Macomb County board cuts costs with transfer of health programs

Move will help erase $5 million budget mistake

County officials are preparing to transfer three health care programs to a local charity as part of a fiscal reclamation project to repair a $1.7 million hole in the 2011 budget.

After a multiyear, $5 million mistake in previous budgets was discovered, the Board of Commissioners has proceeded with an accounting fix and a move to fire their auditing firm. But that has still left the county’s relationship with Macomb Health Plan, which provides medical care to indigents, up in the air. The county books had wrongly indicated that MHP owed the county $5 million.

On Tuesday, the commissioners appeared ready to grant final approval to transfer to MHP three programs: breast and cervical cancer screening; senior citizen counseling services; and prescription drug provisions for those without insurance coverage.

Turning those programs over to the MHP would remove $1.2 million of the budgeting error. A $500,000 reduction in funds to help with “charity cases” at local hospitals will provide the remaining funds needed to fix the $1.7 million in anticipated revenues that don’t actually exist.

The programs will be provided, through a “seamless transition,” at the new MHP office/clinic located at the Clemens Center in downtown Mount Clemens, according to officials. The charitable agency currently employees 20 workers and expects to hire at least 1-1/2 more employees before the transfer takes effect Jan. 1.

“We have a very qualified staff. We … will look at their duties and see how they fit into this transition,” said Patty Kukula, a founder of MHP.

The breast and cervical cancer screening program, which has already detected 70 tumors in recent years, will service about 1,300 low-income women per year between the ages of 40 and 64.

The senior counseling program will provide therapists in individual and group settings for 700 seniors a year.

The Prescription Resource Network program will continue to assist poor seniors with securing free prescription drugs from pharmaceutical companies that offer charity distributions. PRN will service about 70 clients annually.

County officials were stunned earlier this month when they learned that approximately $5 million in “receivables” from MHP had been incorrectly listed as actual cash revenue from 2006-10. The ensuing bookkeeping solution called for re-issuing the county’s 2010 financial statement with $3.7 million in “invisible” revenues replaced with an allocation from the county “rainy day” fund.

The changes discussed by the board’s Finance Committee on Tuesday consisted of a phase two fix.

Some commissioners were skeptical of the three program transfers because the Office of the County Executive had assured that many workers slated for layoff at the Senior Citizen Services agency would be hired by MHP.

The nonprofit is not providing any guarantees but county Finance Director Pete Provenzano said job losses will be minimal.

Three employees scheduled for layoff at the breast and cervical screening program, currently overseen by the county Health and Community Services Department, will be offered transfers to new jobs within the department.

A full-time counselor facing layoff from Senior Citizen Services is likely to land a position with MHP.

And a full-time worker for PRN has “bumping rights” under a union contract that allows her to maintain employment with the county.

Yet, some commissioners were still not satisfied that such major alterations were needed if they didn’t help balance the budget — except on paper.

“I’m not sure how transferring these (programs) benefits Macomb County. I’m not sure how there is really any savings here,” said Commissioner Kathy Tocco, a Fraser Democrat. “I’m now of the opinion this is being done just to clean up accounting messes.”

The overall budget proposed for 2012 by County Executive Mark Hackel eliminated a $23 million projected deficit and features a small surplus.

On a yearly basis, about 12,000 Macomb County residents rely upon MHP as the health care provider of “last resort.” The program provides primary care by physicians, “urgent” care and diagnostic services.

The bulk of MHP’s clientele come from Warren, Sterling Heights, Clinton Township and Roseville. They largely consist of the long-term unemployed who cannot qualify for Medicaid.

The changes discussed on Tuesday have already been built into the proposed 2012 budget by Provenzano.

The budget — and the agreement with MHP — faces final approval from the commissioners on Dec. 13.

URL: http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2011/11/30/news/doc4ed5963ab3738288931751.prt

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