Lakewood NJ Master Thread

[Fish Tank]

A Kudos to R'Chaim Moskowitz as well , for his insight,life experience and analysis, of politics and world events. I vote to appoint him the
Official Moderator and Head of Chasiday Umos HaOlam!!

This is the Lakewood thread. Shout-outs, kudos announcements, and appointments belong in JS.

[YitzyS]

NJ American Water is a monopoly; they own the rights to all water service in their service area. No one can pick up and go to another water supplier.

American Water Works, the parent company of NJ American water, is a for profit company mostly held by institutional investors such as BlackRock (it was spun off of a German company with an IPO in 2008). They are amazing at maximizing shareholder value- since 2008 their stock has had a return of more than triple the S&P 500 and more than twice the return of comparable water companies. The name of the water utilities game is return on investment on infrastructure. In plain english you find ways to put money into infrastructure- you can replace “aging pipes” “invest in future capacity” etc. Then you go to the BPU or whichever agency is in charge of rate increases in your market and justify rate increases because of the money you invested in infrastructure. You now have a great return year over year on the capital you invested. You can use the new revenue to “invest in additional infrastructure”. Rinse and repeat. American water is very good at their game. The BPU rarely rejects a rate hike request; they will sometimes lower an unconscionable rate hike request and then approve it, which can all be part of the strategy.

There is no easy solution to deal with the unending rate increases. Many Municipalities that privatized their water systems and sold them to American Water saw rates go through the roof in a short time, prompting efforts to take back the water supply under eminent domain laws. Felton, CA successfully fought to take their water system back from American Water after their rates tripled over a decade. Several other eminent domain fights have been waged across the country in places that have seen similar unending rate hikes by American Water subsidiaries. Can Lakewood do the same? It is a long and costly legal process, and you can be sure that American Water, which is headquartered in NJ, has extensive political ties and lobbying efforts in NJ that would only add to the difficulty.

The MUA has no shareholder profit to maximize, so rates are going to be far lower in their service area. Across the country it is not uncommon to find rates for American Water customers as much as double or triple the rates that municipal customers a short distance away are paying. So expect more of the same going forward. If you want to hedge against future price increases, you may want to consider buying shares of American Water Works (AWK), though you may want to wait for a more attractive price point, since the stock is near its 52 week high at the moment. Good luck.

One thing to keep in mind, though. Rates from the MUA will begin rising in the near future. The MUA is nearing the maximum threshold of water their wells can supply each year, and as Lakewood grows, they will start buying water from NJ American to supplement their wells. As they will pay NJ American a premium rate, they will pass that increased expense over to the costumers.
(Heard from Mayor Ray Coles, who is also on the board of the MUA)

[gingyguy]

Shanik stopped accepting UHC? I thought he was just recommending people switch away and that the recommendation applies even for those who are not his patients.

he did not stop yet . he is in middle of intense negotiations with other local doctors (ob/gyn, eye doctors ,dentist etc.) to get them to accept a HMO other than UHC. in the near future he will not accept UHC anymore

[churnbabychurn]

Shanik stopped accepting UHC? I thought he was just recommending people switch away and that the recommendation applies even for those who are not his patients.

Pretty sure he was kicked off

[churnbabychurn]

Shanik stopped accepting UHC? I thought he was just recommending people switch away and that the recommendation applies even for those who are not his patients.

Why would he recommend non patient switch?

[greatdeals]

OCIM is also stopping to take it are there any other doctors that are good that
take UHC?

[gingyguy]

Pretty sure he was kicked off

as of 3 day ago he was still seeing patients with UHC, with no immediate plans to stop. But i did hear from a very reliable source that he was not getting any $ for them. Once all the issues are resolved he will not see them any more if they dont change HMO's

[aygart]

Why would he recommend non patient switch?

The reasons in his letter apply to non patients as well.

[yesitsme]

http://hefkervelt.blogspot.com/2018/10/property-tax-increase-in-lakewood.html

[Eliyohu]

The reasons in his letter apply to non patients as well.

Regarding CHOP it's sounds like it's specific to his office and regarding speech therapy it's across the board and each referral will get reviewed..

[churnbabychurn]

The reasons in his letter apply to non patients as well.

If someone really needs speech therapy they can get. And imho access to CHOP is way more important then which PA you see for an ear infection.

(And honestly I think Dr shanik ironically would be the first one to agree)

[churnbabychurn]

Regarding CHOP it's sounds like it's specific to his office and regarding speech therapy it's across the board and each referral will get reviewed..

CHOP doesnt take the other HMOs.

Uhc specifically didn't appreciate his massive referrals to chop, but they don't plan on excluding chop at all.

[Eliyohu]

CHOP doesnt take the other HMOs.

Uhc specifically didn't appreciate his massive referrals to chop, but they don't plan on excluding chop at all.

The wording of the letter was that theyll discourage his referrals..

Where did this information come from that they're not paying him at all?

[doodle]

Open enrollment for this is October. Now is the time to make a decision.

[churnbabychurn]

Open enrollment for this is October. Now is the time to make a decision.

You can change hmo at any time

[churnbabychurn]

The wording of the letter was that theyll discourage his referrals..
Right.

Where did this information come from that they're not paying him at all?

What else?

[greatdeals]

are there any other good adult doctors that take UHC?

[Talmid Muvhak]

are there any other good adult doctors that take UHC?

Preschel

[Deal Guy]

Six flags season passes available, valid for the rest of 2018 & 2019.
$55 without parking, $65 with parking. limited amount. pm

[yelped]

Are there any Jewish stores that sell lottery tickets?