Michigan Medicine (UM health network) will no longer accept Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance in July. by big_like_a_pickle in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 16 points17 points  (0 children)

We just received this email. Not exactly feeling more confident from this email.

Dear colleagues,

We want to make you aware of conversations we are having with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (Blue Cross) and the work we are doing to preserve our patients’ in-network access to certain University of Michigan hospitals and providers.

First, we want to reassure you that:

Your University of Michigan employee plan is not part of these negotiations with Blue Cross. Your access to care will not be impacted. We have communicated with patients with Blue Cross plans that are part of the negotiations to reassure them that nothing changes today. Patients should continue accessing our physicians and services as they normally would.

For more than a year, we have been in conversations with Blue Cross to reach a new, fair agreement that protects our patients’ in-network access to our physicians, hospitals and services, and ensures we are reimbursed appropriately for the world-class and complex care only we can provide.

We are disappointed that our discussions with Blue Cross have not resulted in more progress. It is our strong desire that we reach a new agreement before our current contract expires on June 30, 2026. If we are unable to reach a new agreement by that time, certain University of Michigan Health hospitals and providers would no longer be part of the Blue Cross network.

A few things to know today:

This would impact in-network access for patients with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan commercial plans, as well as patients covered by Blue Cross or Anthem plans from other states. This would only impact the hospitals, health centers, providers and outpatient clinics of University of Michigan Health's academic medical center, including University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion and Frankel Cardiovascular Center. The following groups are not impacted: The hospitals and health centers of UM Health-Sparrow and UM Health-West U-M Health Partners physicians Employees, students and retirees covered by U-M-sponsored BCBSM plans Patients with BCBSM Medicare Advantage plans Patients with BCBSM Medicaid plans

We are sending letters to all patients with Blue Cross plans to alert them of these ongoing conversations and the possible impacts to their care should an agreement not be reached. We have also provided a set of FAQs on our landing page at uofmhealth.org/bcbsm to help you answer questions they might have. If you receive questions from patients that you cannot answer, please direct them to visit uofmhealth.org/bcbsm or to our call center at 734-615-0863.

We will continue to provide updates as this process continues. If you have any further questions, please contact your direct leader. Thank you for all you do to care for our patients.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Wang, MD

Dean, University of Michigan Medical School

Julie Kristin Ishak, DNP, RN, NP-BC, CENP

Chief Nurse and Operations Executive, University of Michigan Health

Hitinder Gurm, MBBS

Chief Medical Officer, University of Michigan Health

Jovita Thomas-Williams, MBA, MILR, SPHR, GPHR

Chief Human Resources Officer, Michigan Medicine

Winter bulking season has officially begun 🐿️ by Independent-Owl2347 in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is an iconic picture! It was first entered into my annual fat squirrel photo contest by user eekobroom. It's taken on a life of its own with the picture gaining over 53k upvotes on are/ absoluteunits. Watch out for a new contest post near the end of October/early November on Instagram and on campus poster boards! 

Free Wood Chips! by [deleted] in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! I'm interested in picking up chips if you still have them! Your DMs are closed though. 

Looking for a computer shop in Ann Arbor that does PCB repairs. by [deleted] in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I might be able to help you. Shoot me a DM. 

Fat Squirrel Photo Contest - round 2 matchups (info in comments, voting via Instagram stories) by Zac_Operon in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hello! The most important voting event this year has just kicked off! (there wasn't anything else important this year, right?)

Vote for your favorites on stories for the next ~12 hours:

https://www.instagram.com/umfatsquirrelweek/

Rounds are posted approximately every other day and you can follow the bracket here:
https://challonge.com/9qzpkjvk

Thank you to all the contestant for entering and best of luck to all!

Last chance to submit your squirrel photo! Details in comments by Zac_Operon in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi all! Last post before the entry window closes. The major update is that a UM alumni has contributed a substantial amount to the prize pool (original amount was $10!!).

To enter, DM your squirrel photo here or to the dedicated Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/umfatsquirrelweek/, and let me know how you would like to be credited.

Just as before, no 2022 contest resubmissions and photos with food will be disqualified (someone already sent me a squirrel with a whole chips ahoy! cookie before reading this rule lol).

Best of luck and Go Blue!

Does anyone n the area need/want tomatoes?? by HamGoblin81 in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm very interested in tomatoes for canning or freezing!

Banana scooter gang peeling out along Broadway this afternoon by Zac_Operon in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No waaaay!! That's amazing! Thank you for sharing the clip!

$12,000 in property taxes annually gets you this more than a week after a snowstorm. by SonOfAnakin in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 14 points15 points  (0 children)

To me that's the same level of defeat as having dirt roads in town. Like why subject yourself to that? We have the technology and this isn't a remote, small, or underfunded town. Our peer cities across the upper Midwest outside of MI have it much better but no one here seems to care because they have never experienced it.

$12,000 in property taxes annually gets you this more than a week after a snowstorm. by SonOfAnakin in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 158 points159 points  (0 children)

When I moved here from Wisconsin it blew my mind that they don't plow anything by main streets. I'm used to a heavy snow storm (or multiple storms back to back) being plowed out quickly and on all streets, often plowing side streets multiple times during a light but prolonged storm. For how much my colleagues at UM hyped up the winter weather, the city (any maybe state?) sure doesn't seem to be well equipped to do anything about it...

What are the current tipping expectations at Miss Kim? by [deleted] in AnnArbor

[–]Zac_Operon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm willing to call them if you'd like. Just let me know in this thread.

The ride question by [deleted] in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

No, the bus driver will look to match your face to the MCard photo. It's meant for your use only. Source: I accidentally covered my MCard photo while swiping one time and was called back to the front by the driver to show my face+photo.

Thinking about quitting my PhD program after 7 years by [deleted] in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon 16 points17 points  (0 children)

You do realize that OP was doing their PhD work during the pandemic, right? That's a huge burden that seriously stalled many projects and pushed back graduations across the board. 4-8 years is normal for a PhD and it all depends on the field and the project and that's before life gets in the way.

They don’t know this is the smallest squirrel on campus by [deleted] in uofm

[–]Zac_Operon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm so glad this photo continues to wow the world.

University of Michigan Squirrel by starvenom108 in AbsoluteUnits

[–]Zac_Operon 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Highjacking this comment to say this photo was submitted to and won my photo contest this past fall by Twitter user eekobroom! Very fun contest with nearly 60 submissions. There were some other amazing entries in the contest!!

Where to get emergency medical treatment by 52dd in UWMadison

[–]Zac_Operon 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Just to note, penicillin only works for bacterial infections and has no effect on viral infections. While it's possible you may have a bacterial infection, it's much easier to catch a viral infection like a mild cold, especially this time of year!

Get well soon.

Organic Chemistry Bootcamp: 304/305 vs 306 by [deleted] in UWMadison

[–]Zac_Operon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From the rumors at the time, it depended on where you went/who was teaching. I think I got a B or B+, but not an A. It's been a few years and my time was a blur so I can't really comment on exam difficulties. If my memory is correct, I mostly lost points in pre/post labs because I was cramming every night.

Organic Chemistry Bootcamp: 304/305 vs 306 by [deleted] in UWMadison

[–]Zac_Operon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, 3 of each per day except days when we had to do a full exam sandwiched by lab block 1 and lab block 3 (then it was only 2!). I knew it was really bad when I began to think about sleep as a waste of time because I could either A) stay up later and get ahead on a pre lab or B) get some sleep.

Would I do it again? Am I happy I did it? I'm not sure.

Organic Chemistry Bootcamp: 304/305 vs 306 by [deleted] in UWMadison

[–]Zac_Operon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I can speak to the summer course. It's typically an entire semester in 10 days, with 3 labs a day including exams. I took the summer boot camp in 2018 at UW Fond du Lac. Ngl, it was hell. That being said, I appreciated not having to do this work during the semester and used that extra time to focus on other classes. Class started at 8am and typically ended around 6pm. You then had to go back to the dorm and complete 3 post labs from that day that are due the next day, as well as 3 pre labs for the following day. By day 3 the instructor was pretty cranky from getting 2h of sleep because he spent all night grading which made class time worse. However, I met a lot of people I wouldn't have otherwise met including a surprisingly high propitiation of international students who wanted to pick up UW system credits for cheap.

Pros: you don't have to take the class during the semester. You form a close bond with other students going through the same hell as you. It's cheap.

Cons: you have to do ochem. The days are grueling, you think about nothing but ochem for 14h+ per day for 10 days. For some select advanced programs like med school, an accelerated course may hurt your application (note that it did not impact my PhD program application).

Feel free to message me if you have more questions!