,
�
i e u ion .sues
aiae
Continued from Page 1
e're a vital, growiDg com-
unity and 's good for our
residents, "Haney said. "But
we must also reoogni7C the new
challellle that come with
gr Half a milIioGsboppers
o TOWDShipevery
ot aU of them . by
the 1a • Our police department
is erne ely b y handling
18,000 complaints a year -
�&om barkiagdop to
hoplifting to homicides.
Trying to respond quickly to
everythiDg t once may Ica� of
ficers a little frayed around the
edges.-
FlJ'Cfigbters Local 1562 and
union pre ident Lt. Steve
Knuth, Leutenants Harold
Durham and jerry James arc
named pluti'" in the uit.
"We-VC been told that 'J'C'
going to be in court, -Nielsen
said. But we shouldn't be.
However, it isn't wicommon for
police and fire personnel to feel
somewhat threatened en a
new administr tive head comes
in from outside the ranks. They
often fear ch mge, and tbey fear
their inability to control that
change. Well, change is needed
e knowth t."
Last summer, the Township
ccepted the findings of a stu
of the police aad fire depart
men bond eel bY the D.afl101IP
al accounting firm of Plante '&
oran.
The. study pointed to
numerous operational inef
ficiencies within the police
department, and recommended
a series of actions to improve ef
ficiency. Among the recom
mendations w th creation of
the PSD position.
ere' no question .that we
hav a problem in our police
department, real or perceived
Nie n ide "Frankly, I don't
un r and the firefighters' op
position to this action."
"We need to' continually
bro den our outreach into all
neighborhoods, Black and ,
white. That outreach must in
clude effective public safety
p ograms, ie n said.
He . d me persons who
continue to oppose Harvey's
pointment are " imply op
posed to changes that promi e
I more opportunities for all of
our Black re ident. Some
Peop e fear economic. and s0-
cial progress, because th t
rogre i leading to racial
. in the Township."
HarYey,S4, bepn . la en-
oree ent career a foot
patrol an and community
t . . ofticer in the South
Bead Police Department in
I>etcctM 1965.
III 1967, pro ed to
t e r ok of Sergeant in the
is t Detective 'Bureau
. . . respoo-
ilWesti_oo of crimes
ctivitie and
Failure in Our' atlon's
Healthcare System'
o
chief
I
narcotics.
In 1970, Harvey as
promoted to the rank of Cap
tain in the Day Shift Uniform
Division and, a short time later,
assumed the responsibilities of
Captain, Detective Division.
From 1972-1979, he served as
Captain of the South Bend
Police Department's entire
Detective Bureau, Investigative
Division. group of
Harvey has completed dentists who are
professional law enforcement America their story
training in nearly every peel t bappe to-doctors
of police ork, including the COUDtry when they
homecides, narcotics and tried to treat Poor Americans
bWJlaries· of medicaid.
He also romp ed la beU 1.- __
__ � , u�
CiI&�rcemeot Community ela- t e 'Toothaate Scandal-,has
tions Training throng trigered a Coagressiooal in-
Michigan State Univer .ly at .• aDd is the classical
the KeDog . te, as well of the failure in our na-
Northwestern University's la tioas bealthcare systems.
enforcement Hostage Training In J uary 1988,a group of
curriculum. Afric:aa American Dentist,from
Harvey is a 1954 graduate of Detroit, graduates of the
South 'Bend Central High University of Michigan and
School and attended Ventura Howard University School of
College in Ventura, California, Dentistries formed Dental Sur-
majoring in physical therapy. vey of America (DSA), nd
He is a former high school deci ed on their own (using
All-American basketball only wits and virtually no
player, leading South Bend money) to take on the nations
Central to a basketball state medicaid dental program.
championship in 1953, an event They ere dismis d and
I that has ocearred only twice in ridiculed by their dental rofes-
diaria' . ory. t JI '. Sional colleagues, ignored and
· In the early 1970S', Harvey spoofed by the media. .
began as a security officer for B that kind of attitude is
the Notre Dame football team. beginning to change, as this
This year, Holtz awarded Har- group of doctors uncovered
vey the game ball of 'ihe Notre gross· ement, crooked
Dame-Southern Cal. football state offici.ls, and serious in-
game, in surprise ceremonies in consiste ·cS·in medicaid den-
South Bend. tal progr m procedures and
Harvey, a Benton Charter policies . ch endangered the
Township resident. for 10 healt care of eligible
years, left the South Bend recipients, especially mothers
Police Department in 1979 and children.
when he purchased a De Survey of America
cDonald's fast-food obt· d copies of some 46
anchise in the Township. St e medicaid dental program
He is active in local com- man al and began a com-
unity service, including mem- . prehe .� comparative study
berships on the board of the ofOUl Dation's Medicaid Dental
Berrien-Cass- Van Buren PrO&l ..... s,
Private Industry Council; the They access whether policies
Ways and Means Committee of and procedure in these
the Community Economic progr aDd manuals were
Development Corporation; and . Dental Health
member hips in the Small Busi- Care policies established by the
ness Associ tion of Michigan Feder' Govenuncnt and na-
and the Twin Citie Area
Chamber of Commerce.
Heserves as treasurer of the
Benton Harbor Area Schoo
Board of Education, and is a
member of the Notre Dame'
Quarterback Club.
. Harvey· also a membCl" of
the Berrien County Circuit
Court' Short Term Employ
ment program.
Haney d his wife, Sharon,
. have been married 33 years.
neyare the parents of one son,
Michae� d a daughter, Paula.
They ve two gr dchildren,
d 12 years and 1 year.
nd I
program. .
Dental Survey of America
found that hundreds of millions
of dollars in medical and dental
services were being stolen from
health care providers directly
and indirectly by state and local
medicaid officials everyday.
Indirectly, when a medicaid
program outright refuses to pay
Its bill after services are
rendered. aw, this is where the
health care provider receives a
statement ba from medicaid
stating payment denied or
pendi Health care providers
may resu . t the bill ccording
to instruction but could also risk
being accused of medicaid
fraud for double billing, al
though the Doctor was only
trying to be paid for their
original services.
Directly, in every state there
is overwhelming fact that health
care providers are literally
being shaken down in their of
fiees by medicaid fraud inve -
tigators. In the State of
Michigan medicaid fraud inves
tigators are entering into dental
offices extorting the Dentists
who have provided treatme
for edicaid recipi nts.
o such iDcid too pi
in Detroit, I spoke with one
Denti t, Dr. Wilbert Purifoy
who stated that he has been very
reluctant to talk about his or
deal but every year medicaid
bas audited him.
They have forced him to pay
bac thousands of dollar for
work that Was legitimately per
formed. The threats he ays are
always he would be prosecuted
and his name would be placed
in the local newspaper.
Dr. Purifoy also stated that
on one occasion fraud inves
tigators too fourteen thousand
dollars, the Dext year they came
back and stole another twelve .
thousand dollars from his of
fice.
He further stated that he was
one of the dentists who has had
to shut up and pay up in fear of
losing everything he worked
hard to get. Dr. Purifoy fmally
said he was ready to talk.
Ironically the Inspector
General for the Department of
Health and Human Service
rewards these fraud every
year with much 13 million
dollars a year New York 1985
from GAO/HRD-87-12FS)
5t dy silo tIIat most fraud
units receive 75 percent of their
funding from the federal
�rnment
Ew:a more horrid, medicaid
many p .. and
dentis to jail for pr cticing
good medicine or dentistry.
DSA . showed program
MICHIGAN crnzEN ,..17
manuals, policies, and proce
dures were found to be so tech
nically flawed that no case of
medicaid fraud should have or
could have been brought
against any Dental Medicaid
provider in some states.
The the overall effect has
been that the medicaid program
has been literally cut right
before our eyes, in one of the
most sinister ways, running
health care providers off the
progr m thus denying poor
Americans who are recipients
of medicaid access to health
care.
Currently there is a study by
Eli Capilouto, DDS an assistant
professor at the University of
Alabama School of Dentistry
and also' a doctoral candidate at
arvard School of Public
Health that demonstrates
medicaid expenditure for den
tal services d elined 40 percent
fr m 197 (0 1986; the me is
true about medicine. Remar s
on Dr. Capilouto's study ap
peared in the June/July edition
of the rna azin Dentistry
Today.
Dr. Capil uto is quoted
aying, "the rno t likely expl na
ion is on th upply sid. Den
ti ts may less willing to take
on Medicaid patients because it
doesn't pay."
The effects on the overall
-he althcar e of African
Americans has been' devestat
ing. During this same time
period the overall life expectan
cy of Blackp ople has dropped
from 69.7 years in 1984 to 69.4
years in 19 6 according to a
study released by Dr. James O.
Mason assistant HH secretary
for health.
"Blac Americans have, on
average a death rate that is one
and a-half times that of whites.
In contr t, life expectancy for
the population as. a wh Ie wa
nearly 75 years during that
period," the study further late .
It i ilently well known
amongst Black health care
providers{physicians and den
tist) that th re is a fear 0 seeing
poor African American
recipien without risking being
harassed I or arrested by
medicaid officials.
Wh t i even more frighten
ing to Black He lthe re
provider is when one realizes
that until Dental Survey of
Am rica formed there
been no consensus group out
th re to protect them from this
type of persecution.
•.............. � .. � ....