Region's economic concerns keeping many people up at night

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By Arundi Venkayya Cox, Staff Writer 6:38 PM Saturday, August 29, 2009

At about 3 a.m. most nights, I have a rude awakening.

It’s usually one of my 4-year-old daughters calling because they need to be covered up, have to go potty or want a drink of water.

But other nights I’m up because I’m thinking — and writing. For some reason lately, I find myself wondering about what’s going on in our region.

Have we hit the bottom of the economic drop? What will be the future of our region? Who will be our next leaders? Surely, I’m not the only one worrying in the middle of the night.

Pam Morris, president and CEO of CareSource, said she worries about state policy decisions. “Business concerns that keep me up at night are policy decisions made by the state that could negatively impact CareSource as a business, but more importantly, that could have a detrimental impact on ensuring that our members get the highest quality of health care,” she said.

National health care reform is going to transform the health care industry and will shape CareSource’s future, she said.

“A key component of the national health care reform debate would expand Medicaid eligibility to cover a large portion of the uninsured — and thus, could nearly double the size of CareSource’s membership in Ohio and Michigan,” Morris said. “The Medicaid model has a ready-made and sustainable infrastructure, offering cost-effective coverage that could be implemented quickly to meet the health care needs of our nation.”

Chris Hendriksen, president of West Carrollton-based VRI, said he is concerned about “finding good employees in the region ... the impact that massive government spending bills are going to have on tax policy and the burden that could put on small businesses ... potential high inflation from the spending and large deficit position.”

VRI provides medical alert systems for seniors and at-risk individuals nationally. So, health care issues also are of concern to the company, Hendriksen said. He is worried about state budget shortfalls and the impact of cutting home-based health services to save money — which ultimately increases long-term costs.

“There are lots of things that can be cut today but won’t really hurt until tomorrow,” he said.

So, here’s my challenge to you: Tell us what about your business is keeping you up at night. What has you worried?

And, if you want to talk to me, I’ll be up in the middle of the night. Give me a shout.

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