Dozens of Michigan provider organizations have gone out of business, and many more are at risk of the same fate. This is because the state legislature has decided to reduce the proportion of home caregivers and home caregivers by 45%.
As a result, thousands of people in Michigan will be forced into nursing homes after the April 1 deadline. These individuals were previously cared for under their own policies that allow survivors of car accidents with long-term needs to fully cover the cost of home care.
Barry Cargill, president and CEO of the Michigan HomeCare & Hospice Association, said the bill was passed in July, for some healthcare providers and caregivers to make the painstaking decision to dismiss survivors of self-harm. I told Home HealthCare News that it wasn’t.
The Michigan home care company, which has used its own policies, “simply disappeared,” Cargill said.
For almost 40 years, Michigan had different car insurance than almost every other state. If they were involved in a serious car accident, it provided people with unlimited personal injury insurance.
In 2019, the legislature passed a bill giving insured drivers the option of choosing the amount of personal injury insurance.
“If you are of Medicare age, you don’t need to have any coverage. You will use Medicare,” Cargill said. “Or you can choose any other amount up to the limit.”
Due to the unlimited compensation plan in Michigan, there was also a catastrophic claim fund to pay for injuries in excess of a catastrophic level, about $ 600,000. If someone injures a car and the subsequent costs exceed that amount, they will not withdraw from the state’s billing fund.
Attempts by the state legislature to reduce car insurance also included making car medical insurance second only to health insurance, Cargill said.
According to Cargill, about 18,000 people have been withdrawn from the devastating billing fund in Michigan. Among other things, it includes “home care”, including non-medical home care for people with severe medical needs.
Next, a rate reduction schedule, passed in 2019 and effective in July, was introduced, reducing home care reimbursement services to 45% of the rates that certain institutions were billing earlier that year. As a result, refunds were less than the cost required to keep employees providing care.
Cargill argued that the bill was not intended to hurt the home care industry and would try to amend and amend the bill in the two years from 2019 to 2021. But nothing happened.
In a letter to Michigan Speaker Jason Wentworth, Cargill said, “Long-term catastrophic auto-collision survivors, families, and home caregivers and home caregivers they rely on for the care they need. It was a long, painful and sleepless eight months for the caregiver. ” .. “Patient recovery, rehabilitation, safety, health, work, and business are at stake. This dire situation occurred when 12 simple billing codes were accidentally cut. For example, thousands of helpless humans were promised by Michigan to receive the life-saving medical care they deserved when they paid for the catastrophic billing association in Michigan. “
New, obstacle-free price controls are already having an immediate impact on home healthcare institutions and other companies treating patients injured in long-term car accidents. Some of them had high-cost, labor-intensive operations tuned for previous high repayments without disabilities.
Darby Anderson, chief strategy officer at Addus HomeCare Corporation (Nasdaq: ADUS), told HHCN that many providers have already closed their doors in the last eight months, but more are at risk. It says that it is.
Addus provides home care, hospice and home care services to approximately 45,000 consumers through 211 locations in 22 states.
“Michigan has a lot of agencies that are a major source of revenue, so we’re going to close them. They’ll be out of business,” Anderson said. “Or they may try to adapt to a Medicaid provider or something. There are probably 25 to 30 members. [Michigan HomeCare & Hospice Association]And I think 80% of them are probably facing [the potential of] Go out of business. “
Anderson also participates in the Board of Directors of the Medicaid Home Health Partnership.
Some have already dropped long-standing patients because the new repayments were too low. Now those patients will probably end up in a nursing home.
Cargill said that since July 2, 2021, about 3,000 people have lost their jobs and about 20 home care providers have closed.
“Home care providers have been working on delays, refusals, and other stall tactics to get paid,” he said. “Members of the Michigan Home Care & Hospice Association and the patients they serve do not have the financial resources and time to enjoy the insurance industry. The Michigan State Council will act to make amendments by March 1. Most of them bear the financial burden of unpaid services because they were expected to do so. “
Cargill and other supporters could submit a bill to the State Capitol, which would amend the reimbursement to family and agency caregivers, he said. The bill has 57 co-sponsors.
However, Chairman Wentworth recently said the issue is dead and the House of Representatives will not consider a bill on the issue for at least another year.
“You never know where this kind of threat or challenge comes from in your state,” Anderson said. “Medicaid varies widely from state to state, so states that may face this pressure may have their own programs. This is about the appropriate reimbursement rate to support the delivery of services. It’s a constant battle. “
