Last month, the Affordable Care Act was upheld by a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. As the plan is implemented across the country, the ripple effects in the healthcare industry and beyond will be significant. An insightful article, co-authored by O'Neill and Associates Senior Vice President Tom Trimarco and Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management at Emory University Dr. Kenneth Thorpe ran recently in the Boston Globe. The article considers the challenge of rising healthcare costs in light of the reform and the need for an emphasis on preventative care.

Mr. Trimarco was Secretary of Administration and Finance under former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and first chairman of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority; he is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead as this plan is implemented at the state level. Dr. Thorpe was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton Administration and possesses vast knowledge and insight into real-world applications of such reform.

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City of Fall River seeks SAFER grant  

The midterm elections of November 2010 brought many changes to Washington, particularly the House. Republicans made federal spending a key campaign issue and, citing examples like the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," made the elimination of so-called "earmarks" a prominent plank of their collective platform. Today, municipalities and other organizations in need of federal dollars must pursue different funding sources than the traditional appropriations legislators were once able to provide to address specific needs in their districts. Federal money is not largely dispersed through competitive grants, which pit cash-strapped municipalities against each other in what is often a grueling application process. For cities that have been especially hard-hit by the recession, federal grants are often necessary to keep critical municipal services operating.

Such was the situation in Fall River, Massachusetts when the mayor's office approached O'Neill and Associates for help supporting a grant application to keep the city's fire department fully staffed. The Federal Emergency Management Agency administers a grant program dedicated to hiring and retaining firefighters called SAFER. Fall River had planned to lay off 79 firefighters due to cuts of nearly 44 percent of the fire department's total operating budget over the past three fiscal years. Congressmen Barney Frank, Jim McGovern, Bill Keating and the Senators from Massachusetts worked tirelessly to support Fall River's application. They each met personally with Mayor Will Flanagan to fully understand the predicament the Fall River Fire Department (FRFD) was in. They then played a critical role in augmenting FRFD's application with direct appeals to the highest levels of FEMA, through letters, phone calls, and in-person meetings.

The result was the June 20th award of nearly $14.5 million, enough to keep the FRFD fully staffed as the city entered the next fiscal year. The funding helps Fall River continue on its positive trajectory of economic recovery and prevented the closure of two fire stations, four of eight engine companies, one of three ladder companies, the rescue unit, and one of the command vehicles.  

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