Linda and Ken Brauer went years without health insurance after Ken lost his job as a salesman in 2007. Ken became eligible for Medicare in January. But Linda, a 63-year-old unemployed social worker with a master’s degree, has been unable to find work and still lacks health insurance. “People are just so vulnerable,” said Linda […]
Medicare
Posted inMichigan Government
Blue Cross revamp: What does it mean for your pocketbook?
Blue Cross Blue Shield is, in some ways, health care in Michigan. The nonprofit firm and its family of companies cover 4.4 million Michigan residents – or almost half the state. It paid out more than $18 billion in claims in 2011 – most of it in Michigan – while doing business with 158 hospitals […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan’s recovery dangles from ‘fiscal cliff’
By Mitch Bean While the action over the “fiscal cliff” tax and budget decisions will occur on Capitol Hill, the consequences of whatever course is chosen will ripple across the Great Lakes State. Bridge asked Mitch Bean, a longtime head of the House Fiscal Agency, to explain the details of the national situation and, most […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Final arguments on Proposal 4
Proposal 4 would amend the state constitution to create the Michigan Quality Home Care Council, and allow home health-care workers limited collective-bargaining rights. For full Bridge coverage of Proposal 4 — and the other statewide ballot proposals this year — visit our Ballot Mania page. For an analysis of the proposal by the nonpartisan Citizens […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Blue Cross bills create fears over Medigap
By Mary Ablan/Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan Changing Michigan’s Blue Cross Blue Shield from a charitable state-chartered organization to a nonprofit mutual insurance company will be good for consumers, according to many elected officials and newspaper editors. And the Michigan Senate did improve the legislation for this, compared with the original versions. But […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Foul called on Medicare claim in Stabenow attack on Hoekstra
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “The Truth About Pete Hoekstra” and “Through Me” Who: Stabenow for U.S. Senate What: TV ad and website pages Truth Squad call: Foul The campaign material for incumbent U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, attacks Republican Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra for his stand on Medicare, abortion, taxes and other issues. Questionable statement: “Hoekstra supports […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Legal barriers create Michigan’s doctor shortage
By Mark D. DuBay In “Michigan gets med-school boom, doctor bust,” the author correctly points out that a doctor may not be fully licensed in this state unless a period of post graduate education, also known as a “residency,” is first completed. Under section 333.17031 of the Public Health Code, a doctor is to “complete […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Henry Ford CEO says higher pay is only way to attract primary-care doctors
Nancy Schlichting, chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Health System, which handles $4.2 billion in revenues, says there are no easy answers in addressing the projected shortage of physicians in Michigan, particularly primary care physicians. Health care economics also likely will dictate the end of small, independent community hospitals, she said. Those hospitals will […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Extra attention keeps frequent fliers from landing in ERs
A groundbreaking health care clinic in Grand Rapids expects to save millions of dollars a year by targeting a chronic cause of high medical costs: patients for whom the emergency room is a virtual revolving door. Based on early results, the director of the Spectrum Health System clinic projects savings of $12 million to $15 […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom” –Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 19th century English poet. * We in Michigan all know that Gov. Rick Snyder is ga-ga over “dashboards” — sets of figures that show progress, or lack thereof, on economic or government service matters. Snyder wants to use state money […]
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