WHO IS OPPOSING TREATMENT EXPANSION FOR MARYLAND’S BIGGEST
HEALTHCARE CRISIS?
On Tuesday, February 21st, the House Health
& Government Operations Committee will hear from constituents about why
they should require hospitals to establish a substance use treatment program to
identify patients in need of treatment and admit the patient to the appropriate
treatment setting or, if admission is not required, direct the patient to the
appropriate outpatient treatment setting.
Hospitals would be required to provide TREATMENT ON DEMAND 24
hours a day / 7 days a week.
The Maryland Hospital Association is opposing this
legislation because it would cost the hospitals “too much money” to save the lives of our children.
I had to ask myself, “Who ARE these callous people?” Who would deny life-saving healthcare
services to our children because of money –when it is not too expensive to
treat many more costly conditions, such as cardiac arrest, diabetic shock, or
suicide?
I thought, “Perhaps these hospitals REALLY DON’T have
enough money to save the life of our children by providing TREATMENT ON DEMAND
for chronic intravenous opioid users.”
According to the Health Services Cost Review Commission,
here is a short list of the top paid hospital employees in 2014 –at hospitals that deny
our children life-saving healthcare services:
·
Robert
Chrencik, University of Maryland Medical System: $6.90 million
·
Kenneth
Samet, MedStar Health: $4.39 million
·
Ronald
Peterson, Johns Hopkins Health System: $2.61
million
·
Michael
Curran, MedStar – Southern Maryland Hospital: $2.59 million
·
M.
Joy Drass, MedStar – Southern Maryland Hospital: $1.91 million
There are 149 hospital employees, who earn more than half a million dollars each year, at hospitals that have
made the decision that it is “too costly” to provide life-saving healthcare
services –such as opiate detox and referral to next level of care. Of these 149 hospital employees:
·
113 individuals
made between $500,000 and $1 million
·
24 individuals
made between $1 million and $1.5 million
·
8 individuals
made between $1.5 million and $2 million
·
4 individuals
made more than $2 million
The combined salary of these 149 hospital employees is $136,412,654.
If we needed only $1 million to fund the statewide
hospital substance abuse treatment bill –that would total less than 1% of this combined salary.
WE NEED YOUR HELP NEXT TUESDAY TO ASK LEGISLATORS TO PASS HB 515! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I CAN COUNT
ON YOU TO:
· Show Your Support in Annapolis on 2/27. Meet with other advocates in the morning to
talk to legislators about the bill. Ask
the House Health & Government Operations Committee to vote favorably on
HB 515 at 1:00. R.S.V.P. to heroinactioncoalition@gmail.com
or call 301-525-6183 if you are able to meet us in Annapolis.
· Call ALL members of the House Health &
Government Operations Committee and ask them to vote
favorably on HB 515.
· Email ALL members of the House Health &
Government Operations Committee and ask them to vote
favorably on HB 515.
Here is the link to the House Government Operations Committee:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=cmtepage&stab=04&id=hgo&tab=subject7&ys=2017RS