I was half asleep when I turned on the TV this morning. I heard a commercial trashing the Florida Lip Council. Hmmm. Never heard of them. When I woke up I looked them up. LIP stands for Low Income Pool (it has something to do with Hospital funding). More important, they decide what to do with $1 Billion of our tax dollars! Holy smoke! Now I care. Anyway, I entered "Lip Council Sucks" in google to get the scoop on why the commercial was aired.
Apparently Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) wants Lip abolished. What is AIF you might ask (I figured they might be a barf worthy group). Well their website says:
Since 1920, AIF has pursued a pro-business agenda based on our members’ recommendations. Our every move is calculated to promote the well-being and common interest of Florida business and industry on issues relating to Energy, Environment, Growth Management, Health Care, Insurance, Labor, Legal, Taxation, and other matters of concern to the business community.
I don't have a handle on this issue yet but it looks to be a good one. I was told HCA Hospitals has a hand in it, are they pulling AIF strings? Don't know. Would like to know AIF's REAL motives. Here is the AIF February 10th press release where they air their grievances against LIP followed by the Lip Council Members:
February 10 , 2009
AIF URGES LEGISLATORS TO ABOLISH THE LIP COUNCIL
~Associated Industries of Florida Advocates for Government Transparency and Accountability~
TALLAHASSEE –The Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) board of directors recently voted to support the elimination of the Low Income Pool (LIP) council, a group established by the Florida Legislature to make recommendations on the financing of the LIP and the distribution of more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds.
“In this new era of transparency and accountability, we should take a hard look at the practices of our government. One of the first places to look in Florida is the LIP Council,” said Barney Bishop III, President and CEO of AIF. “The LIP council is comprised of industry insiders who tell the Legislature how to spend taxpayers’ money. We believe that the experts at the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Legislature should provide a plan to appropriate these taxpayer funds in a fair and transparent manner that carries out the mission of providing healthcare to the neediest in Florida.”
Senator Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) and Representative Jimmy Patronis (R-Panama City) have sponsored legislation to abolish the LIP council, which consists of 17 individuals. Almost all of the members of the council are lobbyists or direct employees of the hospitals that receive the funds.
AIF supports the elimination of the LIP council and believes taxpayer dollars need to be protected and appropriated by the Legislature.
_________________________
Low Income Pool (LIP) Council Members
(2007-2008)
Member Name/Title Address/Contact Information Representation
Paul Belcher
Council Chairman
Senior Vice President
Florida Hospital Association
306 East College Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Office (850) 222-9800
E-mail: paul@fha.org
Rural Hospitals
Lewis Seifert
Senior Finance Officer
Florida Hospital – Orlando
2400 Bedford Road, 4th Floor
Orlando, FL 32803
Office (407) 303-5600
E-mail: lewis.seifert@flhosp.org
Private Non-Profit Hospitals
Michael Gingras
Director of Operations Finance
Health Management Associations
5811 Pelican Bay Boulevard, Suite 500
Naples, FL 34108
Office (239) 598-3131
E-mail : mike.gingras@hma.org
Private-Investor Owned
Hospitals
Mike Hutchins
Hospital Administrator
Jay Hospital
14114 Alabama Street
Jay, FL 32565
Office (850) 675-8015
E-mail: mike.hutchins@bhcpns.org
Rural Hospitals
Pete Clarke
Deputy Director
Orange County Government
Department of Health and Family Services
2100 East Michigan Street
Orlando, FL 32806
E-mail: Pete.Clarke@ocfl.net
Jeff Jones
Vice President of Finance
Shands HealthCare
P.O. Box 100336
Gainesville, FL 32610
Office (352) 265-8304
E-mail: jonjef@shands.ufl.edu
Statutory Teaching Hospitals
John Benz
Senior Vice President and
Chief Strategic Officer
Memorial Health Care System
3501 Johnson Street
Hollywood, FL 33021
Office (954) 987-2000
E-mail: jbenz@mhs.net
Public Hospitals
Tony Carvalho
President
Florida Statutory Teaching Council
Florida Statutory Teaching Hospital Council
101 North Gadsden Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Office (850) 201-2096
E-mail: tony@fsthc.org
Statutory Teaching Hospitals
Dave Ross
Vice President of Finance
Tenet Health System
South Florida Region
500 West Cypress Road, Suite 700
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
Office (954) 351-7757
E-mail: david.ross@tenethealth.com
Private Investor Owned
Hospitals
Marvin O’Quinn
President & CEO
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Jackson Memorial Hospital
1611 N.W. 12th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136
Office (305) 585-6754
E mail: moquinn@um-jmh.org
Public Hospitals
Steve Short
Sr. Vice President & CFO
Tampa General Hospital
2 Columbia Drive
Tampa, Florida 33606
Office (813) 844-4805
E mail : sshort@tgh.org
Statutory Teaching
Dee Schaeffer
CEO Halifax Healthy Communities
Halifax Community Health System
655 N. Clyde Morris Blvd., Suite A
Daytona Beach 32114
(386) 323-0000 Phone
E-mail: deanna.schaeffer@halifax.org
Family Practice Teaching
Hospitals
Steve Mason
President and CEO
BayCare Health System
16331 Bay Vista Dr.
Clearwater, FL 33760
Office 727-820-8002
E-mail: steve.mason@baycare.org
Private Non-Profit Hospitals
Hugh Greene
President and CEO
Baptist Health
800 Prudential Dr.
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Office 904-202-4011
E-mail: hugh.greene@bmcjax.com
Private Non-Profit Hospitals
Dwight Chenette
CEO
Health Care District of Palm Beach County
324 Datura St.
Suite 401
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Office 561-659-1270 x5521
E-mail: dchenett@hcdpbc.org
Mike Marks
Division CFO
HCA West Florida Division
31975 U.S. Highway 19 North
2nd Floor
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
727-793-6002
E-mail: mike.marks@hcahealthcare.com
Private Investor-Owned
Hospitals
Charlotte Mather
Vice President
Government Relations/Public Affairs
North Broward Hospital District
303 SE 17th Street, 5th Floor
Ft Lauderdale, FL 33316
(954) 355-5180
E-mail: cmather@nbhd.org
Public Hospitals
10 comments:
CHECK OUT THE ORLANDO SENTINEL:
Outside of Tallahassee, there are probably more digits on your hands and feet than people who know anything about the state's Medicaid Low Income Pool (LIP) Council, a panel of health care lobbyists and hospital officials who recommend how some $2 billion in health care dollars get spent.
But a hospital war has been brewing in Tallahassee over the 17-member council. This month, a TV campaign began in Tallahassee, sponsored by a secretive group called Floridians for Government Accountability, blasting the panel appointed by AHCA's secretary as one that "let the lobbyists and special interests spend our tax dollars."
The LIP council was created amid the Medicaid reform zeal of 2005 as a way for the biggest, urban health care providers to have more input in where more than $1 billion in federal low-income money for treating the poor and uninsured is disbursed to re-imburse hospitals.
To draw down more federal dollars, some 22 local governments and hospital districts have also contributed about $850 million into the pool, the lion's share from Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Orange County's contribution is about $14 million.
The criticism is coming from medical and business interests that don't like the fact that some hospital representatives are making recommendations for how much money would go back to their own employers. HCA Healthcare is among the critics. And this week, the business-lobbying group Associated Industries of Florida added its voice to the criticism, calling for the panel to be abolished.
“The LIP council is comprised of industry insiders who tell the Legislature how to spend taxpayers’ money," AIF President Barney Bishop said in a statement. "We believe that the experts at the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Legislature should provide a plan to appropriate these taxpayer funds in a fair and transparent manner that carries out the mission of providing healthcare to the neediest in Florida.”
Confused yet? Even lawmakers overseeing that area of the budget had basic questions about how the panel works Wednesday.
"Let me start off with an apology: I'm going to confuse you today," Florida Hospital Association VP and LIP Chairman Paul Belcher told the House Health Care budget committee Wednesday morning.
"And if you fully understand what I'm going to say, I'd like you to volunteer to be a member of the LIP Council."
Belcher's basic defense was that the panel has had a hard time keeping everybody happy as it divvies out a dwindling supply of cash for growing Medicaid demands on services.
Lawmakers are reviewing the recommendations the panel makes.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, have filed bills to do away with the panel.
"This is the third time of hearing an explanation ... and this is by far my most enjoyable experience," Patronis said Wednesday.
What? I read the post, the newspaper article above and this is still an issue I don't get. It sounds like it might be that AIF members are getting stiffed so they are seeking revenge. I don't trust the lot of them.
There are a senator and representative that are sponsoring a bill to get rid of the council because the folks that sit on it work for the hospitals and then they decide which hospital get what money. The decision should be with the legislators.. not a bunch of lobbyists.
The bill doesnt take away the money-- just who decides what amount the hospitals get.
What does AIF want out of the change?
because the funding goes to hospitals who care for the majority of this state's poor and indigent. the funding is seen as entitlement $. please check this out. these folks on the council have extensive experience in their fields and these ads are just wrong.
HCA West Florida is a comprehensive network of hospitals, outpatient surgery and diagnostic imaging facilities, and a complete continuum of specialized health programs and services that meet the healthcare needs of residents and businesses in West and Central Florida communities. Our parent company, HCA, is the nation’s leading provider of healthcare services. HCA West Florida affiliated facilities include:
* 15 hospitals
* 17 ambulatory surgery centers
* numerous diagnostic imaging facilities and occupational health sites
* an integrated regional lab
* and a consolidated service center
It sounds like the AIF agenda has no one's best interest other than their own members. They sound like an anti-public organization, and trust me, in a time when not just low income families are seeking services due to job loss or slow downs,I would guess the AIF agenda is to step into the pot of money that LIP probably uses to fund services to those who are not able to cover the medical or legal costs of every day life. I cannot imagine that AIF wants to provide those services to the indigent on a long-term basis. They want to just get their hands on the money, and then do what they can get away with to help fund their business members in a slow economic period.
Business associations and chambers are evil when it comes to non-members or the needs of the little guy.
Read it again, Our every move is calculated to promote the well-being and common interest of Florida business and industry on issues relating to Energy, Environment, Growth Management, Health Care, Insurance, Labor, Legal, Taxation, and other matters of concern to the business community.
Does that sound like AIF wants to help Mom and Pop?
This just keeps getting better and better...I am beginning to think LIP are the good guys on this one. This General is a lobbyist from what I read (don't know where this is from since it was sent anonymously by email):
A retired Air Force Brigadier General cozy with his area State Senator publically advances the hospital industry’s ‘black hats’ agenda!
Black hats dual agenda – public agenda, end LIP, private agenda, create favorable conditions to enhance physician admissions.
Take out LIP dollars via a possible new formula and many hospitals will face serious financial limitations, bond down grades, and limited access to capital, effectively rending such hospitals, second class institutions. Make no mistake, this is the desired condition the black hats are working diligently to attain. NFP hospitals will have difficulty maintaining CAPEX and important ‘other item’ line item spending, often the source of payments to physicians.
The battle noise is about LIP, but the black hats’ goal is the shortage commodity, physicians and same market physicians are easier to encourage to realign when the NFP’s financial capacity is compromised.
For several years, I have been saying repeatedly NFP hospitals need to broaden their health policy advocacy beyond the traditional narrow stake like approach of trade associations and lobbyists to become builders of community coalitions, building net like structures and linking various hospitals formal net’s together, in effect building a grass roots community network. This is exactly what the black hats are in the process of doing by assuming a very conservative right political perspective, inviting people to join and focusing upon LIP as an example.
In Business intelligence commentary, I have presented one black hat company’s recent performance as strong and when compared to same market NFP hospitals via bond disclosures one must recognize the black hat performance as very strong, enabling their position to enhance same market physician career considerations!
A hospital CEO and a few friends voices carry little weight when compared to tens of thousands of voters!
The time to begin building the ‘community network’ is – well past due!
TV SPOT SEEKING TO GET RID OF LIP COUNCIL EXPANDS TO SOUTH FLA
A tv ad calling on lawmakers to eliminate the Low Income Pool Council has expanded to the South Florida airwaves. The LIP Council has come under fire as a “special interest group” that doles out about $1 billion in tax money to hospitals, with critics saying the hospital officials on the council simply steer the money to their own facilities. Members of the LIP Council say they should have a say on how the money is distributed because they represent the local governments that contribute the money. But they also say they're simply making recommendations and the Legislature ultimately decides where LIP money goes. Legislation (SB 556, HB 285) have been filed to eliminate the LIP Council.
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