When Dennis Budlove arrived at the Fern Terrace personal long-term care facility in Bowling Green nine months ago, he said “I felt like I came home.”
But will Budlove, 50, who suffers both physical and psychological problems, still have a home in 2014?
If Obamacare’s employer mandates remain unchanged, 4,000 residents in Kentucky’s 94 personal care homes in 82 different counties could face desperate situations, including homelessness.
Obamacare mandates that once firms grow beyond 50 employees without offering health insurance benefits, they must pay a $2,000 annual penalty for each additional employee hired – employees who will end up receiving government-subsidized health insurance.
For Owensboro’s Jack Simpson, owner of Budlove’s home and four additional personal care facilities in Owensboro, Mayfield and Murray, the bill will simply be too high.
Having endured years of abuse from state regulators and pure apathy from nearly every politician he’s approached, Simpson says the $289,000 bill he will receive for not providing health insurance to the 200 caregivers whose jobs he created will cripple operations.
“The cost would be tremendous,” Simpson said. “It would be more than I intend to pay, so that would leave me nothing to do but close.”
While not all personal care homes in Kentucky are as well-maintained as Simpson’s, he is a philanthropic entrepreneur who’s done a remarkable job of building, staffing and providing for his facilities that care for Kentuckians who neither qualify for a nursing home vacancy nor can afford an assisted living facility – all for $38.60 a day.
It’s the Lord’s work.
“I pay $822 a month,” Budlove said. “If you add up what they’re giving me here – especially the medical supplies – it would cost you more than that on the outside. Here, my medical is taken care of; there’s no co-pay and they make sure that I take my medicines at the right time and in the right amount, and they get me to the doctor. Plus, I’ve eaten healthier meals – more fruits and vegetables – since I lived at home with mom.”
How would a shutdown at Fern Terrace impact Budlove and his fellow residents at the impeccably well-run indigent-care home?
“There’s a lot of people here that would be homeless,” he said. “If I had to move out of here, I’d pretty much be lost.”
Whoever said “what happens in Washington stays in Washington” has never met Budlove.
Don’t count on the current gubernatorial administration in Frankfort to ensure the most vulnerable among us – including Budlove – don’t end up “lost,” either.
Simpson has tried repeatedly through the years to get the Beshear administration to assist him in different ways, including helping get personal care facilities qualified for Medicaid funding. Other states, including neighboring Missouri, have already taken this step.
Not only has the Beshear administration refused to help, many of Frankfort’s bureaucrats seem openly hostile to Simpson, his personal care homes and the industry in general.
Including the personal care homes under Medicaid would result in higher reimbursements and save the commonwealth a ton of money.
For instance, many patients in Simpson’s homes are indigent and suffer from poor mental health. Considering a patient’s daily cost at one of Kentucky’s regional mental health hospitals is $685 per day, the fact that Simpson’s facilities are providing that care for a paltry $38.60 a day accrues to thousands in savings each month for each resident.
To slap Simpson with a $289,000 bill would eat up so much of that already insufficient reimbursement rate that he could no longer afford to house, feed and provide medicine and care for the residents at his first-class homes.
It also would add hundreds to Kentucky’s unemployment lines.
Jim Waters is acting president of the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. Reach him at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com. Read previously published columns at www.freedomkentucky.org/bluegrassbeacon.
Viewpoints
Related Photos
-
Jim Waters
Small business owner says ‘Obamacare’ bad for Kentucky
- Viewpoints
-
-
Graduation Day
It is that time of year again.
Some years ago, I was invited to speak at the graduation ceremonies of a liberal arts college. Later, many in the audience told me they expected a very political speech. Some of them were relieved; others were disappointed. I don't do politics at graduation.
Graduation is about life.
My high school graduation was OK. I gave a speech. My family was there, intact, probably as happy as they ever were (But did I know?). We went out for Chinese food afterward. -
Coal problem worth tackling in Washington and Frankfort
Despite hysterical cries from radical environmentalists, neither Sen. Rand Paul’s Defense of Environment and Property Act nor Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Coal Jobs Protection Act would allow activities that bring harm to Kentucky’s wildlife or waterways for the sake of propping up the coal industry.
-
Peter Perlman — Life lessons from a lawyer’s lawyer
One of the great moments of my life was sitting next to legendary Louisville attorney Frank Haddad at a luncheon when he learned he had received the first Peter Perlman Outstanding Trial Lawyer award from the Kentucky Academy of Trial Lawyers.
As they started his bio, the surprised Frank started crying like a baby. A sudden heart attack took him less than a year later. Winning the Perlman award was the crowning achievement of his career. -
Credit score insanity
Frequently, people stop me and ask me personal finance questions.
The most common is how to improve their credit history score.
If you need to improve your credit score, it means you have lousy credit. Before fixing the score, people need to ask how their credit got so bad to begin with. -
‘Tells’ about who will blow their money
Kentucky Derby week is one where gambling takes a forefront in my life. Along with the non-stop activities in my home state, I am speaking at a dinner for the Society of Settlement Professionals in Las Vegas and a film crew from Italy is flying in from Rome to interview me for a documentary about lottery winners.
-
Viewpoints change when critics gain power
Scandals like those roiling Washington often look more or less nefarious as time and facts unfold. After all, what at first looked like a third-rate burglary turned into Watergate.
I doubt the scandals around Benghazi, the IRS and subpoenas of Associated Press phone records reach Watergate status — but we must await more information and time to know. -
Trouble’s last ride
When announcing my retirement, I made reference to letting “Trouble” having one last ride.
-
Going from school to work requires preparation, faith
(Editor’s Note: After graduating from EKU on Saturday, Seth Littrell came to work Monday at the Richmond Register as a reporter/photographer.)
This past Saturday weekend I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with my bachelor’s in journalism.
It was the single goal I had been working toward for the past four years, and as I walked across that stage I realized I was the first person in my family to do so. -
Report on former EKU Center for the Arts director called 'biased, unfair'
I am writing in response to the Richmond Register’s May 3, 2013, article concerning the former Executive Director of the EKU Center for the Arts. The article I reference appeared on the front page of your newspaper with the headline “Sexual harassment, other offenses alleged in Hoskin’s records in 740 pages of documents.”
-
Recognizing those who provide care
How fitting it is that the beginning of National Nursing Home Week is Mother’s Day, May 12.
- More Viewpoints Headlines
-
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
Wash. State Man Arrested Following Ricin Scare
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
