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Healthcare from page 8
"We took care of a vulnerable population with
quality care, but now that type of need is greatly
reduced with the Affordable Care Act."
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10 January 23 • 2014
JN
- Dr. Jeffrey Forman
it:' Pernick said. "The services were
already out there; it was a matter of
bringing them together. JFS opened
more partnerships and helped other
communities develop the same types
of support systems that were working
so well for the Jewish community"
Doctors Pleased To Help
"I was impressed with the quality of
questions my Chessed patients asked
when discussing their health," said Dr.
Joel Kahn, director
of cardiac wellness
and professor of
medicine at Wayne
State University
School of Medicine.
"I've worked with a
couple dozen over
the
past seven years,
Dr. Joel Kahn
including office vis-
its, hospital care and
follow-through care.
"Other doctors and I also served on
their pharmacy management com-
mittee to lower prescription costs,"
Kahn said. "Today I'm working with
Shaindle Braunstein, adding a wellness
element to the program to again lower
the costs of health care:'
Dr. Jeffrey Forman, oncologist
and professor of radiation oncol-
ogy at WSU, initially
worked with Project
Chessed as a board
member and later
provided health care
services for clients.
"My practice is
not elective Forman
/111 said. "People come
Dr. Jeffrey
to me because they
Forman
need treatment and
often that treatment
is complicated and expensive. One of
my Chessed patients, for example, had
breast cancer. She was unemployed
and her family was very supportive as
she underwent surgery and chemo-
therapy, but no one could afford the
more than $100,000 in health-care
costs.
"The beauty of Project Chessed is
that patients maintain their dignity
during their care, presenting their
Chessed insurance cards just as other
patients present their Blue Cross
insurance cards. Clients visited their
doctors in the privacy of their offices
and physicians fitted pro bono patients
in between the appointments of their
regular patients. I'm convinced this
patient is alive today because of all the
physicians who worked with her:'
None of this would have been
possible without Rachel Yoskowitz,
formerly with Jewish Family Service
and currently with Oakland University
William Beaumont School of
Medicine.
With her nursing degree and
strong background in public health,
Yoskowitz was the first to identify the
needs of uninsured individuals in the
Detroit Jewish community. She then
produced a feasibility study to define
the issue and created a model program
to fix the problem — Project Chessed.
"In one year, our Jewish physicians
had given away $4 million dollars in
health-care services:' says Forman.
"We took care of a vulnerable popu-
lation with quality care, but now that
type of need is greatly reduced with
the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That's
the way it should be: a vulnerable
population has its needs resolved and
their need for support disappears and
other needs take its place:'
Phasing Out
"Project Chessed began planning for
its phasing out when the Supreme
Court upheld the ACA:' Braunstein
said. "For instance, I have a split role
at JFS, one as Project Chessed director
and the other as JFS's chief informa-
tion officer. I will continue full time at
JFS in IT.
"One or two staff members may be
placed permanently as ACA navigators
helping individuals who lost their cov-
erage find health insurance programs.
That will continue at a much smaller
degree. In addition, JFS has been very
successful finding positions for others
within its organization.
Recently, the Jewish Fund pro-
vided Project Chessed with a one-year
"bridge grant" to help their clients
successfully enroll in a viable health
insurance program provided by the
ACA.
"Our first group of about 400 cli-
ents is now enrolled successfully in a
health insurance plan with significant
subsidies:' Braunstein said. "Some
are paying as little as $22 a month for
insurance that includes prescription
medication. The second group, about
250 clients, will be enrolled April 1 fol-
lowing expansion of Medicaid by the
Michigan legislature.