Will CommCare do estate recovery?

Joan,

I am doing the same thing you are along with many others in this state. In fact, we have a group that is working together and have some excellent projects going on.

We have helped people in NJ at the recent event at Rutgers so they will be informed about the mess in MA and can fight NJ doing this before it's too late. Unfortunately, this was a backroom deal in MA that was sprung on us. We helped people in CA and, luckily, their senators were more in tune with reality than ours here in MA.

And we have handouts and speak to people everywhere possible. We also have actual projects that I don't care to mention on a blog.

When I read the incessant self-congratulating that goes on between certain legislators, the Connector and other powerbrokers who seemingly refuse to either see or admit that this is hurting far too many people and starting to have a bad effect on Community Health Centers as well in certain parts of the state, I ask myself many times over: Are these people of integrity?

We have met with senators who try to bamboozle us with the spin and turn their backs on what we have to say because their allegiance is to their leaders instead of to the people who they are supposed to represent.

We have put out formal letters to the Governor - he was hand-delivered a letter on Jan. 31 and has yet to respond. He gave it to the Connector which is the same as dumping it in a black hole - his aides have a different excuse every week. The reps and senators have had their letters for at least 4 weeks and can't come up with answers. This is shameful.

But we keep up the fight and, like you, try to get the newspapers to print the truth. But that's hard to do when most of them are tools of the industry. Kind of the same reason we get so much spin on the TV news.

However, a few truthful stories are starting to surface and there will be more as this mess gets worse. And as the truth is printed, the Connector gets more defensive. I think Ghandi said "first they ridicule you" - I can't remember it all right now.

It is my belief, based on what I hear and read, MA will continue trying to prop up this wasteful and punitive health insurance take-over to save face because the rest of the nation is watching. It's all politics, power and greed which are hard to change as you can see by the present state of things in this entire country.

From where I sit, along with many others who talk together frequently, most people in this country are hurting and it's getting worse. We here in MA might be able to handle that stress better if we didn't have the ugliness that is going on in this state due to this law.

So, I ask you, how do we join forces?

I didn’t say whether we’re leading in a good direction or not — I just prefer to bring facts to the surface and let the truth speak for itself since we live in a nation that hears proclamations like that the Iraq war is succeeding — like Massachusetts health care reform is succeeding, in my opinion. But opinions are less important then good information — which is what I ask for when I write to newspapers, news orgs that report on national tv. I ask that they bring good information and opportunities for prolonged dialogue so the public can think well. I’m trying to pump information into the community — printed papers I leave around my town — such as the printout of Connector salaries I left at the bakery this a.m., and with the meter maid police woman, whose jaw dropped. This is how I work as a connector person and I do need to resume working for dollars so there’s a limit, but I do get your point.

My point is — shall we embarrass ourselves in front of the nation or shall we model how people with integrity can choose to create something together that works? I live in a community of scientists who think logically and the important process I request is -- observing what we’ve created, assessing outcomes, learning, and being responsible for future action to improve or start over. I would advocate starting over with a single payer system.

I’m not naive -- whether I expect it is another story because I know how addictive fat salaries are. But I’ve watched people die slowly and sometimes the choices narrow and even death appears sweet. At age 21 I was married to a man who ran for president of a prestigious university and his platform was that if he won, he’d abolish the office.

I didn't clarify my comment above.

It's an assault and a crime to force people to purchase a product they can't afford and to enforce the ensuing penalty as income tax evasion, meaning, that if people can't afford to pay the penalty, the DOR will lien their property, seize their bank account or garnish their wages.

This is the part of the new so-called "health care reform" law.

For those who are now insured because they qualify for free or very low pay insurance, that's great. But not on my back or the backs of others I know who are in the same boat as I.

We already pay for the free people through our income taxes as do all taxpayers in MA, and now, with my penalty money, we pay for them a second time.

The result: we either can't pay or are having a more difficult time paying our bills, and we still have no insurance plus we are totally stressed trying to figure out how to survive this law.

Thus, I certainly would not want any other state or the entire country to follow this kind of a lead. But that's where it will go if you vote for Hillary because her plan is the same as the one here in MA more or less.

If you vote for Obama, he says he won't mandate the health insurance except for children so that doesn't mean you'll have health insurance and health insurance is not universal health care. And, once he's in office, who knows what he'll do?

He allows Deval Patrick and Ted Kennedy to stand behind him on the podium while he tells the truth about what is happening to people in MA with this law, yet they both fully support this and call it a success.

That makes my red-alert start flashing.

Joan,

Sorry that I can't agree with you on MA being a leader in health care reform because I call what they've done to hard-working, low-to-middle income people in this state an assault and a crime.

Mar 31.

Thank you so much for all this -- Which senator did you meet with? I'm not so much of a researcher as I am a connector person, and we have great timing here, with Mass as a leader in health care reform law, and the nation with a possibility of having a president who's going to create universal health care. Mass. is a great model to study for national programs. This can be an embarrassment OR a contribution. All that's needed is the capacity to admit the results of an experiment, apologize when intentions were good but results a failure, and then apply learning to create new programs -- or advocate a better system.

"As of December 2007, over 6,700 individuals were assisted with the application process, and more than 6,500 newly eligible individuals have been approved for benefits. $3,500,000 in grants divided by 6,500 (number enrolled) equals $538.46 per person to sign up."

This is the tip of the iceberg of reasons for single payer health care. I won't announce names of anyone here, but it's likely that I'm permanently affected by this epiphany of consciousness the last month provided me as I realized what state "help" awaits us who have occasional or permanent low income. Being the change I want to see in the world is a principle that makes me feel good even as I may lose the livelihood I've enjoyed for decades.

So I rented Sicko, and watched lots of interviews on UTube, so I'm kind of clear about who to begin approaching for interview time on public tv - I'll ask that people with various pieces of the puzzle be assembled, for the purpose of giving complete information from various perspectives so the public can think well for itself. Not time yet, More is needed. Thanks for your positive attitude and information.

Joan,

Here are two tidbits that show how wasteful this current so-called reform is:

In the FY08 budget, $3.5 million was appropriated for the MassHealth, Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice grant project to award grants to community and consumer-focused public and private non-profit organizations for activities directed at reaching and enrolling eligible Commonwealth residents in MassHealth and Connector Authority programs.

Forty-five community-based organizations were awarded funds in November 2007 for the direct service grantee model. These grantees have quickly implemented this program, performing outreach and enrollment activities in their regions. All 45 grant organizations submitted monthly grantee progress reports in January for December activities.

As of December 2007, over 6,700 individuals were assisted with the application process, and more than 6,500 newly eligible individuals have been approved for benefits. $3,500,000 in grants divided by 6,500 (number enrolled) equals $538.46 per person to sign up. Just one OUTRAGEOUS waste!

The Boston Herald published the salaries of the Connector a few weeks ago. There are at least 11 earning six-figure salaries with the highest at $235,000 (may be more, dan't recall). The total for the entire staff was in the millions, or was it billions? I don't have the chart in front of me but you can find it online.

The law is punitive and wasteful in more ways than what I've mentioned above and does not provide affordable, quality health care. It contains no cost controls and was designed to augment the profits of the private insurance companies and some politicians. Of course, there's more to it than.

There was a great article written by an attorney not long ago in the Hampshire Gazette and it also ran prior to that in the Greenfield Recorder - Fraud in the Guise of Health Reform. It didn't cover the entire mess but it's a great read.

It would be fun to have a chat with your attorney friend. This mandated health insurance scam has a lot of "gray" areas that already have some lights shining on them. I have a feeling the Connector is scrambling to find enough fingers to block the holes in the dike.

The contact people you seek who might facilitate the ambiguity are non-existant. One hand doesn't know what the other is doing and when you make calls for info, the buck is passed around all over the place while residents are left hanging in limbo.

We have a horror story involving a very sick person and the Connector messed up her paperwork big-time so she can't get the care she needs. There are plenty more stories like this. There are also Commonwealth Care members in parts of MA who can't find doctors who will take them because the state isn't paying enough and docs need to pay their overhead.

I don't have the numbers in front of me yet but I was told today that a lot of people have been thrown out of their plans because they couldn't pay. I expected this would happen. These folks allowed themselves to be intimidated by the Connector and purchased insurance they couldn't afford. That is known as coercion and, in MA, it's government sanctioned. Now these people are going to end up with penalties that they can't afford and they lost all the money they already paid in to boot.

The law was thrown togethter in a hurry because Romney said it was an emergency which is how he sold it to the legislature who passed it knowing next to nothing about it. The details would be worked out later - on our backs.Thus, the legislature did not practice due diligence.

We had a meeting with the state senator in my district not long ago and could tell by the look on his face that he didn't even know what we were talking about regarding some of our concerns. He appeared to be taking notes but I think he was doodling a picture of the hangman.

I wonder what will happen to the people in Commonwealth Care when this cluster-boink finally boinks. A lot more people are going to be badly bruised aside from those of us who are already in financial straits paying penalties because we couldn't afford the insurance.

With the cost of gas, heat and food rising every week, we won't even be able to pay the penalties. Then the DOR will lien our homes and seize our bank accounts because the penalty is enforced as income tax evasion.

Our legislators and senators did this to us and they continue to call it a success along with Mr. Deval "Together-We-Can" Patrick. The people who voted for him thought he meant him and them when he really meant him and the powerbrokers.

But, hope springs eternal and this crowd is not going to win. It may take a few pounds of our flesh as the saying goes, but good most always trumps evil.

Peace be with you.

Reporter.

Answer to your question: I got a Mass Health approval letter offering me $150 after applying to the Insurance Partnership, which I did before realizing all this legal vulnerability. Since then, I applied for CommCare as well, after being advised by someone in my doctor's office that Comm Care doesn’t do estate recovery. Then my quest to see that policy lead me here.

I have had the feeling that many people in many jobs in the state are profiting by having more eligible applicants for assistance (ie. Insurance Partnership requirement went from about $19,000 for 1 to $30,000 for a single person, but amount of assistance available to me went down.) Another troublesome observation I had: when I checked prices of health plans through Comm Choice via The Connector, and I was quoted $100 more/month for my same plan as I now have with private insurance (both new rates). The good thing about what you say is it helps me realize that even tho I have little savings for retirement, I prefer tapping it to buy private insurance then participating in these plans.

Important economic skills needed here are to really tally the deferred expenses of administering these programs, including how they might create health issues from anxiety generated for people like me who get seduced with something that looks good and kind on the surface ... the hidden caveats may be creating more disease in the name of providing health insurance when what we really need is HEALTH CARE -- and CARING HEALTH LAW.

I just looked up "Ponzi Scheme." It makes sense, what's said in a previous entry that if Comm Care wanted to improve the law, they would have by now ... with all the management programs at universities in Boston, this could be a field study for re-vamping and improving a system. The lawyer I know who specializes in health care fraud (does or did?) focused on Medicare stuff, but if information continues to collect about these state programs, I will, once something succinct can be compiled, get a packet to his desk. I can't expect to effect an outcome I'd like, but can shine light on what exists. With future in mind, and liklihood that next president will do some universal health care, perhaps Massachusetts can be a good model – perhaps together we can get it together?

My question still hangs -- are there contact people who might facilitate change in law that is unambiguous and clearly stated so people know what they're agreeing to?

Joan,

Did they just outright offer you this so-called help of $150 per month?

The state is having problems meeting budget neutrality so MA can continue to receive 1115 waiver money from the feds to help fund this scam. I believe the next benchmark is in June.

That's why the penalties are so important to them. In fact, the penalties were built into the budget for this nightmare along with other money they counted on but will not receive. They call it "shared responsibility." It's really a Ponzi scheme.

So if the $150 was an offer, you could think of it this way: the state takes dollar for dollar from your estate what they spend on you for medical care which includes the amount they pay toward your state-subsidized premium. (They probably also throw in a bunch of administrative fees and such to jack it up to the max.)

So, whether Commonwealth Care includes the estate recovery program now or in the future - ca-ching, ca-ching - Is that the sound of $150 per month being added to your tally?

Another chilling feature of Mass Health is the real estate lien which can happen before you die at any age. This bloodsucker isn't even mentioned on the form. Of course, they will tell you that it's doesn't apply to Commonwealth Care . . . yet.

Most people I know, won't sign up for any of this stuff, even those who are eligible for the free plans. First there's the infamous estate recovery followed by affordability issues (it's not affordable and the Connector just raised the premiums 10% and doubled the copays, so if it wasn't affordable in 2007, it's less affordable starting July 1 - ditto for the penalties) plus, there are privacy issues.

Did you know there are 21 state agencies that will collect and share personal information over the Internet and this list includes third party (outside hired) contractors for any agency - the law explicitly provides for this?

The Federal government will also have access to this data and the state has contracted for all individual information and billing functions to be held and processed in a huge computerized data base that is administered by an international marketing company called Maximus. I believe there's also another company in the mix named Vecna. This massive amount of date-sharing opens far too many Pandora's boxes.

Did you give your consent for your information to be passed around? I didn't.

We all know how safe the Internet is. Fallon Community Health Plan, which happens to be one of the Commonwealth Care providers, had a mega breach of senior's info not too long ago. There's an article about this in the Boston Business Journal. A friend told me there was an editorial in the yesterday's NY Times: "Almost 2,500 patients taking part in a federal medical trial recently had their private health data compromised when a researcher's laptop computer was stolen."

And the databases are just the tip of the iceberg regarding this massive health insurance shakedown.

This law is loaded with hidden caveats. It was never about our health care and well-being, but our state legislators continue the charade although many know it is hurting hundreds of thousands of hard-working taxpayers.

"Reporter" says what sounds true. And let's add to the CommCare contradiction, the Insurance Partnership -- same deal with estate recovery because they use same Mass Health forms as CommCare uses. They just offered me the "help" of $150 a month towards private insurance (I'm self-employed) which I'll refuse because of the

QUESTION, since I like my experience to help make world a better place and am willing to work (within reason) to that end ... to whom might I write (press and govt) to work for ethical paperwork that does the good these programs SAY they want to do, and also have no hidden caveats like,

"We hope that the next version of the MBR will better explain that Commonwealth Care will not recover the assets of its members."