Tom Walsh: 2010 census may be final thud before comeback

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BY TOM WALSH
DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST


Think of the 2010 census numbers as the "thud" moment for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan.

Michigan has been a slow-growth state since the 1970s. Detroit's population has been dropping for 60 years.

But while the trends may be familiar, the stark numbers for the first decade of the 21st Century are jarring evidence of a city and state hitting bottom. With a thud.
Or so we hope.

Maybe, just maybe, future historians will note that Michigan's revival began after it was the only state in the union to lose population from 2000-10, a period when Detroit alone lost 25% of its people -- and the state's auto industry employment plunged 50%, from 1,130,000 to 566,000.


Continued at: http://www.freep.com/article/20110323/COL06/103230448/0/FEATURES13/Tom-Walsh-2010-census-may-final-thud-before-comeback?odyssey=nav|head

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We may have lost a lot of population, but Detroit is right up there with Florida and LA when it comes to Medicare fraud.

http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2009/06/t20090625a.html

Vulnerabilities in Federal Health Care Programs
Strike Force Activities Have Uncovered Numerous Program Vulnerabilities
OIG and our law enforcement partners are focusing antifraud efforts in geographic areas at high risk for Medicare fraud. In 2007, OIG and DOJ launched a Strike Force effort in south Florida consisting of staff from OIG, DOJ, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the Federal Bureau of Investigation [[FBI), and CMS to identify, investigate, and prosecute DME suppliers and infusion clinics suspected of Medicare fraud. Building on the success in south Florida, the Strike Force was expanded to Los Angeles in March 2008 and to Houston and Detroit in May 2009 in connection with the HEAT initiative.