in Health | Nonprofits | Permalink
Tags: Georgia

Source: By Alison Hewitt, Pasadena Star News (CA), 02/25/2008 12:36:26 AM PST

A proposal from the county's health department riled supporters and detractors last week, with disagreements fueled by confusion over what the plan would do - and whether the department misled county supervisors.

Supervisors said they were told that DHS intended to close 11 of the department's 12 health clinics. Department of Health Services Director Bruce Chernof and county CEO Bill Fujioka called that a misunderstanding. They said the proposal had always been to find private management for those 11 clinics, including the La Puente Health Center.

Posted by Info Center at 2:01 PM in Health | Permalink
Tags: California

Source: AFSCME Works Online Xtra, February 22, 2008

When it became clear it would cost taxpayers too much, plans to outsource the jobs at three state hospitals where employees are represented by AFSCME Council 62 were formally dropped last month.

AFSCME has said for years that all privatization efforts are costly to taxpayers. Two years ago, when Council 62 members first learned of the plans to privatize state hospitals in Richmond, Evansville and Madison, the direct care employees held rallies, put up signs and drummed up community support to defeat the proposal.

Posted by Info Center at 11:34 AM in Health | Victories | Permalink
Tags: Indiana

Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee Democrat (FL), February 25, 2008

The whole idea behind privatization is that it's supposed to be cheaper and better than having state employees do something.

Not one or the other, but both. Sometimes, however, it doesn't quite work out that way.

And when that happens, the test of a good administrator is to admit it and try something else. Politically, that's not always easy.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, wants to take over some staffing at three nursing homes that were opened with private nursing-assistant and kitchen employees during the administration of Gov. Jeb Bush. This is the latest example of something that looked good at the time, but apparently didn't work out precisely as planned.

Bush always advocated the "cheaper and better" idea, but his private-sector background and barely concealed disdain for most things governmental tilted any evaluation toward the outcome he wanted.

Posted by Info Center at 11:19 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink
Tags: Florida

Source: AFSCME Council 5

A website with information and resources for fighting privatization. Special sections for transportation, corrections and care givers including anti-privatization advertisements.

Minnesota's public services should not be for sale to the lowest bidder. Essential services are government's responsibility.

It's risky business to let cut-rate workers plow our roads, keep our dangerous criminals behind bars, and care for our sick and vulnerable.

Posted by Info Center at 11:33 AM in Corrections | Health | Transportation | Websites/databases | Permalink
Tags: Minnesota

Source: Urvaksh Karkaria, Atlanta Business Chronicle (GA), Monday, January 28, 2008 - 8:55 PM EST

The Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority on Monday OK'd a lease agreement that hands over daily operational control of Grady Memorial and opens the door to a public and private sector bailout.

The handover will be to a yet-to-be formed non-profit management corporation. The names of the 16 members on the non-profit board are expected to be released within a week, Grady board vice chairman Christopher Edwards said. In return for handing over operational control, Grady is expected to receive at least $200 million from the private sector for capital improvements. An additional $100 million in private money could also be raised and the state is expected to inject millions of dollars more.

Posted by Info Center at 10:41 AM in Health | Nonprofits | Permalink
Tags: Georgia

Source: Tomah Journal, January 3, 2006

Ah, the wonders of privatization.

On Dec. 10, locked doors greeted veterans seeking treatment at Veterans Administration clinics in Rice Lake and Hayward. Corporate Wellness & Fitness, the Kentucky company contracted to operate the clinics, cut and ran after just six months in Hayward and three months in Rice Lake. The company said it was losing $26,000 a month and that the VA reneged on promises to guarantee the venture's profitability. The Rice Lake clinic reopened Dec. 26 with VA personnel, but the Hayward clinic remains closed.

The fiasco raises numerous issues. Business Week magazine reported Corporate Wellness & Fitness "agreed to accept a fixed sum per month instead of having the VA reimburse it dollar for dollar ... It quickly felt pressure from the government to spend more on supplies and equipment than it had budgeted and could pay."

Posted by Info Center at 3:09 PM in Health | Horror Stories | Veterans | Permalink
Tags: Wisconsin

Source: By Deborah Yetter, The Courier-Journal (KY), Tuesday, December 18, 2007

A state audit found no evidence of savings in the state Medicaid program promised by the administration of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who claimed Medicaid reform as one of his top accomplishments in his failed re-election bid.

...... Luallen, a Democrat, said her office waited until after the Nov. 6 election to release the audit so it would not become an issue in the governor's race.

....... Medicaid spends about $300 million a year on three private contractors to process claims, manage information, operate a call system for members and operate its prescription drug program. But until recently they operated with little oversight or accountability.

In July, Medicaid hired an outside company, Accenture, to monitor the three other outside contractors -- even though Texas fired that company last year for poor performance on a contract.

........ State Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, a Lexington Democrat on the Health and Welfare Committee, said he's concerned about the growth in outside contractors for the Medicaid program listed in the audit report.

"I think the only winners are the outside vendors who have made money off the state," he said.

Posted by Info Center at 11:25 AM in Audits/Reporting | Health | Horror Stories | Social Services | Permalink
Tags: Kentucky

Source: ACS news release, November 20, 2007: 08:30 AM EST

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. today announced a contract with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to provide pharmacy benefits management (PBM) services for its Medicaid program. The contract has a length of up to 10 years and a total value of $18.5 million, if a three-year option is exercised.

Posted by Info Center at 11:10 AM in Health | Permalink
Tags: Idaho

Source: By Mark Benjamin, Salon.com, Nov. 20, 2007

President Bush late last month nominated retired Lt. Gen. James Peake to be the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

........ On paper, Peake seems qualified. Wounded twice in Vietnam, he retired in 2004 from his post as Army surgeon general, the Army's top medical officer, with 40 years of experience in the field of military medicine.

But Bush plucked Peake directly from a private company that has raked in hundreds of millions of dollars from contracts with the VA -- and Peake himself helped develop proposals for the company to contract with the VA. That has raised questions about conflict of interest, potentially pitting veterans' care against corporate profits. Moreover, if he is confirmed, Peake will be the second head of the VA under the Bush administration to come from that same private contractor, QTC Management Inc.

Posted by Info Center at 11:00 AM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: By William Welsh, Washington Technology (IN), 11/19/07 -- 08:44 PM

Maximus Inc. will provide enrollment broker services to Indiana for several Medicaid programs under a two-year, $15 million contract.

Posted by Info Center at 10:57 AM in Health | Permalink
Tags: Indiana

Source: AFSCME Council 24, AFSCME Legislative Update, November 1, 2007

Another issue of interest to AFSCME that was not vetoed was language in the budget requiring the state DHFS to issue a "request for proposals" and contract out the delivery of pharmaceutical services for residents at all DHFS institutions, including Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Facility, the Wisconsin Resource Center, Winnebago Mental Health Institute, Mendota Mental Health Institute, and all three state Centers for the Developmentally Disabled.

Posted by Info Center at 6:00 PM in Health | Social Services | Permalink

Source: Daytona Beach News Journal (FL), October 22, 2007

Even as former Gov. Jeb Bush was pushing the state into a massive privatization of Medicaid, advocates were warning: Not so fast.

Bush didn't listen. He wanted sweeping changes, statewide, and he wanted them rapidly. He didn't want to hear that private networks weren't ready to take on a huge influx of patients. He wouldn't listen to those who worried about forcing a medically vulnerable population to choose among health plans to find the one that best meets their needs. He seemed to revel in the attention Florida got from other states for pushing ahead with changes with precious little evidence that they would save the state money.

Fortunately for vulnerable Floridians, lawmakers refused to swoon at Bush's feet. They agreed to a limited privatization plan in two counties -- Broward and Duval -- urbanized areas where the program would have the most likely chance of success. And they included explicit provisions to keep Bush from expanding the program without legislative approval.

A new report (.pdf) by the Agency for Health Care Administration's inspector general, Linda Keen, suggests the legislative caution was well-founded -- and that Gov. Charlie Crist has inherited a mess. Bush's "big hairy audacious" reforms, as he called them, aren't working out too well.

Posted by Info Center at 10:44 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By: Jean DerGurahian, Modern Healthcare, October 2, 2007

...... The increase represents a behavioral change as the healthcare industry turns to IT to improve communications, transparency, patient flow and data management, said John Lovelock, analyst and director of healthcare research at Gartner.

...... That perception shift has led more companies to turn to outsourced IT functions, according to results from Modern Healthcare's annual Outsourcing Survey. In its 29th year, the survey is a nonscientific look at healthcare outsourcing trends as reported by companies that provide on-site management to hospital departments, long-term-care facilities and alternate sites such as clinics and physician group practices. Fifty-five companies responded to this year's survey, up from 37 last year, and the number of clients increased across a range of services.

Information systems, which saw a 13% increase in the number of healthcare facilities served over last year on the survey, moved to 10th from 13th in the ranking of department categories.

Hospitals are increasingly relying on their contractors to provide even higher levels of service that help facilities comply with quality standards, especially as the healthcare environment opens to greater scrutiny by consumers and regulators. In many cases, that comes in the form of outsourced information technology, Lovelock said.

Posted by Info Center at 2:37 PM in Health | Information Technology | Permalink

Source: Posted by James T. Mulder, Post Standard (NY), October 01, 2007 4:53PM

The state has backed away from a plan that would have forced a takeover of Onondaga County's Van Duyn Home & Hospital by Community General Hospital. Instead, the state has given its blessing to an alternate plan that will allow the neighboring Onondaga Hill institutions to remain separate, but set up a new nonprofit corporation to do joint planning for the nursing home and hospital.

...... A state panel known as the Berger Commission recommended late last year the private hospital take over the deficit-ridden Van Duyn, a 526-bed nursing home. The commission said a takeover could reduce duplication of services at the facilities, cut Van Duyn's operating costs and save money for county taxpayers.

Both the county and the Civil Service Employees Association union, which represents VanDuyn workers, sued the state to block the takeover.

Posted by Info Center at 10:44 AM in Health | Victories | Permalink

Source: By David Whitney, Sacramento Bee (CA), Thursday, September 27, 2007

Medicare officials have declared a temporary "pause" in a controversial auditing program that has put a strain on dozens of California rehabilitation hospitals forced to surrender tens of millions of dollars on allegations that the care they provided elderly patients was medically unnecessary.

....... The association has been the leading critic of the program and the California contractor, Atlanta-based PRG-Schultz International, because of its rejection of almost all Medicare claims involving elderly patients treated at rehabilitation hospitals after knee or hip replacement.

...... The audit program was established as a test by Congress in 2002 in an effort to reduce unnecessary Medicare spending. It took effect in 2005 in three states -- California, New York and Florida, all high-cost Medicare states. But rather than being paid a fee for their work, auditors are paid commissions of between 25 percent and 30 percent of the money they collect from rejecting claims as far back as five years. In the case of PRG-Schultz, its contract permits it to keep the bounty so long as its decisions are not overturned at the first and second stages of administrative review. The reversals, however, are coming in the third stage.

Posted by Info Center at 2:49 PM in Health | Permalink

Source: By JAN TUCKER, Globe (MI), Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:57:26 PM

Questions surrounding the Michigan Employee Retirement System and its effect on certain employees at Ontonagon Memorial Hospital and the Village of Ontonagon were discussed at Monday's village council session. Bob Murphy, of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and hospital employee Lynn Owens discussed the plight of 10 OMH employees with the council.

The 10 employees are all nearing 15 years of employment at the hospital, but could be short of the milestone by just months on Nov. 1, the date Aspirus is scheduled to assume ownership of OMH.

Posted by Info Center at 10:54 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By CHARLES DUHIGG, New York Times, September 23, 2007

....... Habana is one of thousands of nursing homes across the nation that large Wall Street investment companies have bought or agreed to acquire in recent years. Those investors include prominent private equity firms like Warburg Pincus and the Carlyle Group, better known for buying companies like Dunkin' Donuts. As such investors have acquired nursing homes, they have often reduced costs, increased profits and quickly resold facilities for significant gains.

Posted by Info Center at 1:37 PM in Health | Permalink

Source BizJournals, September 12, 2007

The Hawaii Department of Human Services has extended its contract with Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to provide information technology and claims-management services for the state's Medicaid program.

The six-month contract extension is worth $6.4 million.

Posted by Info Center at 10:18 AM in Health | Information Technology | Social Services | Permalink

Source: Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune (IL), September 12, 2007

As about 75 senior citizens and supporters looked on, Lake County officials Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a plan to build a new nursing home to replace the tax-supported Winchester House in Libertyville.

...... Officials said they could not rely on the private sector to fill that need, but they will form an advisory board of professionals to help the new facility avoid repeating past problems.

....... Talks regarding the nursing home's future escalated in late 2005, when the county laid off 54 Winchester workers -- or 16 percent of its 330 employees -- because of its financial woes. That is a scenario officials said they would like to prevent from recurring. "They've been talking about privatizing this place or closing it," said Matthew LaPierre, who represents 250 Winchester workers through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Posted by Info Center at 1:55 PM in Health | Victories | Permalink

Source: Submitted by Terry Davis, Hutchinson Leader (MN) , September 10, 2007 - 3:53pm.

Final approval of a quintet of ordinances signing over control of city-owned Hutchinson Area Health Care to a new nonprofit agency is expected when the City Council meets Tuesday, Sept. 11.

Council approval of the transfer of the hospital, Burns Manor and other HAHC operations to Hutchinson Health Care will mark the near completion of more than two years of work on the proposal.

Posted by Info Center at 10:42 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: Bob Johnson, Associated Press (AL), September 6, 2007

A legislative panel on Thursday delayed a massive $223 million, three-year prison health care contract with a Missouri firm after questions were raised about why the contract didn't go to a company that offered to do the job for $9 million less.

The Legislature's Contract Review Committee also delayed a contract for $3.7 million with a Texas company to consolidate medical information about state Medicaid patients in one computer file after lawmakers raised questions about the company's performance in other states.

Lawmakers also questioned whether the Medicaid computer contract, to be paid from a federal grant, was the best use of resources for the cash-strapped agency whose commissioner has predicted it will need almost $200 million in additional funds next year.

Posted by Info Center at 10:37 AM in Corrections Health | Health | Permalink

Source: By Steve Peoples, Providence Journal (RI), Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Carcieri administration has selected the Massachusetts firm Hurley of America Inc. to replace scores of housekeeping employees at Eleanor Slater Hospital with private contractors.

....... Yesterday's announcement represents a direct challenge to the General Assembly, which passed a law two months ago as part of the state budget aimed at slowing Carcieri's aggressive push to expand privatization. The law outlines a series of detailed reporting requirements and cost-benefit analyses before the governor can replace state employees.

...... "This is a premeditated shot at the unions prior to Labor Day. I don't know what [the governor] is thinking," said Dennis Grilli, executive director of Council 94, the largest state employees union.

Posted by Info Center at 10:25 AM in Custodial | Health | Permalink

Source: By Jane Huh, Post-Tribune (IN), August 29, 2007

Unions from across the region gathered in Merrillville on Tuesday to lend support to the town's paramedics.

About 50 people stood near the intersection of 78th and Broadway in front of the town's government building to protest the Town Council's decision two weeks ago to accept proposals from private emergency medical service providers.

Posted by Info Center at 10:12 AM in Health | Public Safety | Permalink

Source: Terry Davis, Hutchinson Leader (MN), August 27, 2007

It may seem like it has taken forever, but the more than 18 months of work setting up the privatization of city-owned Hutchinson Area Health Care appears to be on the cusp of completion.

A quintet of resolutions and ordinances related to the privatization are on the agenda for the Hutchinson City Council's Aug. 28 meeting.

The ordinances include one approving the lease of the hospital's property, including Burns Manor, to the new nonprofit Hutchinson Health Care, and another for the nonprofit's articles of incorporation and bylaws.

Posted by Info Center at 10:02 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By RAY LIGHTNER, Houston Daily Journal (GA), 08/24/07

The Hospital Authority of Houston County will be privatizing the operation of its two hospitals.

The authority voted Wednesday to form non-profit corporations as part of a reorganization effort in which the non-profits will aquire, by lease or transfer, the assets and operations of the authority.

Posted by Info Center at 9:59 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By Jane Huh, Post-Tribune (IN), August 22, 2007

Some Merrillville paramedics say they are bracing to lose their jobs a week after the Town Council began looking into private emergency medical service.

"Everybody's looking," said 39-year-old David Ferris, a paramedic who says he feels betrayed by the council's "sneak attack."

Last week, the Town Council voted to accept proposals from private emergency medical service providers until Sept. 25. Council president Shawn Pettit said town leaders are trying to find ways to cut costs.

Posted by Info Center at 10:42 AM in Health | Public Safety | Permalink

Source: By BRIAN LYMAN, Press Register (AL), Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Alabama Medicaid Agency on Tuesday chose a subsidiary of Affiliated Computer Services, a Dallas-based database services company, to implement an electronic database for Medicaid clients around the state.

The Fortune 500 company, which hired a former aide to Gov. Bob Riley as a lobbyist days before the contract was awarded, has won projects throughout the world but has been followed by scandal in recent years, including the loss of millions of personal records in two states and allegations of bribery in securing a Canadian contract.

Posted by Info Center at 10:40 AM in Health | Information Technology | Permalink

Source: By Aliya Sternstein, National Journal's Technology Daily, August 14, 2007

A debate is stirring over a proposal by the Health and Human Services Department to privatize the government's existing advisory body on health information technology.

The American Health Information Community, chartered in 2005, currently counsels HHS on hastening the adoption of health IT. Now HHS is forming a successor entity, as required under the charter. The agency's proposition calls for an independent and sustainable public-private partnership.

……. Several labor and consumer advocacy groups and the seniors' group AARP have submitted comments opposing privatization over concerns that the proposed spin-off would lack accountability and transparency.

Posted by Info Center at 10:40 AM in Federal | Health | Information Technology | Permalink

Source: Ironwood Daily Globe (MI), Tuesday, August 7, 2007 3:48:13 PM

Union employees at Ontonagon Memorial Hospital will have a contract in place when Aspirus assumes control. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has reached a deal with Aspirus that will take effect when the Wausau, Wis., based health organization assumes control of the hospital.

…… The remaining hurdle is that the firm, a private non-profit entity, can't operate under the Michigan Employees Retirement System.

Posted by Info Center at 11:39 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By Jeffrey Young, The Hill, August 08, 2007

The private firms that contract with Medicare to handle beneficiary complaints and recommend quality improvements to hospitals and other providers could see their industry fundamentally shaken up by new Senate legislation.

The legislation would deprive the contractors of their current authority to conduct investigations of complaints about medical providers while acting as consultants to those same providers. Some lawmakers, consumer advocates and regulators view these dual roles as conflicts of interest, although the industry maintains they should go hand in hand.

Posted by Info Center at 11:35 AM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: Elizabeth Pierson Hernandez, The Monitor (TX), July 31, 2007 - 8:40PM

The state paid more than $53 million in questionable claims to the insurance company that administered the Children’s Health Insurance Program to rural Texans for four years, according to a private audit.

The audit report, obtained by Valley Freedom Newspapers on Tuesday, raises new concerns about the contract between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and Clarendon National Insurance Co., which has been the subject of scrutiny for at least three years.

The audit found the company may have overcharged the state by as much as 37.66 percent between 2000 and 2004.

...... The report is particularly troublesome considering other problematic contracts the state health commission has entered into in recent years, including the nearly $900 million contract with Accenture that was canceled earlier this year, she said.

Posted by Info Center at 10:08 AM in Health | Horror Stories | Social Services | Permalink

Leadership Update, Volume #28, Issue #22, AFSCME Council 40 (WI), July 27, 2007

The sale of the St.Croix County Health Center was put off track last week when the buyer, lined up by the County, pulled out. The members of Local 2721 have been part of a grassroots effort to convince citizens that keeping the Health Center was in the best interests of everyone concerned. The would-be buyer cited public opposition to privatization as the reason for pulling out. This is good news, but the battle here isn’t over.

Posted by Info Center at 3:15 PM in Health | Victories | Permalink

Source: By Jim McElhatton, Washington Times, July 24, 2007

The Reston-based Maximus consulting company agreed yesterday to pay $30.5 million to resolve a criminal investigation into whether it falsified tens of millions of dollars in Medicaid claims prepared for the D.C. government.

The overall settlement, announced by the Justice Department, also includes more than $12 million that federal authorities said they recovered from the D.C. government in connection with the investigation.

....... The District hired Maximus, one of the country's largest government consulting companies, to help recoup Medicaid funds for services that the agency provided to foster children.

However, Mr. Turner's lawsuit charged the company's work was "grounded in fraud."

Posted by Info Center at 11:46 AM in Federal | Health | Horror Stories | Permalink

Source: By Yolanda Woodlee, Washington Post, Friday, July 20, 2007

The District wasted nearly $100 million over the past five years overpaying health care contractors for services that many Medicaid patients did not receive, a situation that puts the city in danger of losing federal funding, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General said (.pdf) yesterday.

Auditors found that three contractors -- Amerigroup Maryland, D.C. Chartered Health Plan and Health Right -- that coordinate medical services for about 90,000 low-income residents received a total of $96.6 million in "excess payments."

Posted by Info Center at 10:27 AM in Federal | Health | Horror Stories | Permalink

Source: By PATRICK MARLEY, Journal Sentinel (WI), July 20, 2007

Madison - A major overhaul of the state's Medicaid computer system will cost at least $9.3 million - or 28.8% - more than originally planned, largely because of changes to state and federal laws and rules, officials said.

……. Hayden said the state has an airtight contract with EDS Corp. of Plano, Texas, to finish the job. "We don't pay EDS until they do their work," he said.

Posted by Info Center at 10:24 AM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: By Jimmy Ryals, The Daily Reflector (NC), Sunday, July 08, 2007

The Pitt County Board of Commissioners will vote Monday on a plan for ambulance service north of the Tar River.

The plan they'll consider would extend county authority over ambulance service in Pactolus, Bethel and other northern Pitt areas to the end of the next fiscal year, June 30, 2008. Last month, the county canceled a $400,000 contract to privatize transportation in those areas.

Continued county management will cost $850,000, according to documents included in the agenda for Monday's county board meeting. Under the plan, employees who left the affected departments as the privatization effort began will be welcome to return, County Manager Scott Elliott said at a meeting with three commissioners Thursday.

Posted by Info Center at 10:50 AM in Health | Public Safety | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By Steve Peoples, Providence Journal (RI), Thursday, June 28, 2007

Governor Carcieri is backing off a controversial move to replace 180 state employees with private workers at the state-run Eleanor Slater Hospital and veteran’s home. And his plans to expand privatization across a host of state services appear to be dead — at least for now, his office confirmed yesterday.

The dramatic reversal was prompted not by repeated pleas from handicapped hospital residents at State House rallies, nor by several rounds of anti-privatization television and radio ads produced by the largest state employees union, Rhode Island Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Posted by Info Center at 11:07 AM in Health | Victories | Permalink

Source:By JAMES DREW and STEVE EDER, Toledo BLADE (OH), Friday, June 8, 2007

The top internal auditor at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation said yesterday that it is unclear if $637 million that has passed through the agency's prescription drug program since 2002 was properly spent by an outside company hired to administer pharmacy benefits to Ohio's injured workers.

The company, ACS State Healthcare, told the bureau that the millions have flowed into one bank account, mixed in with money from 12 other customers around the nation that have hired the firm to manage prescription benefits, according to an internal audit.

Posted by Info Center at 10:46 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: YouTube, May 8, 2007

RI Council 94, AFSCME, AFL-CIO second TV AD

Posted by Info Center at 11:36 AM in Health | Videos | Permalink

Source: By Eric Litke, Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers, May 3, 2007

An era in Sheboygan County that has spanned nearly a half-century comes to an end this week as the county hands over ownership of Sunny Ridge Health and Rehabilitation Center to a private company from Minnesota. Amid union [AFSCME Council 40] concerns over the now-private employees' pay, hours and staffing levels, Legacy Senior Services and the county was expected to sign documents finalizing the $1.1 million sale late Monday or early Tuesday.

Posted by Info Center at 10:17 AM in Health | Permalink

A tv commericial for Rhode Island's AFSCME Council 94 urging opposition to privatization at the Rhode Island Veterans Home Dietary and Eleanor Slater Hospital Dietary and Housekeeping Services

Posted by Info Center at 11:03 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By Eric Litke, Sheboygan Press (WI), March 18, 2007

Sheboygan County is a vote and a few lines of fine print away from selling one of its two health-care centers — a move that officials say will save millions — but the deal's final steps come amid concerns over the facility's future. Union representatives say expected cuts to wages, benefits and staffing levels will financially cripple employees and reduce the quality of care, but the incoming owners say Sunny Ridge Health and Rehabilitation Center will have more employees caring for more patients in a better building than would be possible under county ownership.

….. According to statistics compiled by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — the Sunny Ridge union — the proposed changes will mean annual pay reductions of $5,000 to $10,000 for many employees.

Posted by Info Center at 10:30 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By Jim McElhatton, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, February 12, 2007

U.S. Department of Justice criminal division lawyers say a Reston-based government consulting company either "willfully or recklessly" submitted inaccurate Medicaid claims on behalf of the D.C. government, the company recently disclosed.

Officials with Maximus Inc. said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that they disagree with the criminal division lawyers' assessment. The company also said it is engaged in ongoing talks with the Justice Department concerning a potential civil settlement, the SEC filing states.

Posted by Info Center at 1:04 PM in Health | Horror Stories | Permalink

Source: by Annemarie Franczyk, Business First of Buffalo - 11:11 AM EST Wednesday, January 31, 2007

....... The state Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, also called the Berger Commission after its chairman, has recommended new models of health-care delivery. Among them is the merger of Kaleida Health and Erie County Medical Center, where medical training is concentrated in Western New York, and the privatization of the three State University of New York teaching hospitals.

Related item from CSEA Local 1000 website:

Fighting For Public Health Care: CSEA has led the way in fighting proposals to close, privatize and consolidate hospitals and nursing homes across the state, as recommended by the Pataki-appointed Governor's Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, or the Berger Commission.

Posted by Info Center at 1:26 PM in Health | Permalink

Source: Tina Chau, kgmb9.com, December 29,2006 08:59 PM

Kahuku Hospital's Board signed a memorandum of understanding with the State today that could make the hospital a part of the State's hospital system by July.

Plagued with piles of debt, an under-utilized facility and rising healthcare costs, Kahuku Hospital officials announced in November the hospital was to close by New Year's Eve. Support came from the public and then the State, providing hope for the hospital. And today, the administrator says, the hospital got the $500,000 as promised by the State and will be able to stay open until at least February. This also buys the hospital officials more time to figure out what to do next.

Posted by Info Center at 10:54 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By ALISA ULFERTS, St Petersburg Times (FL), December 14, 2006

…… Florida has between two and three times the number of severely mentally ill residents than the national average, yet the state ranks 48th in the country for per capita public spending on mental health care, according to NAMI. Per-capita mental health spending by Department of Children and Families, when adjusted for inflation, is less now than it was 10 years ago. And the privatization of Medicaid mental health services — in which the state controls costs by contracting with HMOs, which then subcontract with community providers — has forced some community mental health organizations to cut staff and even consider closing shop altogether.

Posted by Info Center at 10:25 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By THERESA AGOVINO, Associated Press, Wednesday, November 29, 2006 · Last updated 9:15 p.m. PT

NEW YORK -- Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private, managed care plans cost the government 12.4 percent more than those in the traditional program last year, for a total cost of more than $5.2 billion, according to a study released Thursday.

Payments to what are called Medicare Advantage plans amounted to $922 per beneficiary over what a comparable enrollee would have spent in the traditional fee-for-service program, said a study by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation supporting independent research on health and social issues. There are 5.6 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the Advantage plans.

Posted by Info Center at 9:55 AM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: By Jennifer Kuszynski, Sheboygan Press (WI), November 21, 2006

Sheboygan County is one step closer to getting out of the nursing home business at one of two facilities it owns. The county Health Care Centers Committee voted Monday to send a letter of intent to Health Dimensions Group of Minneapolis, a firm that submitted the only proposal to purchase the county-owned Sunny Ridge Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in September, said chairman Michael Vandersteen. The county put the facility up for sale in June after years of ballooning red ink. ……. For some Sunny Ridge employees, the lack of answers is frustrating. "We're being left in the dark," said Scott Doro, president of AFSCME Local 2427, one of the unions that represents employees of the county's health-care facilities

Posted by Info Center at 2:05 PM in Health | Permalink

Source: Wisconsin Council 40 Leadership Update November 3, 2006 Vol. 27 no. 33

Members of Local 3363 at the Richland County Pine Valley Health Care Center recently won a new two-year contract in Interest Arbitration…. The real issue in arbitration was management’s right to subcontract our work performed by Union members. The Employer sought new language that would grant it the unfettered right to contract out for work along with a side letter only acknowledging the Union’s right to bargain the impact of such a decision. Local 3363 sought and won no change in the contract’s Management Rights clause which means the County must bargain with the Union concerning the decision to subcontract out work and the impact of such a decision. Staff Rep Jennifer McCulley represented Local 3363 in the proceedings.

Posted by Info Center at 1:51 PM in Health | Victories | Permalink

Source: By BARBARA MARTINEZ, Wall Street Journal (subscriptin req.), November 15, 2006

Some 55 million poor and disabled Americans are covered by Medicaid. With an annual price tag topping $300 billion, it's among the biggest government programs around. It's also a lucrative business for some private companies that act as middlemen between the government and patients. Instead of directly paying the bills when a Medicaid patient goes to the doctor, state governments increasingly outsource the job to private contractors. More than one in three Medicaid beneficiaries now receive care through a private insurer. …… With the growth has come criticism from some doctors and patients who accuse Medicaid HMOs of scrimping on care. Even as they restrict medical tests and use of prescription drugs, the companies spend the money they get from states on items that don't have an obvious connection to patients. Centene has funded a multimillion-dollar arts center in St. Louis and paid to put its name on stadiums in Montana and Missouri. The HMOs are also big donors to political campaigns.

Posted by Info Center at 10:31 AM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: BY JOHN DORSCHNER, Miami Herald (FL), October 12, 2006

In a major shake-up of South Florida's healthcare industry, two financially troubled, for-profit hospitals in Miami-Dade and South Broward will become government-owned facilities aimed at serving the poor and the ever-growing number of uninsured. Jackson Health System announced that its board approved Wednesday the purchase of Parkway Regional Medical Center in North Miami Beach for $35 million from Tenet Healthcare, a national chain.

Posted by Info Center at 10:05 AM in Health | Publicization | Permalink

Source: By MILT FREUDENHEIM, New York Times, September 22, 2006

For years, private insurers have offered alternatives to the federal Medicare program that are meant to give patients lower-cost options than the government coverage provides. More than 7 million people now subscribe to such plans, out of a total Medicare population of 42.5 million. But suddenly a type of private insurance plan is gaining ground that looks very similar to the basic coverage long available to anyone with a federally issued Medicare card. And the government is paying the private insurance industry a subsidy of 11 percent per patient, on average, to provide it.

.......Critics see the trend as further evidence that the government is paying private industry to take Medicare off its hands.

Posted by Info Center at 3:11 PM in Federal | Health | Permalink

Source: By JAMES DREW and STEVE EDER, Toledo Blade (OH), Friday, September 8, 2006

CLEVELAND — In the decade since the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation turned over the management of claims of injured workers to private companies, several politically connected firms have collected millions of dollars from the agency while pouring money into the campaign coffers of the state’s political leaders.

...... Brian Rothenberg, a former press secretary to Democratic Cleveland Mayor Michael White, said the GOP-controlled state government in 1997 under Gov. George Voinovich set up a new political ATM when it certified managed-care organizations to handle claims. “The pay-to-play atmosphere really began with the Voinovich administration. Privatization and the creation of MCOs were a product of that culture,’’ he said.

Posted by Info Center at 10:13 AM in Health | Horror Stories | Permalink

Source: Patty Pensa, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 7, 2006

Lantana · Plans to transform A.G. Holley State Hospital into a massive medical complex have been debated and decided. Now, it's the question of money -- how to front its $150 million price tag -- that has state officials and health care workers quietly disagreeing about a surprising suggestion to outsource.

The idea to farm out some jobs at the tuberculosis hospital came from Gov. Jeb Bush, a proponent of privatization. While planners always envisioned a mix of public facilities and businesses on the 130-acre site, privatization was not part of discussions in the past two years.

Posted by Info Center at 10:41 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: Lynn Bonner, Barbara Barrett and Anne Blythe, News Observer (NC), July 21, 2006

The company that had a lucrative state contract taken away last week is suing the Department of Health and Human Services and a state employee for alleged violations of the state Public Records Act. Last week, the state canceled its contract with Affiliated Computer Services, which in 2004 won a $171 million, five-year agreement to build and run the state's Medicaid billing system. The project is behind schedule, and the state and the company fought over deadlines and money.

Posted by Info Center at 2:11 PM in Health | Permalink

Source: BY JACK SHERZER, The Patriot-News (PA), Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Selling Dauphin County's nursing home to a private company leaves the community with no guarantees the services will be available for future generations, the union representing roughly 250 of the facility's workers warned yesterday. With the county commissioners looking at two potential buyers for the Spring Creek Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Swatara Twp., the union also said it would agree to benefit and other concessions. "County-owned nursing homes offer a more stable work force and a higher quality of care than private, for-profit facilities whose bottom lines are simply a return on their investments," said Judi Heh, the director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 90.

Posted by Info Center at 11:01 AM in Health | Permalink

Source: By POLLY ROSS HUGHES, Houston Chronicle (TX), April 11, 2006

AUSTIN - Enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program dropped last month for the fourth time in a row as officials announced a $3 million program to educate families on how to keep their children insured. CHIP enrollment as of April 1 dropped to just under 293,000 from an adjusted 302,000 one month earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. ..... The drop has alarmed children's advocates because Texas has the highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, with one in four children lacking health coverage. ...... The state also restored coverage to 6,000 children last month because the new contractor, a consortium led by outsourcing giant Accenture, failed to tell families about the fees.

Posted by Info Center at 11:23 AM in Health | Social Services | Permalink