policy, politics, pets, and puffing up mountains. tweets and thoughts mine.
Unceded Dena'ina lands
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Mike Garvey retweeted
A lot of people are missing crucial context about the care services sector. Over recent decades, U.S. policy has increasingly favored care delivered in home- and community-based settings rather than large institutions, and Minnesota has leaned into this approach.
Minnesota’s assisted living licensing framework allows care in small residential settings, including converted single-family homes, as an alternative to nursing homes, which helps explain why assisted living locations often appear clustered in ordinary residential neighborhoods.
In recent years, Medicaid spending on home- and community-based services has grown to exceed institutional long-term care spending. That funding increasingly supports care for people with disabilities, people with serious mental illness, and older adults who receive long-term services in homes and community settings rather than in institutions.
It would not be unusual for the administrative offices of multiple home-care providers to be located in the same office building, since the care itself occurs inside clients’ homes.
Fraud can occur in any publicly funded system, but context about how care is delivered matters before drawing conclusions.
A new scam has just been uncovered in Minnesota
Regular homes are being registered as assisted living facilities
- In Minnesota assisted living facilities have seen 2x the growth of other programs
- They are receiving 15x the payments of other programs
- Shell companies used to create some of the facilities
- The amount of new locations have exploded in Minnesota cities
- Many owned by known money laundering scammers
“This may look like your typical single family home but it bills itself as an assisted living facility and it receives a lot of taxpayer money.
Here in Minnesota the number of people getting help in assisted living facilities is up double the growth of other programs.
But here's the kicker, the rate of payment in this assisted living space is 10 to 15 times the growth in other programs.
We pulled the data on assisted living facilities in the Minneapolis area. Minneapolis, as you might expect, has a lot. 169.
- St. Paul, with a population of 307,000, has 83
- Brooklyn Center, 30,000 population, has 106
- Brooklyn Park, population of 84,000, has 181, more than Minneapolis a city five times its size.
But this assisted living facility puts this all in perspective. It's owned by a man indicted for laundering a million dollars in the Feeding Our Future scam.”
“These assisted living facilities received over $2.3 million in state money last year alone. A Minnesota Reformer article says he has been paid a whopping $49 million since 2016.”
Mike Garvey retweeted
America’s construction workers calling this “the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country”
Wonder if that shows up in any midterm ads
Mike Garvey retweeted
Our new analysis explores how behavioral health symptoms may make it more challenging to meet Medicaid work and reporting requirements, including self-reporting work or exemption status.
Get the details: on.kff.org/3ZMJ6cX
ALT KFF chart titled “Expansion is the primary Medicaid pathway for people with mental health or substance use disorders.” The chart has a donut chart for substance use disorder, opioid use disorder, any mental health disorder, and serious mental illness showing the distribution of eligibility pathways for Medicaid-covered adults with diagnosed mental health disorder or substance use disorder in ACA Medicaid expansion states.
Mike Garvey retweeted
“#Medicaid is, like, very important, because it gets me the medicine I need to have an actual life,”
Full Story via @KHNS_FM —
"Klukwan teen says Medicaid gives him resources to ‘have an actual life,’ asks lawmakers not to make cuts" khns.org/klukwan-teen-says-m…
Mike Garvey retweeted
For those who say “Illegal is illegal.”
On this Juneteenth, remember: slavery was once legal. Harboring a fugitive enslaved person? Illegal. Black freedom? Illegal. “Illegal is illegal” has always been used to defend injustice.
Legality ≠ morality. Justice calls us higher.
Mike Garvey retweeted
If that’s what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up. We will hold this administration accountable.
Mike Garvey retweeted
SCOTUS’ conservative majority rules in favor of disability rights.
Now, families won’t have to prove bad faith to sue for disability discrimination in schools.
motherjones.com/politics/202…
Mike Garvey retweeted
A lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska claims that the state Department of Corrections has failed to provide adequate health care for inmates.
“It's shocking how many basic human needs are not being met,” said the ACLU's Megan Edge. akpub.io/4d8yuL5
Mike Garvey retweeted
BREAKING: We’re taking the Alaska Department of Corrections to court for its unconstitutional and inhumane medical treatment for incarcerated Alaskans. Read more here. acluak.org/en/press-releases…
Mike Garvey retweeted
This moment increasingly feels like the post-9/11 George W. Bush era—the jingoism, the arrogance, the demagoguery and appeal to emotion, the denial and denigration of due process, the abuse of the word “terrorist” to refer to persons who haven’t even been charged with a crime.
Mike Garvey retweeted
Masked federal agents taking people off the streets without explanation goes beyond a free speech crisis. We have had a lot of those. We are now seeing the bottom of the slippery slope we all theorized about for years.
Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE.
A video shared with GBH News shows a man in a hoodie approach her, then grab her wrists. Ozturk screams, then asks “Can I call the police?” before being told “We’re the police.”
wgbh.org/news/local/2025-03-…
@sweetadelinevt @GBHNews
Mike Garvey retweeted
JUST SENT: FIRE has written to @DHSgov, @TheJusticeDept, @ICEgov, and @StateDept, requesting answers to the questions surrounding Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and detention.
The government hasn't stated the legal basis for its actions, and it has put out statements suggesting Mr. Khalil is being targeted because of his constitutionally protected speech.
This is America. The administration must not use immigration enforcement to punish and filter out ideas disfavored by the government or deny due process to anyone facing arrest and detention.
The government must also be transparent about the basis for its actions to avoid chilling protected speech.
To be clear, demonstrations on Columbia’s campus since Oct. 7, 2023, have included both constitutionally protected speech and unlawful conduct. But the government has not clarified the factual or legal basis for Mr. Khalil’s arrest.
The lack of clarity is chilling protected expression, as other permanent residents cannot know whether their lawful speech could be deemed to “align” with a terrorist organization and jeopardize their immigration status.
FIRE’s letter demands answers:
➡️ What was the specific legal and factual basis for Mr. Khalil’s arrest on March 8?
➡️ What is the specific legal and factual basis for Mr. Khalil’s detention?
➡️ What is the specific legal and factual basis on which the government is seeking revocation of Mr. Khalil’s green card?
➡️ Will Mr. Khalil be afforded the due process protections required by U.S. law?
➡️ Is it the government’s intention to seek the revocation of lawful immigration status on the basis of speech protected by the First Amendment?
FIRE has requested a response tomorrow, March 11th.
Mike Garvey retweeted
It’s wild as fuck to me that so many people, across the political spectrum, are using the word r*****d so casually all of a sudden. I know there are countless much more serious signs of societal decay but this is still clearly one of the signs.
Mike Garvey retweeted
Megan Edge is the Prison Project Director at @ACLUofAlaska . In 2017, she left the news business to work in Gov. Bill Walker’s Dept. of Corrections. Her eyes were opened to the problems in Alaska’s prison system. Listen to @Megtedge: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… #akleg #alaskahistory
Mike Garvey retweeted
The way you show you don't just care about your own family is by using the powers of the presidency for everyone -- and so many people need this relief. If you want to read more, here's the op-ed: nytimes.com/2024/09/18/opini…. /End
Mike Garvey retweeted
Following Jon's advice would mean that Democrats should have rejected the civil rights movement in the 1960s. You can't just take whatever stances are popular, you also have to work to change public opinion on issues of basic justice.
Mike Garvey retweeted
The Governor’s decision to veto this bill ignores the well-being of constituents and disregards the basic health care needs of the state. We will not stop fighting for policies that ensure consistent and uninterrupted access to contraceptive care for all. #akelect #akleg
ALT Alaska’s conservative governor vetoed a bill that would have improved access to birth control statewide. The bill passed with tripartisan support and is supported by 76% of Alaskans. Vote for reproductive rights champions by November 5.