2013 Affordable Health Care Summit & Fair Update - August 9, 2013

PERSERVANCE IS THE KEY

August 8, 2013

MILWAUKEE | Mary Glass, Chair/CEO, Milwaukee Professionals Asssociation LLC, said, "The 2013 Affordable Health Care Fair and Summit was a demonstration in PERSEVERANCE. The centerpiece Walk-thru Fair, fell short of its mark and was cancelled.  There was a venue change for the summit. We never wavered from the goal to provide Preparedness information for the People and the glaring need of fact-based information.  We have gained so much by this endeavor and look forward to bounce-back from the strengths gained.  I have already approved the event for our 2014 schedule".

SUMMIT Highlights

Highlights of the 2013 Affordable Health Care Summit discussions by Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC, August 2-4, 2013, included dialog with 3 Wisconsin elected officials, small gatherings, 1-on-1 interviews and collaborations.  The change of the summit venue was to St. Francis Assisi Parish instead of Big Eazy Catering and Conference Center.  The rest of the strategic planning of the summit was held in Closed session Saturday, Sunday and Monday for strategic planning the next 15 months.

Matthew 18:20 was very evident throughout the 2 1/2 days of the 2013 Affordable Health Care Summit and contributed to its real success, said Glass.

L-R: Top Table Photo - Rep Jon Richards, District 19, Supervisor District, Publisher, Mathew Johnson,                              Summit Host Mary Glass, MPA LLC, Molina Health Care Representatives Alexandria Alvarado and Matthew Elder

Infrastructure Opening - The 2013 Affordable Health Care Summit kick-off was complimented by support from Father Michael Bertram and Staff of St. Francis Assisi Parish, 1927 N. 4th Street, Milwaukee, WI  53212, WELCOME by Quintessential Developer and Realtor Beechie Brooks, the presence of three (3) elected officials - Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander, 18th District, Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen, 10th District, and Representative Jon Richards, 19th District; input and commitment of support for outreach by Publisher, Matthew Johnson, Fellas and Girl Friends Magazine; and, industry information by Alexandria Alvarado and Matthew Elder of Molina Health Care.

Exchange with Richards, Alexander and Bowen identified specific needs that will strengthened outreach to other elected, appointed and hired government representatives.  By the elected officials being in attendance, they kept the door-open as it relates to Oath of Office, building trust and response to Invitation.

During summit, MPA LLC announced its addition of a strategic team.  It is called:
Milwaukee Caucus for Affordable Health Care.  The MCAHC Team's goal is to keep a close eye on the health care and health insurance marketplace for reform and best practices.  To help ensure that residential and commercial consumers at the census tract and neighborhood level are included as decision makers in the blueprinting and DNA of the Wisconsin Health Care plan for affordability.  The team was asked to persevere in specific areas.  During the summit, Chair/CEO Glass OK'd ten (10) issues of focus, research, action and evaluation for 2013-2016 - SWOT (STRENGTH-WEAKNESS-OPPORTUNITY-THREAT) team of MPA LLC.  The Summit Infrastructure follow-up includes:

1. Affordable Health Care Reform laws.
2. Community Care Inc. collaboration exclusivity and lack of for-profit, private and independent organizations for service delivery of health care.
3. Cost Shifting and Cost Sharing.
4. Encouraged Electorate Engagement in their District for Preparedness, i.e., MPA LLC Case Learning-Study Internship from high school, college and small business.
5. Expansion of Medicare - Pros & Cons for reform.
6. Wisconsin Hospitals budget windfall of $73 million.
7. Intersection of Badger Care and Walker's 90,000 low income Medicaid plan.
8. Oversight and Accountability of government funded organizations; i.e., 16th Street Health, Public Policy,  Community Care Inc.,  Wisconsin Hospital Association & St. Mary's plan.
9. Public/Private Education sites and Health collaborations, i.e., Exclusion University of Wisconsin of Milwaukee and Aurora and Medical College Froedert/Columbia St. Mary.
10. WI Federally-Assisted Exchange Transparency and Best Practices Monitoring.

Alexandria Alvarado and Matthew Elder of Molina Health Care were part of the Infrastructure briefing and provided information about Molina Health Care (one of the insurances of the WI Exchange) and 20-county outreach, market focus and what the marketplace looks like at this time.  The need for more information was echoed by Richards,  Bowen and Alexander.

Matthew Johnson, Publisher, was asked to bring and share copies of his two health magazines, Fellas and Girl Friends Magazines.  Johnson is a passionate advocate of improving health and health care.  He has extensive outreach at the national and local level.  His commitment to assist Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC in the engagement of Preparedness for Affordable Health Care is an example of MPA LLC All Hands on Deck, WE CAN initiative.

Fellas' mission is to inform, encourage, strengthen and build men by introducing healthy lifestyle concepts, and providing valuable and concise tips on how to maintain a health regimen.  Girl Friends' mission is to sustain educational health literacy activities and encourage positive lifestyle invention via our heal outreach events and health literacy materials.  Fellas Magazine kiosks are at available at Piggly Wiggly east Capitol Drive, as long as copies last.  Subscription  copies:  www.fellashealth.com.

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Noon 1-on-1

Special Guest, Beechie Brooks, Quintessential Realtor and Real Estate Developer of Halyard Park Neighborhood provided the Welcome and historic presence for Halyard Park, one of 8 demonstration neighborhoods by MPA LLC.

In the early 1970's Brooks' dream was to create modern homes with owner-occupied dwellers.  His perseverance and partnering were keys to the successful development of the Halyard subdivision. He  has been in Real Estate over 62 years and very much visible in efforts of outreach today.  

Wilbur and Ardie Halyard
namesake - Halyard Park Neighborhood

Brooks shared with Glass how perseverance pays off big time.  He told of his pursuit to make Halyard Park a Family-Friendly Neighborhood was dismissed by the powers-to-be and his idea was not believed at the time.  How his financial exchange of no support to the city floating a Bond for the development of his idea after potential homeowners (he was able to bring to the table) proved to be a giant financial success.  How the efforts of Ardie and Wilbur Halyard of Columbia Savings & Loan were the financial underpinning at the beginning by leveraging risk for the  Halyard Park housing development; especially since during the time of development, African Americans were not granted housing finance opportunities as well as rates were high.

Columbia Savings & Loan - 2000 W. Fond du Lac

George Gary, President, Columbia Savings & Loan, put Brooks idea in motion with Commitment Letters backed by Columbia and and the rest is history.  He created through his idea and work with "like-minds" a housing development that has remained and is the envy of any neighborhood - in or out of the city.  Halyard Park is named after the Halyards and 138 households.

Glass's uncle, Mack Bond, Grocery Store Owner and United Realty Agent worked with Beechie Brooks.

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1-on-1

National outreach was made by Mary Glass, Chair/CEO, MPA LLC to speak directly with visitors to the National Governors Association for information sharing and networking.  It was a Starbucks moment.  The impromptu face-to-face chat addressed the summer conference agenda on Health Care of the over 20 governors visiting Milwaukee as well as the reason for attending the conference.   Dr. David Anderson of Washington Center Internship said the Milwaukee NGA conference was his 18th conference. The impromptu chats included:   

• Mike Lake, Member of Parliament - Canada
• Dr. David Anderson, The Washington Center
• Officer Patrick (Delaware Sheriff Department) - Governor Jack Markell's office, and
• Melinda Jenkins, Senior Legislative Associate, National Governors Association.

Jenkins was given a copy of MPA LLC blog - Beyond Pomp & Ceremonies - NGA for Governor Jack Markell and the leadership of the conference.  CLICK 

Additionally, Glass was able to share her card and establish face-to-face contact with Erin Cohan, Special Project Manager, NGA, in the Hilton lobby to see if contact can be made for further information about how the National Governors provide services to the Governors for the betterment of our nation.

Summit - MPA LLC Pioneer 
  

Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC is a pioneer in the city of Milwaukee for ensuring that Preparedness for residential and commercial consumers of the Affordable Health Care law at the census tract and neighborhood level is a value-added achievement process.  

The Closed meetings of the 2013 Affordable Health Care Summit, August 2-4, 2013 addressed the Infrastructure and tracks of collaboration that will help design the framework of the Affordable Health Care options for the hundreds of thousands in Milwaukee who have little to no health care as well as the boutique small businesses with 1-20 employees at the census tract and neighborhood level.  These are the folk that are in need of access to knowledge about the requirements of the ACA law and how-to navigate information presented to them by representatives of the United States government as well as the private payers for health care.  These are the folk MPA LLC represents.

The lack of collaborative connectivity was seen more and more the last four months when continued outreach was made to elected, appointed and hired government participants with the role and responsibility to provide leadership for the first national health plan for Americans - What is promised?  What's delivered?  What's understood?  What is the cost?

Closed Session - Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC prides its efforts as a Pioneer in Milwaukee's Preparedness sharing for the Affordable Health Care law.  Therefore, the summit's theme, What is promised?  What's delivered?  What's understood?  What is the cost? - was the dialog around strategies for systematic address to reform Wisconsin health care.  Twenty points are now on the table for the frontier of health care planning for productive discussions by MPA LLC over the next 15 months.  They are:

1. ALL ARE VALUE PURCHASERS in the insurance market.
2. Change the “BIRTH ORDER” of health practitioners through use of scope of practice.
3. Common Use of ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS by health practitioners - residential and commercial consumers.
4. Consolidation for value-based insurance for ALL not OLIGOPOLY Control by a few.
5. Do not RE-INVENT the wheel while building on what works for ALL.
6. EMPHASIS public and private in UNIFORM BILLING and BUNDLING.
7. ENCOURAGE AFFORDABILITY through public and for profit partnerships.
8. HARNESS RESOURCES – Education and Information Technology Attainment - People, ideas, tools and funding.
9. HOME HEALTH CARE models for lower cost and valued health care.
10. Identify multi-year SPENDING TARGETS and SAVING TARGETS.
11. INCENTIVIZING and VALUE-BASED Insurance design.
12. MARKET ACCOUNTABILITY and HIGH PERFORMING Accountable Health Organizations.
13. MERIT DATA that is MEASURED DATA for growth and regulating rules.
14. OUT-OF-NETWORK cost management.
15. REDUCE COST and REDUCE COST SHIFTING.
16. REMOVE BARRIERS to access insurance for boutique small businesses.
17. RESIST one size fits ALL insurance models - know the market.
18. USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY for improving health care.
19. USE OF WELLNESS as an incentive in “disease management”.
20. WIDEN THE LENS for participation of ALL.

Discrimination, Oligopoly and Exclusion 

Discrimination has been documented before September 19, 2012 and over the last 10-months that impact negatively at the local, state, county and city government in the marketplace that supports "high cost" business-as-usual health care services at the local level. The lack of best practices is ubitiquous - federal, state, local government representatives (elected-hired-appointed).

The cancerous links of cronyism must be exposed daily-continuously to help ensure that change/reform is seen.  Positive health and health care for Milwaukeeans are gimmicks to mimic the federal regulations, but make no mistake, low income and People of Color, those by design that are being left out, are the same ones that have little to NO insurance and will through no fault of their own be further disadvantaged by the lack of preparedness and power plays by Governor Scott Walker, hospital groups, cronies of hospital groups, elected officials being used and engaging in conflict of interest as well as allied health groups wanting a piece of the mega funding.

We also have the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services engaging in "discrimination" and "selective sharing" of information.

We see oligopoly groups coming together and forging power-takeovers, claiming representation without inclusion of African American, other People of Color and the Work Challenged.  We see local "non-profits" and "independents" leading the charge with open and outright discrimination.

We see cronyism taking on a NEW badge of honor that must be destroyed.

The Closed summit looked at the discrepancies and disparities identified and formed a NEW SWOT team with specific bullets of change and Reform that includes national reporting as a way of life. For starters, large power groups that are seen as oligopoly organizations are our first order of business to seek engagement of Preparedness and Inclusive of the urban residential and commercial decision makers at the census tract and neighborhood level, i.e., Dean Health Care (largest HMO), Wisconsin Hospital Association, University of WI-Milwaukee, Columbia St. Mary's, Aurora Health, Froedert, Wheaton Franciscan, Milwaukee Health Care Partnership, community Care Inc., Department of Aging and 16th Street.

In fact, PERSEVERANCE¹⁰ power is the take-away message from the 2013 Affordable Health Care Summit this past weekend to help ensure that an expanded lens and accountability by MPA LLC will go a long way to empower all stakeholders.

The People

Infrastructure

Wisconsin is a Federally-Assisted Exchange.  That means that the U.S. Department of Health &; Human Services, Region 5, will provide the citizenry of Wisconsin (over 5 million folk) with the implementation of the U.S. law of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) - the federal statute that was signed into law in the United States by President Barack Obama, March 23, 2010 and scheduled for full implementation January 1, 2014.  So far, Region 5 has chosen to be "missing-in-action".

The clamor of divide and rancor in the United States House of Representative and the United States Senate has members of the public square jaded.

Social Security - A United States federal program of social insurance and benefits developed in 1935. The Social Security program's benefits include retirement income, disability income, Medicare and Medicaid, and death and survivorship benefits. Social Security is one of the largest government programs in the world, paying out hundreds of billions of dollars per year.  Investopedia

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