Senator Kahn asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Kahn’s statement is as follows:
With the growing population of aging—I guess I am one—and people with disabilities and the increased demand on the state budget to bear the primary role of financing long-term care service. Michigan long-term care consumers deserve a strong, sustainable federal and state partnership—partnership that encourages a consumer-focused system of care that ensures adequate consumer protections for beneficiaries.
The current long-term care system is complicated by the fact that Medicare and Medicaid service providers are not able to share acute and long-term care information and decision making. The lack of shared information can cause an individual’s care to become fragmented and result in higher rates of preventable hospitalizations, emergency room utilization, and increased nursing facility admissions. All are detrimental to our health and to our people and driving up costs.
This resolution will request that Congress pass and the President sign legislation that would require the United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to partner with our state, the state of Michigan, and to implement integrated care strategies to provide the necessary long-term care infrastructure and for the service options that we need. In so doing, provide the state of Michigan with the flexibility to utilize Medicare dollars for the benefit of dual-eligible beneficiaries. In so doing, we will improve health, save lives, and save dollars. That is a triple play.