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NURSING HOME REFORM
NEWSLETTER
http://www.KyNursingHomeReform.org
Oct. 15, 2005
BE WATCHFUL...
A bunch of bureaucrats are tinkering around with the important Medicaid
program and what they do could affect people on Medicaid in nursing
homes. The problem is a big deficit in the program, now estimated around
$425 million including what the feds put in. If you talk to the
bureaucrats working on the problem, you will see that they are planning
on streamlining Medicaid with things like co-pays on prescription drugs
and emergency room visits for poor people. What sounds like a pittance
of a co-pay to the bureaucrats, many of whom make over $100,000 a year
in state salaries, is a hardship on the poor. Many poor people don’t
have $3 for the co-pay and that’s sometimes hard for the rich
governmental officials to understand. They say they will not throw
people out of nursing homes like the last administration did, but they
bear watching. They still have not divulged to the public exactly what
they are thinking of.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO...
You need to contact two of these state officials and tell them that you
don’t want them monkeying around with Medicaid for nursing home
residents. We suggest you make two contacts – one to Gov. Ernie Fletcher
and the other to Dr. James Holsinger, secretary for the Cabinet for
Health and Family Services. Here is how to do that:
To Contact the Governor:
To call: 502-564-2611 (there is no toll-free number)
To write: Governor Ernie Fletcher, M.D. State Capitol, Frankfort, KY
40601
To fax: Fax 502-564-2517
To email: http://governor.ky.gov; "Contact the Governor" link on left
side.
To Contact Dr. James Holsinger:
To call: 502-564-7042. Leave your message with whoever answers because
you will never get through to the good doctor.
To email:
jamesw.holsinger@ky.gov
IS THERE A SOLUTION TO THIS MESS?
Yes. More revenue. But if you follow the news, you know that the current
administration is adverse to raising taxes. We think the way to do it is
by legalizing those nasty old slot machines at racetracks. Former Gov.
Brereton Jones was the first to propose such a solution. He suggests a
constitutional amendment that would mandate exactly where slot machine
money the state gets would go. Like to repair Medicaid. Like to provide
funding for quality care in nursing homes. If it is in a constitutional
amendment, then fickle legislators can’t change it every year on a whim.
Whatever the state’s tinkering now with Medicaid comes up with will be a
drop in the bucket. The Medicaid problem will just get worse every year
unless a dependable revenue source is found. That’s where legalized
gambling comes in. Like it or not, it can be making lemonade out of
lemons. We hope Gov. Jones and others will pursue this solution. Hey,
maybe the former governor will run again himself and personally take
care of the problem. Just a thought.
P.S.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005 when...
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that
they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the
first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and
you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
this list.
AND ARE NOW LAUGHING at yourself.
– from Janet Powell
DON’T FORGET... CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND
SECRETARY HOLSINGER NOW!
BERNIE VONDERHEIDE
Kentuckians For Nursing Home Reform
E-mail:
KyNursingHomeReform@yahoo.com
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