Didi Dyke is a dedicated health researcher who enjoys sharing information about her research findings. And now here is a question. Did the advent of future federal health care dollars through Medicaid expansion usher in a sort of reverse ‘crowdout’,, the closure of public services in anticipation of the expansion of Medicaid coverage for private services?
a series of protest rallies and vigils were organized over the next a couple of months.
Community organizations rose up in outrage, after the first two planned clinic closures occurred.
Sitin at the slated to shut down, the Woodlawn Mental Health Center, led to dozens of arrests in April. It’s a well-known fact that the Mental Health Movement, a coalition of groups including Southside Together Organizing for Power and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees union local. While saying that the department was monitoring patients closely throughout the transition, for the very reason to ensure these gaps in care don’t occur, commissioner Choucair objects to these claims. Whenever reporting that patients falling through the cracks, these advocates have already stated the transition period is going poorly. Focus, Choucair stated, needed to be on the most vulnerable, uninsured patients with mental illness who would clearly have no recourse in the private sector, about 80 those percent who seek the city’s help. Choucair has also tried to meet with protesting groups to explain this strategy. Bechara Choucair, reiterated the financial and expansion logic to a crowd gathered at the University of Chicago’s Urban Health Initiative summit.
Besides, the CDPH commissioner.
On Friday, to kickoff the NATO protest weekend, a bunch of citizens took their message all the way to the top, to Mayor Emanuel.
At his home, and went doortodoor to recruit allies in his politically progressive neighborhood, they rallied not at his office in City Hall. Actually, because 1100 insured patients, these patients should receive more time with their ‘city employed’ providers, including Medicaid recipients, must be referred to should available to augment these private clinics, Instead, he claimed that psychiatric services will be enhanced and be more efficient as long as they would now be available whatsoever city clinics for 3000 uninsured patients. Then again, for a mayor also facing huge budget shortfalls, Mayor Emanuel said it’s not about the money. Generally, starting in 2014, Medicaid eligibility should expand to more uninsured patients due to implementation of Affordable Care Act. Demonstrators marched the streets for a wide gamut of causes and viewpoints End the war, Tax the rich, Capitalism has outlived its usefulness!
Real news of the summit was four protests days, while leaders from fifty countries gathered to discuss global security and economic problems. Yesterday marked the official end to the NATO Summit in Chicago, an event that dominated the news of our city, going to be patients instead of behind bars and many victims could’ve been spared the crimes committed by the mentally ill. Instead, That’s a fact, it’s clear that less care and poor continuity lead to the use of the emergency department and the jail system for mental health problems, that are more expensive and less healthy.
Is doing more with less valid, with regard to mental health care. It’s not likely that outpatient mental health services are overutilized. Continuity between patient and provider, the relationship that is vital to mental health care, is disrupted. Although, more than that, capacity isn’t identical to access. Nonetheless, consumer groups decry that closing down clinics subtracts services and that capacity needs been clearly undercalculated. One article estimates that transportation to the remaining fewer clinics will mean extra bus trips and 4 extra miles for poor patients. Hispanic patients previously benefited from Spanish speaking providers at the Northwest Mental Health Center but may now have to travel to other city or private clinics that have fewer language services. Private clinic support and future Medicaid expansion does not solve the capacity problem being that the closed clinics are in already medically underserved areas, for one where few private providers practice.
Chicago Reporter has written skeptically about the Civic Federation and its recommendations, and in an interview with University of Chicago expert Colleen Gorgan, found them rather weak.
Second, the states administer Medicaid, and Illinois’s cuts to mental health care signal that future budget problems will persist, ACA or not.
For nonprofit providers, they will simply have to scale back on services due to an inevitable shortfall, not likely made up by the ‘halfmillion’ dollars promised by the City. Ironically, Therefore if the city’s clinics had stayed open, they should have qualified for more Medicaid dollars from the ACA. As a result, that decision was made by Governor Patt Quinn, faced with a $ 8 billion state deficit and growing. Actually, the closures came on the heels of Illinois’s cuts to in Medicaid payments to mental health provider across the state. Providers and others claim that the City listened to the advice of The Civic Federation, a nonprofit private research group that comments often on state and local budget problems, who suggested the City consider closing clinics as they were dead meat anyway, in anticipation of a private sector expansion under the Affordable Care Act.
One group of Chicagoans used the international spotlight and took to the streets to highlight a local problem.
Mental Health clinics by the Chicago Department of Public Health that served that uninsured and Medicaid patients.
By the way, the city once had 12 health clinics that provided mental health services to about 5100 underserved patients. Last fall, however, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the CDPH announced that they should close six of these clinics and fully fund only two of them, lay off over 50 staff, transfer care of insured patients to private mental providers, and save $ 3 million by consolidating services. Consequently, rahm spins it. Then, what frustrates protesters the most are the Mayor’s and CDPH’s claims that the closures will lead to more, not less, mental health service, through the consolidation of services and use of the private sector. On top of that, it’s a claim that Dr. They are cutting services when we have a greater and greater need.
