Michael,
I hope this message can go out on the MADSP list serve.
Hollis
______________________________________________
From: Hollis Turnham
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 9:59 PM
To: Olmstead Group (olmsteadMI@yahoogroups.com); Kathy Boles (bolesk@...); Kathy McGeathy (Kathyf@...); Nancy and ED Turner (andresturner@...); Dawn Keller (kellerd@...); 'Annette Jeske - PR - Primary Home Care'; Lynn Zuellig (Lzuellig@...); 'Elizabeths Janks - DDI/WSU'; 'Ellen Sugrue Hyman'; 'Susan Steinke'
Cc: Tameshia Bridges; Kim Hodge
Subject: Town Hall meetings on the uninsured in Flint and Gaylord
Colleagues,
Attached is a flyer describing town hall meetings being conducted by the Michigan Department of Community Health on the uninsured during September. These first two meetings in Flint (9/20/05)and Gaylord (9/22/05) present an opportunity to address the lack of health care insurance or coverage for all people without health insurance or coverage. As the flyer indicates more town hall meetings are planned across the state.
As you know, many people with disabilities, the "young old"---people under 65, and direct care workers do not have health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. They are part of the nation's 46 million people who are "uninsured."
As the limited data indicates, lots of direct care workers from all kinds of settings do not have health care insurance. Nation data indicates that about 30% of Home Help providers do not have health insurance. A recent survey of AFC homes in the Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties found that 50% of the employers did not offer health insurance to any of its employees.
The Michigan Department of Community Health has received a federal grant to create a plan for health care coverage for 100% of Michigan's citizens. These town hall meetings are part of the planning process. There is an opportunity to strengthen the ability of employers, particularly long-term care employers, to offer affordable health insurance to direct care workers and to provide health coverage to all elders and people with disabilities.
With foundation funding, we at the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) have a Michigan-based campaign to secure health care coverage for frontline workers who support elders and people with disabilities. We urge you to attend a town hall meeting and talk about the difficulties you see for people who have no health insurance. Tameshia Bridges, our senior health policy analyst, will be attending the Flint town hall meeting and is available to help in your efforts to speak out at the meeting. She can be reached at Tbridges@....
For those of you with members or chapters, we ask that you distribute this notice to your members and chapters. If you have questions about this planning process or models that can provide health care coverage to direct care workers, please contact me or Tameshia. Also, if we can help mobilize consumers, employers, or workers in your community to secure health care coverage for the direct care workforce, please call on PHI staff.
Thanks for all that you do to maintain and improve the quality of long-term care supports and services in Michigan.
<<town hall flyer with all mtgs.doc>>
Hollis Turnham
Michigan Policy Director
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
5013 Applewood Drive
Lansing, MI 48917
T: 517-327-0331
www.paraprofessional.org
www.directcareclearinghouse.org
www.celebratedirectcareworkers.org
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