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11.23.2011 1

Michigan House stops SEIU cerebral palsy caregiver rip off, will Senate act?

By Rebecca DiFede — A firestorm has erupted in Michigan over revelations that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has manipulated the system so it can profit from the Medicaid checks sent to families caring for children with cerebral palsy.

As reported recently on NetRightDaily.com, in a disgusting display of greed a defunded quasi-government organization in Michigan known as the Michigan Quality Community Care Council (MQC3) with the help of the SEIU, found a way to involuntarily take money out of a caregiver stipend that parents of sick children receive.

In a brazen money grab, the purple shirted SEIU tyrants had thousands of parents receiving Medicaid for the care of their adult children with cerebral palsy reclassified as care givers, thereby automatically putting them into the SEIU as dues paying members.

This means that for every family receiving aid for their loved one’s debilitating condition, $30 a month is being automatically deducted by the state to fund the SEIU.

How anyone could support this blatant disregard for humanity is unconscionable, and Bill Wilson of Americans for Limited Government (ALG) had something to say about it: “This theft of funds from families with children suffering from cerebral palsy is deplorable. It just goes to show how greedy the SEIU can be when given the opportunity.”

The concept of an SEIU state enforced automatic dues deduction is despicable enough, but to deliberately rip off disadvantage families who have already been stricken with hardship goes to an even lower circle of Hell.

These families’ situations are so perilous that the taxpayers have agreed to help them meet the care giving needs of their loved ones, and for the SEIU to legally extort a fee from them while providing zero services is sickening. The SEIU should hang their heads in shame.

In response, the Michigan State House of Representatives has passed HB 4003, a bill that will reverse the earlier decision by the MQC3 and the SEIU that required families caring for children with cerebral palsy to register as ‘care givers’ and then pay dues to the SEIU out of their monthly medical aid check.

When asked about the horrific abuse of power, Michigan State Representative Tom McMillin said, “Real people getting hurt seems to just be collateral damage when schemes like this one are devised to siphon money into the coffers of union bosses.”

Americans for Limited Government’s President Bill Wilson called on the Michigan Senate to pass the House bill saying, “what the MQC3 and SEIU have done is nothing short of heinous, and it is the state Senate’s duty to pass this bill and reverse the ‘care giver’ classification so that families of sick children can focus their finances on medical bills instead of union dues.”

The House bill is now sitting in front of the Michigan Senate Committee on Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing awaiting consideration.

If you would like to contact your Michigan state senator about HB 4003, the Senate switchboard in Lansing can be reached by dialing:  1-517-373-2400 or go online to the Michigan Senate website (www.senate.michigan.gov) to find your senator and how to contact him/her directly.

Rebecca DiFede is a contributing editor to Americans for Limited Government.

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