Few things say “money in the bank” to a union quite like Medicaid. A proposed federal rule could end this freebie. On July 12, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to bar states from allowing third parties, like unions, to divert Medicaid funds to home health care providers. Workers still could join, but equally to the point, those preferring not to join no longer would be captive of a state agency deducting dues on behalf of a union. Over a dozen states engage in this practice. For organized labor, this arrangement generates around $200 million a year. That’s why unions and their state government partners are mounting a furious resistance to the rule in the face of the Supreme Court’s Janus ruling this June. A recent development in Washington State has strengthened the hand of reluctant dues payers while the department … Read More ➡
The post HHS, Nonprofit Group Combat Union Medicaid Dues-Skimming Schemes appeared first on National Legal & Policy Center.
from National Legal & Policy Center http://nlpc.org/2018/10/01/hhs-nonprofit-group-combat-union-medicaid-dues-skimming/
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To organized labor, they’re called dues payments. To some members of Congress, they’re called acts of theft. The critics may be right. During the past several weeks, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs has been conducting oversight on why Medicaid, a program now consuming well over a half-trillion dollars a year in federal and state taxes, is costing so much. One reason is that unions now skim an estimated $200 million a year from the program, having been granted the authority by more than a dozen states to reclassify home health care workers, including family caregivers, as government employees. This practice undermines statutory intent and a Supreme Court ruling four years ago. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., for one, 
On April 24, Robert Clearwater, former president of National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Local 14-8, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to one count of embezzlement in the amount of $11,681 and six counts of concealing the thefts in financial records of the Topeka-based union. Clearwater had been indicted in February. NAGE is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The actions follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.…