[Vision2020] Gritman's Community Service
David M. Budge
dave at davebudge.com
Fri Feb 25 02:09:52 PST 2005
GOD, PLEASE MAKE THE VOICES STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy mother of pearl! I feel like I've died and gone to Oliver Stone
conspiracy theory hell. Have some of you been raised under heavy power
transmission lines or grew up on a diet of lead based paint chips.
I take what I can stands and I can't stands it no more.
A) Accrording to the online U of I Student Health Insurance Program
brochure, the Idaho State Board of Education requires proof of health
insurance for ALL publicly funded institutions of higher education in
the state. This is not solely a U of I policy.
B) The insurance program is underwritten and administered by the Mega
Life and Health Insurance Company of America. Ergo, the University
makes not one damn dime form the insurance program.
C) The cost of the insurance is about 25% less than the cost of
comparable individual policies purchased through any other competitive
program in the state. Pretty good deal ask ANY insurance agent.
D) The $11 million charged off for indigent care cannot be written off
on their taxes. They don't pay income taxes for cripes sake. They're a
not-for-profit entity!!!!
E) Who, exactly should pay for indigent care? What is happening right
now is that everyone else is paying for those who can't through $20
bandaids. In fact, the people who get screwed the most are those who
either have not the benefit of a collectively bargained health plan
(like SHIP) or a government program (like Medicaid and Medicare) but
I'll get to that in a moment. Write you strinkin' congressman!
Now, as I say, I don't have a dog in this fight (although I was born
there and delivered by the legendary Dr. Wilson for all you townies who
may care.) The current health system in this country is a disaster, but
that's little fault of the hospitals. It's systemic.
You want to get down on the heath care system, that's fair game. But I
see that some here have so little clue as to what in fact are the
pressures on hospitals that their arguments are vacuous hyperbole.
About 80% of health care is used by 20% of the population. About 60% in
total dollars is used by the 13% receiving Medicare. Medicare payments
are highly regulated by the Heath Care Finance Authoritiy (HCFA) and are
paid under a system called Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG's) the sets
maximums for any payment that can be made for any service. This system
has put horrendous strains on the entire hospital system nationally and
I'm sure that Gritman is no exception. Hence, pricing needed to make up
the deficiency ($20 bandaids) is a defacto subsidy by all other payers.
Additionally, under the Community Hopsital Charter Bill, no community
hospital is able to turn anyone away for care regardless of their
ability to pay. This doesn't even include the pricing pressure from
Medicaid. (check out
http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0601patuncon.htm for
some backgound on insruace and HMO's - libertarian rant.)
I assume, but I don't know for sure, that Gritman makes its annual
reports available, in one form or another, to anyone who asks for it.
The accounting used is called Fund Balance Accounting where there is no
equity per say as there is no ownership. Anyone with a bone to pick
with Gritman should get that statement before casting ad hominem attacks
based on groundless assumptions and vacuous logic. My guess is, being
familiar with such things, that Gritaman has a minimal "free funds
balance" and just about all resources are earmarked for specific
programs. If you're really so full of piss and vinegar on the issue get
involved, donate your time to the hospital, and study the finacials, so
no one has to subsidize you ignorance with spilled ink.
Lastly, is it so wrong that anyone makes a profit on anything? How
ridiculously obtuse is this proposition? We live in a market economy
and, although it sometimes lacks in fairness, it seems the best current
model in the egalitarian distribution of goods and services. (hint to
Mr. Arnold - you've got a University in Moscow - how 'bout econ 101.)
You know what? Keep up the pressure and good people like B.J. Swanson
will eventually tell you to go piss off, sell Gritman to Health
Corporation of America and shut down all indigent services. Then
pathetic whiners that think everything in the country relative to
commerce is out to get them will have the opportunity to take their
pathetic paranoia and pound sand. You should be thanking him for doing
otherwise thankless work.
You may have an argument for socialized medicine (regardless of how
wrong heades it may be) but you're making assumptions here that are
based on, from what I can tell ...nothing.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Swanson and the entire
Board of Directors. I've been in similar postions and I know the
sacrifice to one's familyies and personal life it takes.
Dave (Mr. Screed) Budge
Donovan Arnold wrote:
> B.J. Swanson and visioneers,
>
> You write well. However, I don't think you are being honest with the
> community. Let us shine some light on your points.
>
> "The Board of Directors are all volunteers from the community and
> receive no pay."--BJ S.
>
> That is because they make their money off making decisions that result
> in lining their own pockets. Let us take the case of a previous Board
> of Directors Chair. He used his position at UI to require all UI
> students purchase health insurance. This saved Gritman millions of
> dollars in having to pay the indigent fund. After leaving as Chair of
> Board of Directors he now works one day a week as the Director of
> Student Health, Benefits, and Welfare at UI for $90,000 a year and he
> only works ONE day a week, Wednesday, and I don't think he even shows
> up until after 9 AM. That is a cushy job. That is why he doesn't need
> the token pay of the position. He made millions for UI and saved
> millions for Gritman, at the expense of UI Students, many of which
> cannot afford the crappy insurance, that costs more and cut out vision
> and dental.
>
> "Gritman is non-profit"-BJS
>
> Maybe not for the hospital and community but it sure is for some of
> the board of directors and some others that work there. At $20 for a
> band-aid, money has got to going some where because is not going to
> the nurses or the janitors.
>
>
> "Gritman is not a tax supported hospital." BJS
>
> If you believe that I got a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell
> you. Humm, as I seem to recall, the taxpayers donated an entire
> street to Gritman and paid money to build on an entirely new wing to
> the hospital for private doctors to make private profits. Not to
> mention providing all those utilities. Now just because it doesn't
> show as a LINE ITEM on a bill doesn't mean we are not paying for it. I
> think to suggest that the taxpayers are not spending millions of their
> hard earned dollars on Gritman really is dishonest and akin of the
> type of behavior and attitude that has been coming out of the Board of
> Directors for the last few years. Taxpayers do support Gritman and you
> should thank them for it rather than telling them they don't and
> insulting them. Its operations are also supported by taxpayers because
> the hospital is tax exempt and taxpayers have to pay higher property
> taxes as a result.
>
> " Last year, Gritman expensed over $11 million in charity care in this
> community."--BJS
>
> Correction, Gritman wrote-off on their taxes $11 million in charity
> care to the community. Let us not get carried away. And at $20 for a
> band aid, how much care was that? How much did Gritman collect and
> save from not having to pay for indigent care by forcing UI students
> to have expensive health insurance? How much has Gritman made from
> other tax supported entities? How much of that charity was paid as a
> mandate by local, state, and federal law? And where was most of the
> money directed? The answers to those question began to paint a much
> different picture.
>
> "Gritman will pay it's fair share of a BID assessment if it is
> approved."BJS
>
> You mean Gritman won't break the law? Thanks for that agreement.
>
>
> "I challenge you to think of Moscow without Gritman and tell me if you
> would be better off." BJS
>
> Oh please! Are you suggesting that Moscow Residents are to ignorant to
> figure out how to staff a hospital if it were not for BJ Swanson and
> the Board of Directors? That really is disturbing and insulting you
> people think that about yourselves. If Gritman was not there, we would
> have a better hospital like we did before it was taken over by a tax
> dodging and profiteering form of management. We would not have people
> lining up to be on the board of directors to make money off the
> position if it were not for Gritman. We would not have as high of
> property taxes because the private doctors making private profits
> would be paying taxing rather than being supported by them if it were
> not for Gritman. And lastly, I would not be forced to buy inadequate
> health insurance from UI at outrageous prices. The Board of Directors
> cost me an extra $500 a year and my former quality health insurance I
> had before. I think people in Moscow would have to filled with a
> great deal of incompetence not to be better off with a different
> hospital.
>
> Finally, it ought to tell people in Moscow something when a former
> members of the Board of Directors at Gritman would rather be
> helicoptered to Lewiston for treatment rather than be treated at
> Gritman. Maybe they know something.
>
> I know that Gritman has good workers and bad workers, just like every
> place else. However, I think it gets worse when you have greedy profit
> driven management. Greed should never be allowed to rear its ugly head
> in a place that is suppose to provide critical quality care. The
> Gritman Board of Directors, over the last several years, has placed
> the welfare of the community second to huge profits.
>
> Good Day,
>
> Donovan J Arnold
> Victim of Gritman
>
> "How do you tell when a politician is lying? Their lips are moving"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: "B. J. Swanson" <bjswan at moscow.com>
>> To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Gritman's Community Service
>> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 20:12:29 -0800
>>
>>
>> Donovan & Visionaries,
>>
>> The cost of healthcare is certainly a concern for everyone. Instead
>> of a
>> Social Security crisis, the nation probably has a worse healthcare
>> crisis.
>> It's not just Moscow.
>>
>> You may think Gritman is a huge for-profit, corporate hospital, but
>> it is
>> not. Gritman is non-profit. It is owned by the community. The
>> Board of
>> Directors are all volunteers from the community and receive no pay.
>> We do
>> contract with Quorum Health Resources for management of Gritman. Jeff
>> Martin is the only Quorum employee at Gritman. If you have ever
>> looked at a
>> Medicare Cost Report or one of the 300+ contracts Gritman maintains, you
>> would clearly see that to stay in business and provide healthcare
>> that the
>> community expects, we contract with a company that specializes in
>> hospital
>> management. It's an extremely complicated and costly industry, but
>> it also
>> saves lives.
>>
>> Gritman does way more than provide hot chocolate, coffee, etc. to the
>> community. Last year, Gritman expensed over $11 million in charity
>> care in
>> this community. We care for everyone regardless of their ability to
>> pay.
>>
>> Gritman is also the largest private employer with nearly 400 employees.
>>
>> The direct healthcare areas of Gritman are tax exempt. Properties
>> that are
>> leased or not directly related to healthcare are taxed. Gritman will
>> pay
>> it's fair share of a BID assessment if it is approved.
>>
>> You will find that many hospitals in Idaho started out like Gritman;
>> owned
>> and supported by the community. Most have gotten into trouble, sold
>> themselves to for-profit companies or gave themselves to the Counties
>> and
>> became taxing districts. Pullman Regional Hospital is funded by a
>> taxing
>> district. The residents of Pullman are taxed to support their hospital.
>> Gritman is not a tax supported hospital. You will find no line item
>> on your
>> tax bill to support Gritman. It is tax exempt, but you do not pay
>> taxes to
>> keep it running either. Most communities that now have tax supported
>> hospitals would much prefer an arrangement like Gritman.
>>
>> I challenge you to think of Moscow without Gritman and tell me if you
>> would
>> be better off.
>>
>> B. J. Swanson
>> Chairman of the Board
>> Gritman Medical Center
>>
>> ----------------------------------
>>
>>
>> ------ Forwarded Message
>> From: "Donovan Arnold" <donovanarnold at hotmail.com>
>> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:46:57 -0800
>> To: edc at moscow.com, CJs at Turbonet.com, editor at lataheagle.com,
>> vision2020 at moscow.com
>> Subject: [Vision2020] Gritman's Community Service
>>
>>
>> "Gritman provided hot chocolate, coffee, and cookies for
>> participants of
>> the
>> Holiday Parade. Gritman also provides hot dogs and drinks for the
>> Homecoming Parade."
>>
>> Don't forget the lolly pop and a free sticker if you don't cry during a
>> hysterectomy.
>>
>> Really though, it is so nice for UI students to pay an extra $500 a
>> semester
>> in addition to other fees so they can get free coffee and cookies at
>> downtown events. What a deal! And we wonder why students are leaving
>> UI by
>> the hundreds. The logic just doesn't follow :P
>>
>> Donovan J Arnold
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> >From: Barbara Richardson Crouch <edc at moscow.com>
>> >To: <CJs at Turbonet.com>, <editor at lataheagle.com>, vision2020 at moscow.com
>> >Subject: Re: [Vision2020] NSA
>> >Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:55:11 GMT
>> >
>> >Phil,
>> >
>> >Gritman is a not-for-profit corporation. The hospital is controlled
>> and
>> >operated by a board of directors comprised of community members.
>> Gritman
>> >provides millions of dollars per year in unreimbursed care to our local
>> >residents.
>> >
>> >Gritman provides various services and supports downtown events.
>> Gritman
>> >provided hot chocolate, coffee, and cookies for participants of the
>> >Holiday Parade. Gritman also provides hot dogs and drinks for the
>> >Homecoming Parade. Plus Gritman supports finacially many, many events
>> >throughout the community.
>> >
>> >Barbara Crouch
>> >
>> >---------------------------------
>> >
>> > > Kai - If NSA and Grittman (since Grittman is FOR PROFIT) were
>> paying
>> > > property taxes there would not need to be a BID.
>> > >
>> > > Phil
>> > >
>> > > -------Original Message-------
>> > >
>> > > From: Kai Eiselein
>> > > Date: 02/24/05 09:06:41
>> > > To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>> > > Subject: [Vision2020] NSA
>> > >
>> > > Rose, you may want to take a closer look at the BID. I am rather
>> >ambivile> nt
>> > > about it, but I did write an article in the December 9 issue of the
>> >Latah>
>> > > Eagle about the process.
>> > > According to the documents I have, a tax exempt entity is not exempt
>> >from>
>> > > the a BID levy. That would include New St. Andrews College and
>> Gritman
>> >to>
>> > > name a couple. The BID in Twin Falls includes the administrative
>> office
>> >o> f
>> > > the school district, as I recall, and they are subject to the BID
>> levy
>> >as>
>> > > well.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Kai T. Eiselein
>> > > Editor
>> > > Latah Eagle
>> > > 521 S. Jackson St.
>> > > Moscow, ID 83843
>> > > (208) 882-0666 Fax (208) 882-0130
>> > > editor at lataheagle.com
>> > >
>>
>> _____________________________________________________
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>
>
> _____________________________________________________
> List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the
> communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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