Healthcare in Critical Condition

Why is fame, fortune, and power at the center of healthcare? Why is prevention not at the center of healthcare? Preventing accidents and disease should be the top priority. Why is this so hard? There seems to be a resistance in our society to anything that makes sense...and which would make the world a better place. What the hell is going on? A fence at the top of the cliff makes a lot more sense than an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. But that's bad for the doctor, hospital, and drug business. Healthcare is a BIG CORRUPT BUSINESS. Our approach to healthcare is utterly irresponsible. But as long as we worship the God of Fame, Fortune, and Power...instead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...nothing will change. Did I miss 'Prevention Specialist' in the list below?

U.S. Physician Salaries - Ongoing Salary Survey

*Survey includes base salaries, net income or hospital guarantees minus expenses

June, 2003 - Present

SPECIALTY Years 1-2 >3 Max
Allergy/ Immunology $158,000 $221,000 $487,000
Ambulatory $ 80,000 $112,000 $152,000
Anesthesiology: Pediatrics $ 283,000 $311,000 $378,000
Anesthesiology: General $207,000 $275,000 $448,000
Anesthesiology: Pain Management $315,000 $370,000 $651,000
Cardiology: Invasive $258,000 $395,000 $647,000
Cardiology: Interventional $290,000 $468,000 $811,000
Cardiology: Noninvasive $268,000 $403,000 $599,000
Critical Care $187,000 $215,000 $320,000
Dermatology $ 195,000 $308,000 $452,000
Emergency Medicine $192,000 $216,000 $295,000
Endocrinology $171,000 $187,000 $260,000
FP (with OB) $182,000 $204,000 $241,000
FP (w/o OB) $161,000 $135,000 $239,000
FP - Sports Medicine $ 152,000 $208,000 $363,000
FP - Urgent Care $ 128,000 $198,000 $299,000
Gastroenterology $265,000 $349,000 $590,000
Hematology/Oncology $181,348 $245,000 $685,000
Infectious Disease $154,000 $178,000 $271,000
Internal Medicine $154,000 $176,000 $238,000
IM (Hospitalist) $161,000 $172,000 $245,000
Medicine/Pediatrics $139,000 $168,000 $271,000
Medical Oncology $198,000
$257,000 $455,000
Neonatal Medicine $286,000 $310,000 $381,000
Nephrology $191,000 $269,000 $447,000
Neurology $180,000 $228,000 $345,000
Obstetrics/Gynecology $211,000 $261,000 $417,000
Gynecology $159,000 $213,000 $358,000
Maternal/Fetal Medicine $286,000 $322,000 $610,000
Occupational Medicine $139,000 $185,000 $290,000
Ophthalmology $138,000 $314,000 $511,000
Ophthalmology Retina $280,000 $469,000 $716,000
Orthopedic Surgery $256,000 $342,000 $670,000
ORS - Foot & Ankle $228,000 $392,000 $791,000
ORS - Hand & Upper Extremities $288,000 $459,000 $770,000
ORS - Hip & Joint Replacement $330,000 $491,000 $715,000
ORS - Spine Surgery $398,000 $670,000 $1,352,000
ORS - Sports Medicine $266,000 $479,000 $762,000
Otorhinolaryngology $194,000 $311,000 $516,000
Pathology $169,000 $321,000 $610,000
Pediatrics $135,000 $175,000 $271,000
Pediatrics - Cardiology $145,000 $282,000 $607,000
Pediatrics - Critical Care $196,000 $259,000 $398,000
Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology $182,000 $217,000 $251,000
Pediatrics - Neurology $175,000 $189,000 $362,000
Physiatry $169,000 $244,000 $313,000
Podiatry $128,000 $168,000 $292,000
Psychiatry $149,000 $169,000 $238,000
Psychiatry - Child and Adolescent $158,000 $189,000 $265,000
Pulmonary Medicine + Critical Care $215,000 $288,000 $417,000
Radiation Oncology $241,000 $385,000 $787,000
Radiology $201,000 $354,000 $911,000
Rheumatology $179,000 $229,000 $378,000
Surgery - General $226,000 $291,000 $520,000
Surgery - Cardiovascular $336,000 $515,000 $811,000
Surgery - Neurological $354,000 $541,000 $936,000
Surgery - Plastic $237,000 $412,000 $820,000
Surgery - Vascular $270,000 $329,000 $525,000
Urology $261,000 $358,000 $619,000

SOURCE: Allied Physicians, Inc., Los Angeles Times and Rand McNally

*Updated June, 2006

Here are some facts and figures to brighten up your day! http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-u-s-health-care-statistics-that-will-absolutely-astonish-you

50 U.S. Health Care Statistics That Will Absolutely Astonish You

The U.S. health care system has become one gigantic money making scam, and you are about to see the statistics that prove it. Today, the United States spends more on health care per person than any other country in the world by far. The health insurance companies and the big pharmaceutical corporations are raking in gigantic mountains of cash and yet the quality of the health care that we receive in return is rather quite poor. People living in Puerto Rico have a greater life expectancy than we do. Residents of Cuba have a lower infant mortality rate than we do. We are the most medicated population on the planet and yet we are also one of the sickest. If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would have the 6th largest economy on the globe and yet rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes continue to increase. The U.S. health care statistics that you are about to read below are absolutely stunning. For as much money as we shell out for health care, we should have the greatest system in the entire world. But we don't. Something has gone horribly wrong.

As you read this, there are hordes of health bureaucrats and greedy corporate fatcats that are becoming incredibly wealthy while the rest of us go broke trying to pay for our health care. In the United States today, health care bills cause more bankruptcies than anything else does. Millions of Americans are afraid to go to the hospital because they know that even a short visit would be a huge financial burden.

Sadly, our politicians in Washington D.C. continue to make the problem worse. Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation that anyone has ever come up with in the history of the United States. You could put a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters for a thousand years and they wouldn't come up with anything as bad as Obamacare. Rather than doing something to address the abuses of the health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical corporations, Obamacare actually gives them more power. In fact, huge portions of Obamacare are virtually identical to a bill that was written by the health insurance trade association in 2009. Under Obamacare our health care costs will go up even faster and the quality of our health care will continue to go down. So please don't try to tell me that Obamacare is the solution to anything.

The health care system in the United States is so broken that it probably cannot be repaired. The entire thing needs to be dismantled and completely reinvented.

If you doubt this, just check out the stats that I have compiled below.

As I put together this list of statistics, Business Insider proved to be a very valuable resource. In addition, I relied heavily on the following articles which I previously authored....

*25 Shocking Facts That Prove That The Entire U.S. Health Care Industry Has Become One Giant Money Making Scam

*18 Ridiculous Statistics About Medical Bills, Medical Debt And The Health Care Industry That Will Make You So Mad You Will Want To Tear Your Hair Out

*The Coming Doctor Shortage

The following are 50 U.S. health care statistics that will absolutely astonish you....

#1 What the United States spent on health care in 2009 was greater than the entire GDP of Great Britain.

#2 According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

#3 The United States spent 2.47 trillion dollars on health care in 2009. It is being projected that the U.S. will spend 4.5 trillion dollars on health care in 2019.

#4 One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#5 According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

#6 Over the past decade, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages have in the United States.

#7 The chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the United States, brought in a staggering $68.7 million during 2010. Ron Williams exercised stock options that were worth approximately $50.3 million and he raked in an additional $18.4 million in wages and other forms of compensation. The funny thing is that he left the company and didn't even work the whole year.

#8 The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States combined to receive nearly $200 million in total compensation for 2009.

#9 Even as the rest of the country struggled with a deep recession, U.S. health insurance companies increased their profits by 56 percent during 2009 alone.

#10 According to a report by Health Care for America Now, America's five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.

#11 In the United States, health insurance administration expenses account for 8 percent of all health care costs. In Finland, that figure is just 2 percent.

#12 Health insurance rate increases are getting out of control. According to the Los Angeles Times, Blue Shield of California announced plans earlier this year to raise rates an average of 30% to 35%, and some individual policy holders were slated to see their health insurance premiums rise by up to 59 percent.

#13 According to an article on the Mother Jones website, health insurance premiums for small employers in the U.S. increased 180% between 1999 and 2009.

#14 Since 2003, health insurance companies have shelled out more than $42 million in state-level campaign contributions.

#15 There were more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies that made over a billion dollars in profits each during 2008.

#16 Each year, tens of billions of dollars is spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the United States alone.

#17 Prescription drugs cost about 50% more in the United States than they do in other countries.

#18 Nearly half of all Americans now use prescription drugs on a regular basis according to a CDC report that was recently released. According to the report, approximately one-third of all Americans use two or more pharmaceutical drugs, and more than ten percent of all Americans use five or more drugs on a regular basis.

#19 According to the CDC, approximately three quarters of a million people a year are rushed to emergency rooms in the United States because of adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs.

#20 The Food and Drug Administration reported 1,742 prescription drug recalls in 2009, which was a gigantic increase from 426 drug recalls in 2008.

#21 Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants than children in Europe are.

#22 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.

#23 Lawyers are certainly doing their part to contribute to soaring health care costs. According to one recent study, the medical liability system in the United States added approximately $55.6 billion to the cost of health care in 2008.

#24 According to one doctor interviewed by Fox News, "a gunshot wound to the head, chest or abdomen" will cost $13,000 at his hospital the moment the victim comes in the door, and then there will be significant additional charges depending on how bad the wound is.

#25 Why are c-sections on the rise? It is because a vaginal delivery costs approximately $5,992, while a c-section costs approximately $8,558.

#26 According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States had a higher infant mortality rate than 45 other nations in 2009.

#27 The infant mortality rate in the United States is nearly three times as high as it is in Singapore.

#28 It is estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.

#29 In fact, one trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of all the medical bills that she has audited contain "gross overcharges".

#30 It is not uncommon for insurance companies to get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured or you don't know how the system works then you are out of luck.

#31 Over the last decade, the number of Americans without health insurance has risen from about 38 million to about 52 million.

#32 People living in the United States are three times more likely to have diabetes than people living in the United Kingdom.

#33 Today, people living in Puerto Rico have a greater life expectancy than people living in the United States do.

#34 According to OECD statistics, Americans are twice as obese as Canadians are.

#35 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

#36 The U.S. government now says that the Medicare trust fund will run out five years faster than they were projecting just last year.

#37 It is being projected that the federal government will account for more than 50 percent of all health care spending in 2012.

#38 Greece has twice as many hospital beds per person as the United States does.

#39 The state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.

#40 According to one survey, approximately 1 out of every 4 Californians under the age of 65 has absolutely no health insurance.

#41 According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, "inefficient claims processing" costs the U.S. health care system 210 billion dollars every single year.

#42 Today, approximately 40% of all U.S. doctors are age 55 or older.

#43 According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, we were already going to be facing a shortage of more than 150,000 doctors over the next 15 years even before Obamacare was passed.

#44 An IBD/TIPP poll taken back in August 2009 found that 4 out of every 9 American doctors said that they "would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement" if Congress passed Obamacare.

#45 According to a survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine, approximately one-third of all practicing physicians in the United States indicated that they may leave the medical profession because of the new health care law.

#46 According to a Merritt Hawkins survey of 2,379 doctors that was conducted in August 2010, 40 percent of all U.S. doctors plan to "retire, seek a nonclinical job in health care, or seek a job or business unrelated to health care" at some point over the next three years.

#47 According to the executive director of Physician Hospitals of America, Obamacare has already forced the cancellation of at least 60 doctor-owned hospitals that were scheduled to open soon.

#48 According to a report released in 2010, Americans spend approximately twice as much as residents of other developed countries do on health care.

#49 If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would be the 6th largest economy in the entire world.

#50 According to numbers released by Deloitte Consulting, a whopping 875,000 Americans were "medical tourists" in 2010.

I once heard a major hospital financial chief say (with my own ears, and in my very presence) that in hospital boardrooms across America they were saying "No Margin. No Mission." I need to read a copy of "In Critical Condition" by Sen. Edward Kennedy, to see what he said in the 70's about the "healthcare crisis". If the vast majority of healthcare money were directed toward prevention, natural-treatment, emergency-services, and basic-care - I think things would be a helluva lot better. And how about limiting medical personnel compension to a quarter of a million dollars a year??? I once directly asked Dr. Windom (C. Everett Koop's boss) what percentage of the total healthcare expenditures in the U.S. were for prevention? A moderator intervened with "That's a Complicated Question." I didn't get an answer. The room was filled with doctors, who all kept their mouths shut. Hmmmmmmmmm. Check this out. http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/hiv/srlabrat.htm I need to stop. I was just going to directly respond to comments, without going off on a tangent.

edit this bs

What a mess...

Also, read 'John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.' by Richard Schwartz. It's a real eye-opener. What would Zane Kime say, if he were still alive? Who killed Dr. Kime? And why? Watch 'The Tomato Effect' http://www.veoh.com/watch/v1920841852Fktg64?h1=The+Tomato+Effect+by+Director+Faun+Kime and notice a particularly strange interview. How many people were on that mountain??? And take a long, hard look at the proton-accelerator at Loma Linda University Medical Center. What would timetotelltheworld say? Remember him? What would the DOE and the DOD say? What would Dr. James Slater say? What would Harvard say? What would Los Alamos say? We have events!!! Nothing succeeds like fame, fortune, power, high-technology, and acute-care medicine in God's name! And those nurses are so sexy! But whatever happened to prevention?? What? Never-mind. You wouldn't believe who I think I might've gone to school with!!! Nuff said! Hell hath no fury like this scorned and sick little mind of mine!!!

The War Against Cancer Should Mostly be a Prevention and Natural Treatment Campaign. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any drugs and surgery acute care conventional medicine, but that the Big Business Medical Industrial Complex needs to be reigned-in. Prevention and Natural Treatment doesn't always work, but this is where the majority of our resources and efforts should be directed. I sometimes wonder if Modern Medicine is an integral part of the New World Order. I am very disillusioned with how technology and industrialization has been implemented on this planet. Earth has been turned into a toilet and a slaughter-house. I'm not anti-technology and anti-progress, but we need massive doses of responsibility in connection with all of this. I'm a big fan of preventive and emergency medicine, combined with natural treatment. I like the idea of medical institutions in beautiful and natural settings, with a relaxed and positive atmosphere, rather than being Big Business Assembly-Line Medicine. We need to really rethink our priorities and ethics.

Someone is trying to keep this issue hush hussh...

Sometimes i use an ip from work to post a view forum sites....

and now am discovering that my ip has been banned.. not from this site but from a few others... strange things happening to peculiar to be coincidence... not that i believe in coincidences.. but just so its clear... a erased my post.. (two posts b4 this one) on the day this site was to be taken down.. and were still up...

so as it stands we await the court hearing regarding cms's decesion to cut adult day health care as a medi-cal beneficiary... Aug.2 should be an interesting day..

Many people at work today as the other ADHC's in the area have closed down... some for business reasons... regardless we have had a steady influx of participants...

People seem very happy.. unaware of the uncertainty that awaits their lives... how they will be effected will vary from case to case.. one things for sure... there are many other things we can cutt( such as politicians pay rates ) that would be better to balance a budget.

I wondered about that. Both the darkside and the lightside are in the hot-seat. The darkside, for being corrupt. The lightside, for being stupid. I'm kicking and beating myself up, each and every day, but it doesn't seem to be doing a lot of good. This thing is a real war, on so many levels, and I don't think we've seen anything yet. But beware of hospitals and churches. I like the idealistic aspects of both, but I think the reality stinks to high heaven. I just wish I were capable of doing something about it. I'm just overwhelmed by the problems. Galactic, Solar System, World, and Personal. So, I just keep researching and rambling.

Bring it on shills! so much for empathy...
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/node/9195

"Yesterday Governor Brown vetoed AB 96, the budget trailer bill that calls for the creation of a new model of Adult Day Health Care saying the such a new "...look-alike program at this juncture is unnecessary and untimely," in an action that is sure to disappoint and anger tens of thousands of people with disabilities and seniors, their families, hundreds of community-based providers and thousands of workers who provide those services. The Governor as expected, signed a less controversial budget trailer bill also dealing with adult day health centers - SB 91, that would allow those centers to continue to operate as licensed facilities without the requirement of being certified as a Medi-Cal provider.

The current version of Adult Day Health Care as a Medi-Cal "optional benefit" is scheduled for elimination as of December 1, 2011 (the original date was September 1, 2011, but the Department of Health Care Services requested that the effective date be delayed 90 days from that date to help with transition efforts. The federal government approved the request last week). .

The news of the Governor's veto will impact over 34,000 people with disabilities and seniors in the Adult Day Health Care program, and the over 300 community organizations and over 7,000 people who, as employees who provide those services - all who faced imminent elimination of the Medi-Cal service, and likely closure of hundreds of community-based providers and the loss of thousands of jobs across the State by December 1, 2011.

The Governor in his veto message added that the bill, authored by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (Democrat - Van Nuys), "...does not address the immediate need to transition ADHC [Adult Day Health Care] beneficiaries to other home and community-based services that can meet their needs, and would cause confusion for both consumers and providers about when an ill-defined" new model of Adult Day Health Care would be available.

Regarding the existing over 300 community based providers who provide Adult Day Health Care services and their over 7,000 workers - all who face the prospect of loss of jobs or outright closure, the Governor in his veto message said that "...to the extent that adult day health care-type services can become part of an integrated continuum of care, my Administration will work to bring such providers into the conversation on how these services can be efficiently and effectively delivered for the benefit of consumers," adding that "...for this reason, I am signing Senate Bill 91, which will allow adult day health centers to continue to operate after the fee-for-service payments under Medi-Cal expire. This will allow adult day health centers tobe considered a care option as part of an integrated delivery system, or for consumers who may wish to access services apart from Medi-Cal."

The elimination of the entire Adult Day Health Care program as a Medi-Cal "optional benefit" was proposed by Governor Brown last January and approved by the Legislature in March as part of the larger package of spending cuts to close the enormous budget deficit. The elimination of Adult Day Health Care as a Medi-Cal "optional benefit" was the largest single sweeping reduction in health and human services in at least the last 15 years with the combined direct impact of tens of thousands of recipients, workers and hundreds of community-based providers - nearly all who face imminent closure, and for individual workersthe loss of jobs and income for their own families in a matter of months.

It is called a Medi-Cal "optional benefit" because it is a benefit or service that the federal government does not require the states to provide as part of their approved Medicaid program (called "Medi-Cal" in California).

WHAT THIS NEWS MEANS

* Adult Day Health Care will remain a Medi-Cal benefit at least until December 1, 2011 (instead of September 1, 2011).
* With the veto by the Governor today, the Brown Administration - as represented by the Department of Health Care Services - will notofficially move forward in any planning, development or submission of a proposal for a new model of Adult Day Health Care under a new federal Medicaid waiver or other proposal under the Medicaid program.
* The State however will proceed officially with a plan to only move people currently in the Adult Day Health Care program into other similar Medi-Cal services - with no official plans regarding the transition of existing Adult Day Health Care centers and their employees, and no plans regarding development and submission of a proposal for a new model of the program under a federal Medicaid waiver or other Medicaid program.
* The Legislature in March and again in June, restored $85 million in State general funds for the 2011-2012 State budget year to help in transition of the eliminated Medi-Cal benefit into a new model of Adult Day Health Care.
* However that amount is only half the State general funding that the Adult Day Health Care program received in the 2010-2011 State budget year that ended June 30th. It is not clear how many of the over 300 centers, 7,000 employees and over 34,000 recipients will be able to continue in a new model of Adult Day Health Care with State general funding cut by 50%.
* A federal lawsuit to block the elimination from proceeding was filed in federal district court in June on behalf of the recipients of Adult Day Health Care. A hearing was originally set for July 26th, but reportedly was postponed until November because of the delay in the effective date of the elimination of the Medi-Cal benefit until December 1, 2011.

WHO THIS IMPACTS

* Over 34, 000 seniors and people with disabilities - including thousands of persons with developmental disabilities, who are in the Adult Day Health Care program either through Medi-Cal or referred there through one of the 21 non-profit regional centers under the State's Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (the nation's only civil rights act for persons with developmental disabilities). It is not clear how the elimination of the Medi-Cal optional benefit impacts those persons since they were placed in those programs through regional centers - not through the Medi-Cal program.
* Over 7,000 people who work in the over 300 community-based organizations that provide Adult Day Health Care services - probably nearly all facing either outright closure and elimination of thousands of jobs in a matter of months, the time frame is not clear. Advocates say that many of those people and organizations could be helped by the enactment of AB 96.
* Other agencies and community organizations, including the 21 non-profit regional centers, county health and human services agencies, including those involved with Medi-Cal, In-Home Supportive Services, housing and other supports and services. "

From the California Association for adult day services..

"MEDIA STATEMENT:

State's revised plan to transition tens of thousands of displaced adult day health care patients builds a bridge to nowhere!
(Sacramento.Ca) In a statement issued today, California Association for Adult Day Services Executive Director Lydia Missaelides described the state strategy for shifting 35,000 elderly and disabled patients out of soon-to-be defunct Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) centers as a hastily assembled plan that is long on promises, short on details and filled with inaccuracies.

"State health care officials know they have 35,000 medically needy elderly and disabled patients whose lives clearly depend on what they do in finding coordinated care for these patients' complex medical needs in a matter of weeks or face disastrous legal consequences in court. Pressed for time , they had to produce something, and the result is now a plan and strategy that is nothing more than a list of existing health care services simply don't exist.

"Community-based services have been decimated by years of cuts. Simply providing a list of programs with complex and restrictive eligibility requirements, many of which have long waiting lists, is no strategy at all. Forcing families to navigate unfamiliar terrain while attempting to travel here and there to get what little services they can find is no match for the one- stop and more affordable ADHC center offering integrated health care and social services.

"We find it ironic the Governor vetoed legislation to establish a federal waiver program to keep patients out of institutionalized care yet, the state's transition strategy document, references sending patients into 'ADHC-like' services that avoid placement in nursing facilities or contracting with a 'former ADHC'- the very centers forced to shut down by the Governor's own hand.

"The tragedy in all this is the harm that will be inflicted on our elderly and disabled citizens due to the state's stubborn refusal to admit it never should have eliminated ADHC in the first place. Poor, chronically ill and disabled members of our society deserve more than a patchwork of inadequate services and false promises.

"When the lives of the most vulnerable among us are at stake, deficiencies and inaccurate statements in the state's strategy document cannot go unchallenged.

For example:
* Telephonic care coordination or case management will not be sufficient for the vast majority of ADHC patients. These people require regular hands-on and eyes-on care. Coordination does no good if there are inadequate or no services available to coordinate. If only medical care was needed, patients would not have been approved for ADHC in the first place.
* Enhanced in Home Supportive Services (IHSS): No one has heard of "enhanced IHSS" until now. It is not clear what authority the state has to exceed the statutory limit on IHSS hours. IHSS is also slated for a 20% across-the-board reduction in hours if the budget "trigger" is pulled.
* The plan talks about meetings and events that have not occurred.: For example, providers in Orange County and San mateo have not been included in discussions with the County Organized Health Plans about transitioning patients out of ADHC.
* Transition Funding: There is no detail given about the use of the $85 million appropriation, so how can 'alternate service' or ADHC providers plan if there is no estimate of how the funds will be divided up or what will happen when these funds are depleted?
* Cost Analysis: There is no cost analysis to assure that purchasing separate services is less costly than the purchase of integrated ADHC services.

What a mess! I continue to think that healthcare should focus upon preventive-medicine, natural-care, primary-care, and emergency-services, with 100% coverage of everyone, in evironments which are as close to nature as possible, and which avoid the big-business, cookie-cutter, cut 'em, drug 'em, drill 'em, fill 'em, and bill 'em mentality. Research the history of healthcare in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Read 'John Harvery Kellogg, M.D.' by Richard Schwartz, to get started. There has been an ongoing battle between those of my persuasion, and the AMA, big-medicine, big-bucks, big-egos crowd. I'm now beginning to wonder if there is a connection between Modern Medicine and the New World Order. Consider the foucs on the 'Healing Centers' in the ABC series 'V'. This world is out of control, and needs to be reformed with all deliberate speed. This will probably involve the entire solar system, and all areas of life, but it should involve NO CORRUPTION OR VIOLENCE WHATSOEVER.

So ... what's funny to me is how the only loser's in this are the patients, benificiaries, and employees of these facilities. The owner's of such business are now going to try and file a claim to the courts...

They are complaining about the fact that the dept. of aging wants adhc's to start dishcharging patients asap... at least that is starting the paperwork... so that when dec.1 comes there will be no hicups... cut and dry deal.. however... these owners and mainly the lawers and consultants all paid top dollar are convinced that this is impossible to do in only a few months... so they are asking for a chunk of money from whomever... i can only guess that it will be you the taxpayer.. just so they can pay their nurses who will be working overtime to clear all the discharge paperwork...so the rich stay richer as they attempt to delay the closer which is turning out to be more expensive than first thought... but this was probably planned as well.. one thing for sure is there are steps being made to go ahead with these closures where as before there were not..

Thank-you Jonah. The rich and the clever always seem to profit from whatever situation exists. The good are often naive. The bad are often clever. How can we make sure that the best and the brightest run things, and continue to do the right thing, regardless of the temptations to do otherwise?

Once they realized it was gona cost the state/govt more money to close these facilities than it will to keep them open it became hopefull...someone must have came to thier senses...

http://www.caads.org/pdf/pdf/media_statement_caads_darling_v_douglas_2011_11_17.pdf

Media Statement
CAADS and California’s Nearly 300 Adult Day Health Care Centers
Applaud Federal Court Settlement Reached in Lawsuit over Fight to
Save Adult Day Health Care from Closure on December 1st
Case was Brought Against the CA Department of Health Care Services
for Violation of Americans with Disabilities Act on Grounds It Failed to
Provide Adequate Transition Plan for Medically Needy and Elder
Californians Ordered Out of the Community‐Based Program
(Sacramento, CA) – “Immense relief” and “joy” are the words that California Association for
Adult Day Services Executive Director Lydia Missaelides uses to describe the sentiments of tens
of thousands of elder, chronically ill and disabled patients after a major settlement was reached
today in a lawsuit against the state brought on their behalf by Disabilities Rights California.
Missaelides said:
“Throughout this entire year, 35,000 low‐income, medically needy patients and their families
have endured incredible stress and lived in fear that they would no longer be able to access
care at their local Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) center.
“To know that these patients’ legal rights have been preserved is a huge comfort to us and to
tens of thousands of Californians throughout the state. This decision means those in the care of
our centers will be able to stay at home and in their communities and receive necessary
medical and therapeutic services without interruption. We are grateful that the nearly 300
ADHC centers statewide have been given a reprieve to stay open past the planned December 1
closure, resulting in 7,000 jobs being saved and vendors being spared further cuts to their local
businesses.
“This settlement makes it clear that the services provided by center‐based adult day health
programs are irreplaceable in preventing or reducing use of higher‐cost institutional services
CAADS
California Association for Adult Day Services
921 11th Street
Suite 1100
Sacramento, California
95814
Phone: 916.552.7400
Fax: 916.552.7404
E-mail: caads@caads.org
Web: www.caads.org
such as nursing homes and hospital emergency rooms, and honors patient dignity and the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with the State as we move forward in this transition.
We see many challenges ahead as the details of implementation of the settlement are finalized
and put in place. We are committed to working in partnership with the state and DRC to make
this settlement agreement a success for all parties.
“We wish to express our deep appreciation to Disability Rights California and their co‐counsel
National Senior Citizens Law Center, National Health Law Program, AARP Foundation Litigation,
and Morrison & Foerster, LLP for defending the rights of Adult Day Health Care patients and
their working families, and to preserve the model of Adult Day Health Care and the valuable
safety net it provides.”
###
Visit the CAADS website at www.caads.org for more information about the legal case.
Interviews can be scheduled by calling 916-341-0472 or emailing carri@zieglerassociates.net or
corinne@zieglerassociates.net.

Someone should've crunched the numbers before this madness started!!