MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Contact: Jeff Hall, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
617-281-8384, jeff.hall@1199.org, twitter: @1199mass
Virginia company attempts to strip health benefits from Bridgewater State Hospital healthcare workers
Health workers providing health services to criminally insane will protest potential loss of their own benefits
BRIDGEWATER / MIDDLEBOROUGH, MA – MHM Services, Inc., a Virginia-based company subcontracted by the state to provide healthcare services at Bridgewater State Hospital (BSH), is coming under fire for an extreme proposal that could potentially strip some BSH health workers of health benefits and force them to quit their jobs in order to become eligible for publicly subsidized health coverage.
WHO: Bridgewater State Hospital workers in danger of losing their health benefits despite providing health services to the criminally insane
WHAT: Protest against Virginia-based company and state contractor MHM Services, Inc.
WHEN: Wednesday, August 21, 2013, 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: At the Middleborough Rotary – a short drive from BSH – near the intersection of Routes I-495 and 44 (GPS: 40 Bedford Street., Middleborough, MA)
WHY: MHM Services, Inc., a highly profitable and privately-held out of state company that is part of a lucrative vendor contract with the Commonwealth, is seeking to double potential health costs for BSH employees who provide healthcare services at the facility for the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system.
Some low-wage employees could be forced to quit their jobs and enroll in publicly subsidized healthcare as a result of the high-cost MHM proposal. Many BSH employees earn approximately $13 an hour in a work setting that involves providing psychiatric and medical care to some of the state’s most dangerous and notorious convicted criminals. Potentially impacted employees staff an infirmary at the facility, conduct psychiatric checks in the intensive treatment unit (ITU), and administer psychiatric medications to patients at BSH, amongst other duties.
Approximately 130 nursing assistants, mental health workers, phlebotomists, licensed practical nurses, and registered nurses at BSH could be impacted by the controversial deductible scheme proposed by agents of MHM – who are seeking to increase profits for the out-of-state company by cost-shifting healthcare costs to workers in the Bay State.
MHM representatives have admitted the company is highly profitable and does not require savings in employee health benefits to maintain operating standards or fulfill its contractual obligations with the state. The BSH health workers who plan to protest on Wednesday are members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
“I started to panic,” explained Mary Hammond, a mental health worker at BSH who plans to attend the protest. Mary fears the MHM plan would force her to quit and seek state-subsidized insurance to afford medications for herself and her chronically ill husband. “I have not been able to sleep because I am so worried about how we would survive. We live paycheck-to-paycheck and could never afford the cost of our prescriptions if this is allowed to happen.”
# # #
Representing more than 400,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Florida, and Washington, D.C., 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all
FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
Contact: Jeff Hall, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
617-281-8384, jeff.hall@1199.org, twitter: @1199mass
Virginia company attempts to strip health benefits from Bridgewater State Hospital healthcare workers
Health workers providing health services to criminally insane will protest potential loss of their own benefits
BRIDGEWATER / MIDDLEBOROUGH, MA – MHM Services, Inc., a Virginia-based company subcontracted by the state to provide healthcare services at Bridgewater State Hospital (BSH), is coming under fire for an extreme proposal that could potentially strip some BSH health workers of health benefits and force them to quit their jobs in order to become eligible for publicly subsidized health coverage.
WHO: Bridgewater State Hospital workers in danger of losing their health benefits despite providing health services to the criminally insane
WHAT: Protest against Virginia-based company and state contractor MHM Services, Inc.
WHEN: Wednesday, August 21, 2013, 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: At the Middleborough Rotary – a short drive from BSH – near the intersection of Routes I-495 and 44 (GPS: 40 Bedford Street., Middleborough, MA)
WHY: MHM Services, Inc., a highly profitable and privately-held out of state company that is part of a lucrative vendor contract with the Commonwealth, is seeking to double potential health costs for BSH employees who provide healthcare services at the facility for the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system.
Some low-wage employees could be forced to quit their jobs and enroll in publicly subsidized healthcare as a result of the high-cost MHM proposal. Many BSH employees earn approximately $13 an hour in a work setting that involves providing psychiatric and medical care to some of the state’s most dangerous and notorious convicted criminals. Potentially impacted employees staff an infirmary at the facility, conduct psychiatric checks in the intensive treatment unit (ITU), and administer psychiatric medications to patients at BSH, amongst other duties.
Approximately 130 nursing assistants, mental health workers, phlebotomists, licensed practical nurses, and registered nurses at BSH could be impacted by the controversial deductible scheme proposed by agents of MHM – who are seeking to increase profits for the out-of-state company by cost-shifting healthcare costs to workers in the Bay State.
MHM representatives have admitted the company is highly profitable and does not require savings in employee health benefits to maintain operating standards or fulfill its contractual obligations with the state. The BSH health workers who plan to protest on Wednesday are members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
“I started to panic,” explained Mary Hammond, a mental health worker at BSH who plans to attend the protest. Mary fears the MHM plan would force her to quit and seek state-subsidized insurance to afford medications for herself and her chronically ill husband. “I have not been able to sleep because I am so worried about how we would survive. We live paycheck-to-paycheck and could never afford the cost of our prescriptions if this is allowed to happen.”
# # #
Representing more than 400,000 healthcare workers throughout Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Florida, and Washington, D.C., 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is the largest and fastest-growing healthcare union in America. Our mission is to achieve affordable, high quality healthcare for all
