Health Care diet tips for government

Social Services  Transportation  K-12  Higher Education Local Government  Budget & Taxes  Health Care Audit Reports  Complete List  Success Stories How can we make sure dollars are going to people who need them, and not just to people who can get away with taking them? Try these slimming suggestions: Spend less on Hummers and skateboard guys Washington state is spent $369,000 to rent a Hummer and two "skateboard guys" to visit school districts around the state on a sixteen-week "Tobacco Smokes You Hummer Road Tour"...more Be accountable with Developmental Disabilities benefits During the last five years more than 5,000 recipients of our state's Developmental Disabilities benefits were (or are) ineligible for the services. The cost to taxpayers for this rule-breaking: $19,545,258...more Take illegal aliens off welfare (and keep them off) The Department of Social & Health Services is determined to help illegal aliens receive free medical coverage, even after one state-funded program expired on October 1, 2002...more Tighten the belt on the Basic Health Plan The Health Care Authority asked some Basic Health Plan members to prove income eligibility, and over half couldn't cough up the documentation. That means eligible people on the waiting list go without benefits while unqualified members take their place...more

The rest of the story . . .

Spend less on Hummers and skateboard guys posted on 2/27/03 - WW31 Washington state spent $369,000 to rent a Hummer and two "skateboard guys" to visit school districts around the state on a sixteen-week "Tobacco Smokes You Hummer Road Tour." The idea, according to KING 5 News, was for two cool young guys to drive up to a school in the Hummer (which has four TVs, a lounge set-up, and a 5,000-watt sound system), talk with students for ten minutes about the evils of smoking tobacco, and give away free prizes like a Sony Playstation and an X-box. After a ten-minute speech, students got to spend twenty minutes playing video games. The program was run by a Florida company. When asked about the high cost, Terry Reid of Washington's Department of Health replied: "There are people in the business of making a profit off of this, as there are in every kind of business." When asked to compare the Hummer Tour with the state's "Teens Against Tobacco Use" (TATU) program, which costs $70,000 less and puts hundreds of high-school volunteers to work, Reid said: "There are going to be some kids who that does not faze, because often times the TATU kids look like good kids, and the Hummer guys look like skateboard guys." Was it really a good investment of $369,000 to rent a Hummer and two "skateboard guys" to go around the state giving short speeches and setting up video games? Whoa, dude! Read more about this story in an online KING 5 TV special by Robert Mak. Contact Terry Reid in Washington's Department of Health (360.236.3665), and ask him if he really thinks this is the best use of taxpayer dollars. top   Be accountable with Developmental Disabilities benefits posted on 2/11/03 - WW29 The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently discovered that during the last five years more than 5,000 recipients of our state's Developmental Disabilities benefits were (or are) ineligible for the services. The cost to taxpayers for this rule-breaking: $19,545,258. The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) is managed by the state's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). Nearly 32,000 individuals are in the program, many of whom do meet the eligibility requirements. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) also pointed out that as a result of the inflated numbers due to ineligible recipients, the Department has hired more staff than are necessary to meet the true need for services. It isn't just taxpayers who suffer as a result. When the truly needy in our state must compete with individuals who are not, service availability and quality is reduced. CMS also warned that "Non-compliance of this nature could jeopardize future federal funding of the state's Medicaid program." Read the JLARC audit report on DDD. Read the CMS audit. Contact Linda Rolfe, Director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities (360.902.8484) and ask her what is being done to ensure recipients of benefits are eligible. top   Illegal aliens on welfare posted on 12/31/02 - WW21 On October 1, 2002, legislation was enacted that prohibited illegal aliens from being covered by Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) Medical Assistance. This certainly makes sense. Legal residents shouldn't have to pay for the medical benefits of illegal aliens. The DSHS estimates that this included almost 23,000 people who could not document their legal residency. However, the department is determined to tell non-citizen pregnant women how to get free medical coverage anyway, now through the Basic Health Plan (BHP). The DSHS sent a letter to over 16,000 clients in 20 different languages explaining the transition procedure. The sad part is that there actually is a transition procedure. That's because our state legislators expanded membership in the BHP to help those who were losing coverage. In essence, they traded one form of welfare for another. In sports, coaches and managers get fired for making bad trades all the time. Maybe we should hold our state legislators to the same standard. 3/27/03: U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is requesting enforcement of provisions in the landmark 1996 Federal Welfare Reform law requiring that states seek repayment from sponsors of LEGAL aliens receiving public benefits. When we asked Washington's DSHS if they were enforcing this provision, they said no because "there is ambiguity in the law about several issues related to reimbursement." Rep. Tancredo doesn't see anything ambiguous about it. Click here to visit the Basic Health transition website for more information. You can send email questions about the transition to asktransition@dshs.wa.gov or click here to process an information request online. You can also call DSHS at 800-737-0617. top   Basic Health (without a) Plan posted on 12/31/02 - WW20 The Basic Health Plan (BHP) is designed to subsidize health insurance for 131,000 low-income state residents at a cost of $200 million. But earlier this year a state audit found that a large percentage of plan members earn too much money to qualify. Unfortunately, the Health Care Authority (HCA) doesn't really know how many, because it allowed 37,000 people to subscribe without enough income information for an eligibility review. Of the other 95,000 who provided enough information, 16,000 were asked to prove their income. More than half (54 percent) couldn't cough up the documentation. To its credit, the HCA dropped any of the 16,000 members who didn't respond. And the agency has already rearranged its staff and priorities to better account for our money. Plans are in place to make an annual eligibility review for each subscriber. But that's little consolation to over 4,000 people already on the BHP waiting list. People with genuine needs are going without health insurance while others who are more well-off steal their benefits. And our money. State Auditor Brian Sonntag believes that "wide-scale use of performance measures and performance audits will help build citizen trust and confidence in their government." They might even prevent a few mistakes in the process. After reviewing Basic Health, we couldn't think of a better plan. 1/23/03: New screening requirements imposed by the legislature have resulted in nearly 20,000 individuals being removed from the Basic Health plan after eligibility could not be verified. We commend the Legislature and the Health Care Authority for taking these important steps. Click here to visit the HCA website and provide feedback, or call the HCA at 360-923-2600. And be sure to contact State Auditor Brian Sonntag and tell him he's doing a great job. You can email him at sonntagb@sao.wa.gov or call his office at 360-902-0360. top

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