F.Y.I

One of the nurses on my team will have more than the $105.00 deduction limit by the end of the month probably every month. He contacted SEIU to complain, stating that ODJFS should be able to calculate when the monthly limit has been satisfied. SEIU employee stated that ODJFS system will deduct weekly regardless, will not keep track of month-to-date total and the PROVIDER is responsible to contact SEIU for reimbursement request. The office person also stated that a check should be cut and released by the 15th of the next month.

Please contact SEIU at 800.227.1199 and confirm they have your correct address. The office person said that not all info that ODJFS has provided is accurate, i.e., address, phone numbers. And please hang in there, don't lose hope that we can be free of this union!!!

The state cannot require union membership as a condition of participation. Under the law governing public employees, the most that a state and union can require is payment of the objector fee. So even if IPs can be treated like public employees, they cannot be forced to be full union members. However, I would wager that a lot of people will "voluntarily" sign up for the union if they think that they must to re-enroll.

Strickland wants Passport patients staffed by IPs

The correspondence below is self-explanatory. My question is...will these positions be mandatory union positions?


From: Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice
Date: June 11, 2010 1:01:17 PM EDT

Major Expansion of Choice in PASSPORT Would Add IPs as Providers;
Strickland Administration Wants Change in Place by End of the Year

The Ohio Department of Aging (ODA) is moving rapidly to expand the PASSPORT program to accommodate another provider type -- specifically a consumer-directed individual provider -- referred to in other programs as IPs or independent providers.

The Director of ODA has said the goal is to have this major expansion in place by the end of the year. ODA plans to have several important and complex aspects of the program expansion accomplished and in place by November. Amending the waiver and approval by CMS is just one of the many steps in the process, along with rewriting the administrative law rules.

Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice (OCHCH), the longest serving state association representing 500 home care and hospice agencies, is taking the lead in working diligently with ODA on providing comments and recommendations. Assuring safety for our elderly and most frail population is extremely important, said Kathleen Anderson, President for OCHCH. She said OCHCH members have had years of knowledge on how expansions of this type work, starting with the Ohio Home Care Waiver Program in 1998, which was the first program to allow independent providers.

OCHCH will keep its members apprised of its advocacy efforts, along with any changes and revisions to the program that are under discussion. Those of you who are not members of OCHCH can stay abreast of this important development - and assist us in providing input - by joining the association. Join now and recognize a 50% savings on your membership via mid-year dues. Click here for OCHCH dues information.

As the providers of quality care day in and day out, you have the expertise to fully understand the impact this change would have so we greatly welcome and appreciate your comments and questions. Please let us know your assessment of this change as soon as possible since time is of the essence.

"We can lose our right to work?"

If you read the opening notification window on the Rhinobill website this morning while you were billing, you would have read we either pay up or lose our "right to work". Unbelievable...contact you State Senator, contact Gov Strickland. SEIU can't be allowed take away our right to work!

Important Links

Check out the links list on the right bar of the page, "Find Your Ohio Senator" and "Contact Ohio Governor Strickland". Find your state Senator, contact him/her and keep contacting until the SEIU goes away and we get our freedom back, do the same with Governor Strickland. Don't forget this is an election year!

The "National Right To Work" is doing great work fighting unwanted unionization across the country, keep track of the great work. You may consider being a contributor.

Columbus Dispatch Article

From June 8, 2010 the Columbus Dispatch ran an article alleging the union dues will be used to fund Gov. Strickland re-election campaign. Please note that Strickland says the union is voluntary....that's not what I'm experiencing. Union Dues A Campaign Issue

FTC Letter

State Senator Bill Seitz commissioned the FTC to study feasibility of the unionization of the Independent Home Care providers.
FTC Letter to Strickland

Propoganda: Who is SEIU District 1199?

Many of the folks contacting me about this have been asking how the union has the right to just take our money; well, here is a flyer and notice received on May 18, 2010 in the packet from SEIU, which was sent to all the new non-member fee payers.
Read discerningly - SEIU Packet.

Executive Order HB119

See the Executive Order HB119 by Gov. Ted Strickland

Disclaimer

Before you begin reading my posts...please understand I am not a writer. I talk better than I write. So if you feel the contents of my posts sound amateurish, they are. I just want to disseminate information to those concerned about the violation and taking of our free will by an organization that nowhere near reflects my values. For me this organization symbolizes a lot of what is wrong with America today. If you don't believe that, cool...but contributing my hard dollars against my will is just plain wrong.

Also, this blog is meant for people to share thoughts and ideas. I know there are people out there who want this to go away and probably have some great solutions so share them please. If you have not blogged before, well...I can tell you when blogging first got started I thought no way would I ever do such a time consuming waste of my day. Now I realize we can communicate so much better this way than trying to email throughout the whole state. So please join me.

Pat Griggs, RN, BSN
Independent Provider Medicaid Waiver Program

Some History...

On July 17, 2007, Governor Ted Strickland signed Executive Order HB119 enabling the SEIU to organize the Independent Providers with the Medicaid Waiver for collective bargaining. It was a payback deal he made with the SEIU for all the campaign contributions he received for the 2006 election.

To accomplish the goal of organizing the Providers, the union started their organization campaign by mailing the Providers preliminary information, most likely a card that needed to be returned, to see what kind of support was out there. I feel Providers saw this info and either tossed it (like I did) or thought "I'm SELF EMPLOYED", I don't need a union to help manage "MY BUSINESS."

Note: I have a story to tell about my experience with a phone solicitor at the SEIU. After a long conversation about my anti-union feelings, the phone solicitor told me I would not be receiving a ballot and hung up!! I tried to call the SEIU to politely ask for a ballot to be sent out and could not reach anyone at any office. I called the Governor's office to complain, they said call the union.

Back to the topic, union organizing meetings were held throughout the state, another mailing was made with the ballot, and those that voted, gave us this gift. A contract was constructed, the new members voted to ratify and here we are today.

I would like to have input on what we can do to make a huge ruckus to let Gov. Strickland know that we will not be forced to pay union dues or belong to an organization the does not represent our businesses. We are self employed and don't need this unwanted involvement.

In closing, I will be adding articles and documents for you to read and stay informed.