Carter Wrenn posted on October 12, 2009 19:56
Tim Rogers – the Director at the Association of Hospice and Home Care – has taken his life in his hands and tackled Craigan L. Gray, MD, MBA, JD and Director of the Division of Medical Assistance at Department of Health and Human Services head on.
Rogers wrote Doctor Gray to explain how Gray’s letter to elderly Medicaid patients (see blog below) about losing their home care has caused a lot of upheaval – and urged Dr. Gray to send another letter to clear the air. Gray’s answer was, ‘Thank you for your input. Let’s talk about it sometime’ – which sounds kind of like a polite sandbag, but, whatever it is, hardly solves the problem.
It turns out Doctor, Lawyer, MBA Gray made a couple of other mistakes in his letter. First, he wrote every Medicaid patient in the state they had to undergo an ‘independent assessment’ to see if they should continue to receive home care. But, in fact, the new ‘independent assessments’ only apply to patients applying to receive home care for the first time – not patients whose doctors have already placed them in care and who’ve been receiving it with DHHS approval for years.
Gray also wrote the elderly patients and told them not to talk about the care they need to home care providers. That looks like he misunderstood another new provision of the law. More to the point: Not talking to the person providing your care creates a pretty obvious practical problem.
Doctor Gray’s one of the most powerful men in state government – except for Secretary Lanier Cansler he has more say in who gets care than anyone. He controls millions of dollars in state contracts and spends hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money.
Right now he’s struggling with the mess the legislature left him with the budget, trying to figure out how to cut care to patients who’re legally eligible – and need – care.
His letter may be a first step in that direction – and a misguided step. There was no need to send elderly patients letters that intimidated – at least part of – them. And, beyond that, folks in America sort of like to practice freedom of speech and, generally, more good comes of it than harm.