Don't Let Gravity Be Your Downfall - New Guidelines Help Seniors Stay Solidly On Their Feet And Free Of Injury

To help America's seniors stay on their feet and free of injury, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) have developed a set of simple guidelines designed to help older Americans avoid falls and lower the incidence of serious injury when falls occur. The two organizations will launch a public service announcement (PSA) campaign in March 2007 to spread the word to active seniors.

"More and more American seniors are remaining active as they age, which is a very positive and healthy trend; however, as we age our bones become more brittle and the risk of serious injury from falling down also increases," said James H. Beaty, MD, president of AAOS. "Seniors can help protect themselves against injuries by making some very simple changes around the house and by adopting an ongoing exercise regime.

"One in three adults over age 65 falls each year in the United States, adds Chuck Kimmel, ATC, president of NATA. "Falling injuries for senior citizens can be not only traumatic, but also life threatening and the healing process is slower. Incorporating balance, strength and flexibility routines into daily activities is essential to stave off the risk of falling."

NATA and AAOS offer active seniors the following guidelines to guard against injuries caused by falling:

Connecting Tags; LTC, tool, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Diabetics In Nursing Homes Need Improved Care

Published today in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine researchers say that the care of elderly patients with type 1 insulin dependent and type 2 diabetes in extended care facilities fails to meet ADA Standards of Care.

Entitled "Diabetes Care in Extended Care Facilities: Appropriate Intensity of Care?", a study authored Jay Shubrook, D.O., assistant professor of family medicine at OU-COM; Frank Schwartz, M.D., assistant professor of endocrinology at OU-COM; and second-year medical student Rachel Holt, examined the quality of care that diabetic patients receive in nursing homes through a retrospective chart review of 108 residents at 11 extended health-care facilities in Ohio and West Virginia over a period of one year.

"Our study is based on the principle that there are guidelines on how to manage diabetes for the outpatient adult, and there are new guidelines for how to manage diabetes for patients in the hospital, but there are no guidelines for treating people in nursing homes," Shubrook said.

According to the study, only 38 percent of the patients monitored (98 percent) met blood glucose (sugar) goals. Only 55 percent of the patients monitored (94 percent) had satisfactory blood pressure levels. Only 31 percent of patients had lipids (serum total cholesterol) checks yearly, with 58 percent having acceptable levels.

Connecting Tags; LTC, Medicaid, abuse, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

AHCA Commends White House, Congress For Moving Forward On Immigration Reform

Despite the fact the recently-passed U.S. Senate immigration bill fails to include necessary language to help boost the supply of long term care workers in the U.S. workforce, the American Health Care Association (AHCA) today praised the Bush Administration and Congress for making a constructive, bipartisan effort to jumpstart a comprehensive immigration overhaul, and said seniors and the long term care profession alike have an enormous stake in ensuring acceptable, effective guest worker and nursing shortage provisions are included in any final bill.

"Despite an impasse on a variety of other legislative fronts, the Bush Administration and Congress deserve praise and support from the long term care community for moving closer to passing one of the most significant and needed governmental reforms in decades," stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA. "It is unfortunate the Senate's immigration package did not specifically address long term care, and we intend to ensure that guest worker and nursing shortage language like that offered by U.S. Representatives Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is advanced through this process and included."

Connecting Tags; LTC, institutions, economics, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Chain-Owned Nursing Homes Hurt By Too Much Standardization, Study Finds

Standard marketing and strategic planning practices can hurt patient care throughout a nursing home chain, but only if too much emphasis is placed on such administrative standards to the detriment of clinical and facility standards, a new study indicates.

Research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health suggests that one of the strengths of a nursing home chain---the ability to standardize and perfect administrative practices throughout the chain---also can hurt patient care.

"Consumers need ways to identify what is a good or bad nursing home when making choices about where to place a loved one," said Jane Banaszak-Holl, corresponding author on the study. "Right now, we have an easier time distinguishing the quality in McDonalds versus Boston Market than we have distinguishing how, for example, a Sun-owned nursing home differs from a Beverly Enterprises nursing home."

Connecting Tags; LTC, institutions, economics, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

AHA will work with ADAPT, supports CCA!

from Scott Heinzman

AHA will work with ADAPT, supports CCA!

						Reply Reply to all Forward Print Add Scott to Contacts list Delete this message Report phishing Show original Message text garbled?

This is excellent news! -s

From:"Bruce Darling" 


I have attended a lot of follow up meetings.  Sometimes we have had to
wade through a lot of process and blah blah blah before we see results,
but this was different.  Before we even showed up for today's meeting
with the American Hospital Association, they had already sent out
letters to Senator Harkin and Representative Davis stating that they support
the Community Choice Act!

The AHA staff took our action very seriously and more importantly took
action themselves... and they did so right away.  You can really see
the power of ADAPT!

At today's meeting, the AHA also agreed to provide their state
affiliates information about the Olmstead decision and Money Follows the
Person
and ask those affiliates to report back on their involvement with
Olmstead planning at the state level.  Once they have that information, they
will work with us to develop "next steps."

Until then, they are working with ADAPT to prepare an article for their
bi-weekly publication that would explain our concerns regarding
discharge planning and highlight some best practices that promote people
living in their own homes.  This would be distributed to about 20,000
people, including Capital Hill.  They also agreed that ADAPT should have an
opportunity to present to their members, but they want to consider the
best place for that to happen.  They really wanted to make sure that
that actual discharge planners got the message.  They were clearly moved
by the personal stories we shared and seemed to want to make this a real
partnership.

We need to make sure our local people hear what a powerful impact they
had on the AHA.
It was a great action and got great results!

FREE OUR PEOPLE!

Bruce Darling

U.S. Supreme Court to Consider the Rights of Home Healthcare Workers

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering an appeal of a strong appellate court decision that ordered employers to pay overtime to homecare workers employed by employment agencies. That ruling was precisely the outcome AARP urged in its prior “friend of the court” brief in Coke v. Long Island Care at Home and the brief just filed in the Supreme Court.

At issue specifically is whether home health aides, employed by an agency, are entitled to federal minimum wage, and the protection of federal overtime laws under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. In the Coke case, employers argued that home healthcare workers fall under the exception enacted in 1974 to exempt babysitters and companions employed directly by the person needing care or by his or her family (not third party employers) from overtime pay requirements.

AARP Foundation Litigation attorneys filed AARP’s “friend of the court” brief in support of the workers in the case below in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as in a similar case in the Eleventh Circuit because the issue of appropriate and adequate compensation directly relates to the availability of necessary workers and quality of care delivered to people receiving home healthcare services. There is a critical and growing need for home health aides and a current and even greater projected shortage of these workers in the near future. Wages and benefits obviously play a vital role in the ability to recruit and retain conscientious workers who provide quality care.

Direct care workers, including home health aides, are the paraprofessionals who provide the bulk of paid long-term care. They work in diverse settings, including private homes, adult day centers, assisted living residents, and nursing homes. The more than a million direct care workers in the United States provide services that may include assisting with personal care, providing oversight for people with cognitive or mental impairments, observing and reporting changes in a client’s condition, administering medications and monitoring vital signs, preparing meals and housekeeping, as well as providing comfort and companionship.

Most home health aides are women supporting children, who perform difficult work for low pay. Many handle high caseloads, are provided with minimal training and few opportunities for advancement. It is not surprising, then, that turnover among personal and homecare aides is extremely high – averaging between 40 and 50 percent on an annual basis. High turnover and workforce instability affects clients directly in the quality of care they receive and in outright disruptions of service delivery.

The aging of the American population as well as federal interest in providing alternatives to institutionalization means that the need for direct care workers is expected to increase markedly in the coming years. In 2000, 13 million Americans received some form of long term care, the bulk of which was provided by direct care workers. This number is expected to skyrocket. The New York State Department of Labor estimates that in the New York Cit y area alone, an additional 17,000 personal and homecare workers will be needed by 2012 in order to meet demand – an increase of nearly 33% above today’s levels. Already, almost every state in the country has reported a critical shortage of direct care workers, resulting in a “care gap” that leaves many older and disabled people with inadequate or no source of care.

AARP’s brief points out that when Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act Amendments that carved out the companion exemption in 1974, the homecare industry was in its infancy. No one foresaw the development of this market for homecare workers and, AARP argues, therefore the exemption could not possibly have been intended to cover such a large class of workers that was only then developing. Extending this limited exception to cover homecare workers would not only be extending a Congressional exemption beyond where it was intended, but would have serious detrimental effects to older and disabled Americans across the country.

Quality and affordable homecare is an important issue for AARP members and people with disabilities because most chose to receive home services as an alternative to institutionalization.

CMS Awards Grants To 13 States For Alternatives To Nursing Home Care, USA

Thirteen states and the District of Columbia will get more than $547 million in grants over five years to build Medicaid long-term care programs that will help keep people at home and out of institutions, Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today.

Today's awards are the second round of grants that will total $1.75 billion over five years (2007-2011) to help shift Medicaid's traditional emphasis on institutional care to a system offering greater choices that include home and community-based services.

Ten States Selected to Participate in Long-Term Care Partnership Expansion Project

Hamilton, NJ – With the graying of America, affordable long-term care insurance options are increasingly important. In response to recent federal legislation that allows states to pursue public-private partnerships for long-term insurance coverage, 10 states have been selected to participate in the Long-Term Care Partnership Expansion project to develop practical insurance options for moderate-income consumers.

Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia will participate in this new Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) initiative. The national effort will help states work with private insurers to create affordable insurance options that protect both consumer assets and minimize the risk to state Medicaid program budgets. The initiative is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Connecting Tags; LTC, choice, economics, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

State Spending Keeps Childless Seniors Out Of Nursing Homes, USA

Older Americans without children have a much lower risk of being admitted to a nursing home if they live in a state that spends more on home- and community-based services (HCBS), according to an article published in the latest issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (Vol. 62B, No. 3).

A team of researchers, headed by Naoko Muramatsu of the University of Illinois at Chicago, sought to determine if variations in state spending had an effect on nursing home admissions, and whether a senior's family status also played a role. Although the association was not statistically significant older people with living children, they found that doubling state HCBS expenditures per person over age 65 would reduce the risk of nursing home admission among childless seniors by 35 percent.

Connecting Tags; LTC, community-based, economics, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Judge wants sex offender notification in nursing homes

WARREN, Ohio – A Trumbull County judge wants state officials to revise sex offender notification laws so residents of nursing homes are alerted when registered sex offenders move into the facilities.

County sheriff’s offices must notify neighborhoods when a sex offender moves in, but there are no similar notifications made when an offender moves into a nursing home, Trumbull County Probate Judge Thomas Swift said Tuesday.

Connecting Tags; LTC, rights, stigma, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Intelligent Communication Devices For Elderly And Disabled People Created By Spanish Project 'AmIVital'

By the year 2026, 21.6 per cent of the world's population will be older than 65, 32 per cent of which will have some kind of disability. Official data confirm that the percentage of elderly people will increase dramatically within the next years: by 2050 there will be 180 per cent more people older than 80 than today.

Guided by these figures, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade - through its CENIT programme, targeted at fostering cooperation between the private and the public sectors for the development of technological innovations, has granted a 20 million euro subsidy to the research and development project "AmIVital: digital personal environment for health and wellbeing".

Seventeen Spanish top Information and Communication Technology companies and research groups participate in AmIVital. From the private side, SIEMENS will be the leader of this project in which other companies take part, such as Telefónica R&D, Telvent Interactiva, Ericsson Spain, Eptron, CPI - Central de Procesos Informáticos, Acerca Comunicaciones y Sistemas and Arizone.

Connecting Tags; LTC, tech, tool, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Could This be happening Here??!!

from K Wyeth

Yuh Think?

FYI, study in Canada:

Nursing Homes Overprescribe Antipsychotics, Study Shows

Research has found that 32 percent (15,317) of the more than 47,000 people studied in nearly 500 nursing homes in Ontario, Canada, were prescribed an antipsychotic medication. In some of the institutions, nearly half the residents were taking the drugs. The data, collected in December 2003 and published in April 2007 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that more than 800 of the individuals on the drugs had not been diagnosed with either psychosis or dementia. The researchers also found that people in facilities with high rates of prescribing antipsychotic medications were approximately three times more likely to be receiving such drugs than were people living in institutions with low prescribing rates – with clinical indications seemingly irrelevant.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/04/10/antipsychotic-seniors.html

Funding Stability Best Means To Protect America's Most Vulnerable Frail, Elderly & Disabled

Several hundred long term care leaders from every region of the nation are on Capitol Hill today advocating before U.S. Senate and House lawmakers to let them know that long term care funding stability is a primary prerequisite for continued improvements in nursing home care quality, and that the safety net programs our nation's most vulnerable population of seniors and disabled citizens depend upon are protected, defended and preserved.

"Protecting, defending and preserving the financial stability of America's key safety net programs in the decades ahead is vital to the well being of our most vulnerable population of seniors and disabled citizens," stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), which is hosting its 25th annual congressional gathering. "Our message to Congress is that the long term care sector's funding stability is central to sustaining the care quality improvements we are working together to achieve," he said.

Clearly, Frankly, Unabashedly Disabled

from C Lejuste

WHEN Josh Blue won NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” last season, he did so with riffs like this:

“My right arm does a lot of crazy stuff. Like the other day, I thought someone had stolen my wallet.”

It’s funny only if you know that Mr. Blue has cerebral palsy.

The public image of people with disabilities has often hinged on the heroic or the tragic. But Mr. Blue, 28, represents the broader portrait of disability now infusing television and film. This new, sometimes confrontational stance reflects the higher expectations among many members of the disabled population that they be treated as people who happen to have a disability, rather than as people defined by disability.

Recent ADAPT Action

Thanks to Joe Harcz for this info.

As usual the Memphis Center for Independent Living has a variety of reports, photos and videoes on the ADAPT action. Just link to them at:
http://www.adapt.org/freeourpeople/aar/cca1/
Or go to the home page at:
www.mcil.org
Free our people!
Joe

DOES HIGH CAREGIVER STRESS LEAD TO NURSING HOME ENTRY?

This is a PDF file.

Understanding the role of informal caregiving in preventing or delaying nursing home entry among chronically disabled elders is increasingly important for policy. Continued aging of the population and other demographic shifts are likely to increase the caregiving burden for a smaller number of caregivers per elder in the coming decades. The success of state and federal policies to prevent or defer admission to nursing facilities or help nursing facility residents return to the community will depend in part on the willingness and ability of informal caregivers to maintain disabled elders in their homes. In this study, we examine how informal care, paid formal care, and stress or burden experienced by caregivers relates to nursing home placement. We use data from the 1999 National Long Term Care Survey and its companion Informal Caregiver Survey merged with Minimum Data Set and other external data and instrumental variables estimation methods to estimate nursing home entry. We also estimate a richer probit model to explore the factors associated with high caregiver stress. We find that stress is a strong predictor of entry over follow-up periods of up to two years, and that caregiving-related physical strain and financial hardship and recipient behavior problems are important predictors of high levels of caregiver stress. Reducing important stress factors such as physical strain and financial hardship would significantly reduce caregiver stress and, as a result, nursing home entry. Our analysis provides support for initiatives to reduce caregiver stress as a strategy to avoid or defer nursing home entry and to underpin current efforts to return nursing home residents to community-based care.

Connecting Tags; LTC, institutions, community-based, peer, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Investigative Report of Ashley "Treatment"

To the disability community nationwide:

As many of you know, the Washington Protection and Advocacy System (soon to be Disability Rights Washington - DRW), opened an investigation in January 2007 into the "Ashley Treatment" interventions and the role of Seattle's Children's Hospital. Today, we are releasing the findings of that investigation.

The view the full report, complete with appendix items, please visit our website www.DisabilityRightsWA.org .

You should know:

1. Children's Hospital violated Washington state law in performing the hysterectomy portion of the "Ashley Treatment " which resulted in the violation of Ashley's constitutional and common law rights;

2. The Hospital has acknowledged the violation and accepted full responsibility;

3. The Hospital has entered into an enforceable, written five (5) year agreement with WPAS to take corrective action and other proactive steps; and

4, We have included a list of next steps in the Executive Summary that we hope will be a part of a nationwide collaborative effort of the disability community that will result in Ashley being the last person to receive "treatment" named for her.

Seattle Children's Hospital acknowledged the following in our five (5) year, enforceable agreement:

"Children’s has received and reviewed the WPAS report on Ashley and the treatment she received. In general, Children’s accepts the WPAS report. Specifically, Children’s agrees with the finding in the report that Ashley’s sterilization proceeded without a court order in violation of Washington State law, resulting in violation of Ashley’s constitutional and common law rights. Children’s deeply regrets its failure to assure court review and a court order prior to allowing performance of the sterilization and is dedicated to assuring full compliance with the law in any future case."

Some of you may think having a court order is a procedural matter easily overcome. That is not the case. We encourage you to carefully read the legal requirements section of our report to gain a full understanding of this critical safeguard of the rights of children for whom this treatment may be proposed.

If you are wondering about the applicable law in your state the first appendix section includes contacts from many states who have agreed to share their knowledge of the law in their states.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Mark Stroh, Executive Director

Washington Protection & Advocacy System*

315 - 5th Ave South, Suite 850

Seattle, WA 98104

mstroh@wpas-rights.org

ph: (206) 324-1521 / 800-562-2702

tty: (206) 957-0728

fax: (206) 957-0729

Connecting Tags; rights, youth, stigma, LTC, advocacy, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Support Growing For Grassroots SSDI/SSI - Reform Initiative For The Chronically Disabled, USA

A little more than two months ago, I initiated a grassroots movement designed to change the way social security works for victims of MS and other chronically disabling illnesses. In addressing the current difficulties in qualifying for permanent disability benefits, I am proposing that temporary disability benefits be granted during times when they're actually needed. Along with the Accelerated Cure Project and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, several other organizations and individuals, have begun to garner support for this important effort. As of May 1, 2007, this proposal has been endorsed by more than 1,600 individuals including chronic illness patients, physicians, employees of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, television actors, chronic illness advocacy organizations and innumerable concerned citizens.

When you read the endorsements, it becomes apparent that there is a common thread; the desire among those afflicted with MS and other serious chronic disorders to continue to work and contribute to society as they're able -- while gaining the recognition of our lawmakers that the unpredictable nature of chronic illness needs to be more adequately addressed.

Connecting Tags; LTC, economics, employment, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Medicaid’s Prior Authorization Program And Access To Atypical Antipsychotic Medications

State Medicaid programs use prior authorization (PA) to control drug spending by requiring that specific conditions be met before allowing reimbursement. The extent to which PA policies respond to new developments concerning medication safety is not known. In April 2005 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory describing increased mortality among elderly people with dementia taking atypical antipsychotics. More than a year later, no state had changed its PA policy in response. We discuss the roles of Medicaid and other insurers in responding to emerging drug safety issues and their challenges in weighing drug risks and benefits.

Connecting Tags; Medicare, LTC, economics, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

CMS Announces Final Rule On Long-Term Care Hospital Payments; Industry Group Analyzes Proposed Payment Cuts For Home Health Agencies

CMS will increase Medicare payments to long-term care hospitals by 0.71% in "rate year" 2008, the agency announced Tuesday, CQ HealthBeat reports. To determine the increase in payments for long-term care hospitals, CMS said it used a method known as a "market basket," which tracks annual changes in the cost of medical supplies and services provided by the facilities. These calculations indicated that hospitals would be entitled to a 3.2% payment increase in rate year 2008, but the agency lowered the amount of the increase by 2.49% to account for changes in the way hospitals bill for services. CMS suggested that hospitals bill the agency at rates higher than the costs of treatment justify, CQ HealthBeat reports.

The rule also revises Medicare's payment policies for graduate medical education at teaching hospitals when residents are being trained outside of the hospital. In addition, CMS proposed increasing rates to nursing facilities by 3.3%, or $690 million, in 2008 (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 5/1). Analysis of Home Health Agencies Payment Proposal
A series of changes CMS proposed last week to Medicare payments for home health agencies would lead to payment cuts totaling more than $7 billion by 2012, according to an analysis by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, CQ HealthBeat reports. CMS on Friday proposed increasing payments by 2.9% for home health agencies that report quality-of-care data and by 0.9% for those who did not provide quality data. CMS also proposed reducing the national standardized 60-day episode payment rate by 2.75% each year for three years beginning in 2008, and tailoring payments for "non-routine" medical supplies to better reflect the actual cost to home health agencies.

Connecting Tags; Medicaid, Medicare, LTC, community-based, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Long Term Care Profession Outlines Roadmap To Continued Nursing Home Quality Improvements, USA

While acknowledging there remain "many challenges ahead in terms of addressing and improving the nation's most troubled facilities," the American Health Care Association (AHCA) today told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that a culture of cooperation among long term care providers, regulators, and consumers is essential to continuing to build on the improvements in patient care quality made to date and in the years ahead.

"What we have is a system that defines 'success' and quality in a regulatory context that is often measured by the level of fines levied and the violations tallied - not by the quality of care, or quality of life," as was originally intended when Congress passed the landmark Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), testified Mary Ousley, who is past Chair of AHCA, a registered nurse, a certified nursing home administrator, and a recognized national expert in facility management and the federal regulatory process.

In discussing the profession's twenty year experience with OBRA '87 - the federal law establishing much of today's nursing home oversight rules - Ousley said OBRA '87 was intended to move the survey and certification process in a new direction: "The statute envisioned a resident-centered, outcome-oriented, consistent system of oversight. Unfortunately the system we have today bears little resemblance to that vision."

Connecting Tags; LTC, community-based, rights, social production, fan-the-flame, copower, prosynergy

Group Seeks Elimination Of Medicare Waiting Period For People With Disabilities

A coalition of 34 consumer groups, led by the Medicare Rights Center, has begun to lobby Congress to revise a law that requires individuals with disabilities to wait two years to become eligible for Medicare after they begin to receive Social Security disability benefits, the Dallas Morning News reports. Medicare implemented the waiting period in 1972, when Congress expanded the program to cover individuals with disabilities, to limit the cost and ensure only those with severe and long-term disabilities would qualify for the program.

However, according to a report released earlier this month, the law is "sentencing people to inadequate health care, poverty and death." The center estimates that elimination of the waiting period would cost $8.7 billion annually, although savings of $4.3 billion in Medicaid would offset some of the cost.

Asset Transfers That Would Allow Elderly To Qualify For Medicaid Rare, GAO Finds

Most nursing home residents are unlikely to have sold off assets below market value to qualify for long-term care coverage from Medicaid, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Thursday, CongressDaily reports. Because of concerns that the practice might be widespread, Congress in 2006 passed a provision in the budget reconciliation law to expand from three years to five years the "look back" period in which seniors who transfer their assets at less than market value are ineligible for Medicaid.

HUD Secretary Comes to ADAPT with Commitments; American Hospital Association Agrees to Meet

For Immediate Release:
April 29, 2007

For information contact:
Bob Kafka (512) 431-4085
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504
http://www.adapt.org

HUD Secretary Comes to ADAPT with Commitments; American Hospital
Association Agrees to Meet

Washington, D.C.--- This time around ADAPT didn't have to shut
down HUD headquarters, because as HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson stated,
"I came to you," when he and three members of his staff met with 500
members of ADAPT in their Washington, D.C., hotel. By the end of the
morning, Jackson had stated unequivocally that "Fair Housing is a right."
And he made a number of commitments to ADAPT, including;

* Informing ADAPT, before the September ADAPT action in Chicago,
on how many housing vouchers for persons with disabilities he has
recovered from the 58% loss in vouchers that the disability community
suffered due to a combination of federal budget cuts, and misappropriation
of vouchers by local entities that administer the voucher program in
communities across the country.

* Vowing to eliminate the "outrageous" level of discrimination in
housing against persons with disabilities. HUD recently reported that 40%
of the Fair Housing complaints filed with HUD are based on the "protected
class" of disability. This number surpasses, for the first time in
history, the percentage of complaints filed on the basis of race (39%).

* A promise to facilitate a meeting between ADAPT and Reps. Barney
Frank (D-MA) and Maxine Waters (D-CA). Frank is Chair of the House
Committee on Financial Services, and Waters is Chair of the Financial
Services Committee's Sub-committee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
This Committee and Sub-committee are responsible for legislation affecting
changes to the Section 811 program. ADAPT is calling for a restructuring
of the Sec. 811 housing program to provide affordable, accessible,
integrated housing, as well as increase the number of vouchers available
to persons with disabilities, both of which will require action by
Congress. Sec. 811 is the segregated housing program for persons with
disabilities. The segregated housing program for older persons is Sec.
202.

* Jackson committed to work with ADAPT on implementing ADAPT's
Access Across America Program, which would provide housing vouchers to
persons with disabilities in nursing homes and ICFMRs that, combined with
Money Follows the Person and previously existing initiatives in the
states, will get people out of nursing homes and into affordable,
accessible, integrated housing in their own communities.

* A promise to meet with ADAPT three times a year, with the next
meeting most likely occurring in Chicago during the next ADAPT action,
September 8-13.

"ADAPT is pleased that Sec. Jackson came to us, and we are
cautiously optimistic at this point," said Cassie James, Philadelphia
ADAPT Organizer. "His own personal experience with discrimination gives
him a window into the unconscionable discrimination in obtaining
affordable, accessible, integrated housing that is experienced by people
with disabilities all over America. We look forward to the Secretary
keeping his commitments and partnering with us to improve the current sad
state of affairs."

In other action on Tuesday, ADAPT took over the building that
houses the American Hospital Association (AHA), ultimately receiving a
commitment from AHA top leadership to meet with 15 ADAPT members in the
next 30 days. ADAPT is demanding that the AHA endorse the Community Choice
Act (S 799, H.R. 1621); work with ADAPT to develop a hospital discharge
protocol that will steer people into community services, not institutional
services; put ADAPT on the agenda of the next AHA conference; and finally,
write a letter to all AHA member hospitals encouraging them to make
discharge referrals that do not inappropriately segregate and
institutionalize people with disabilities, thus complying with the U.S.
Supreme Court Olmstead decision.

Commented Gene Spinning Rochester ADAPT, "Hospitals should not be
feeder systems for the nursing home industrial complex, and we expect AHA
to take a lead in reforming the all too common practice of treating us
like cash cows and making automatic referrals at discharge to nursing
homes without even exploring what's available in the community."

On Wednesday, ADAPT will meet with Mike Hudson, Chair of the
Republican National Committee. ADAPT will also deliver Community Choice
Act materials to every member of Congress. Included in the materials is a
ten minute DVD compiled from the testimony about the horrors of life in a
nursing home that was delivered before a national panel in Nashville
during ADAPT's spring 2006 action.


###
FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/

Center For Medicare Advocacy And National Senior Citizens Law Center Announce New "Justice Partnership" Affiliation And Upcoming Conference

The Center for Medicare Advocacy and the National Senior Citizens Law Center announce a new affiliation called the "Justice Partnership". The groups are planning a major conference in Washington, DC to focus advocates and policymakers on the challenges facing lower income older people and people with disabilities. The conference will take place this October.

For two decades the Center for Medicare Advocacy and the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) have worked together. The two organizations have shared histories, interrelated missions, and have successfully collaborated in significant litigation, projects, and grants to advance the rights of older people and people with disabilities.

The Justice Partnership grows out of a mutual concern that the safety net for older Americans, created over the last several decades, is unraveling.

ADAPT Action Press Release

For Immediate Release:
April 29, 2007

For information contact:
Bob Kafka (512) 431-4085
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504

99 Arrested as ADAPT Demands U.S. House Hearings on Community Choice Act

Washington, D.C.--- 99 arrests occurred when ADAPT invaded the
Rayburn House Office Building to push for hearings on the Community Choice
Act (CCA, S 799 and H.R. 1621) by the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Subcommittee on Health. ADAPT took over the hearing room along with the
office of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), and filled
the horseshoe drive outside the Rayburn front door.

"We've been waiting for ten years for this legislation to pass,
and all the while Congress has refused to act on this national scandal of
America forcing people into nursing homes against their will," said Dawn
Russell, currently with ADAPT in Colorado. "I had to leave my home state
of Tennessee in order to get the assistance that would keep me out of a
nursing home. I want so much to be able to go home to Tennessee to be with
my family, but I can't because then I'd be forced into a nursing home just
because I need personal assistance to get through my day, and Tennessee
refuses to provide that assistance to people in their own homes. I won't
give up my freedom, my privacy, my dignity and the control over my life,
so I have to stay in exile in Colorado."

The CCA was introduced in March 2007, and is the newest version of
legislation that would remove the institutional bias in the nation's
outdated Medicaid program by allowing Medicaid to pay for the services and
supports people need to remain in their own homes. Currently under
Medicaid, states are federally mandated to provide only nursing home
services, and are not equally mandated to provide similar services in a
person's own home, thus diverting the person from being forced into a
nursing home or other institution. In order for the CCA to move through
Congress, the next step is to hold hearings. ADAPT met with the Democratic
National Committee (DNC) last week, and is meeting with the Republican
National Committee (RNC) this week to garner their support for hearings,
and to gain additional co-sponsors.

"It's easy for Congress to ignore us," said Guadalupe Vasquez of
Texas ADAPT. "After all, they all make a very good living and have great
benefits, and so they will never have to face the prospect of forced
institutionalization and loss of their freedom. On the other hand, many of
us live on $600/month, so we are the people who Congress, by its inaction,
is guaranteeing will lose our freedom. We'll lose our freedom, and we'll
be relegated to back wards where we will lie in our own waste until
someone eventually takes the time to change us, and where we acquire
deadly pressure sores because no one takes the time to reposition us. It's
way past time for Congress to correct this travesty."

The ability to stay in one's own home with needed services is even
more critical now that the baby boom generation has entered its
"disability years," the time of life when they are most likely to acquire
disabilities that will cause them to leave the workforce and apply for
disability benefits. Some members of ADAPT have been part of the
organization since its inception nearly 25 years ago, going from being
younger people with disabilities forced into nursing homes to elders of
retirement age, again being threatened with forced institutionalization.

Observed Barbara Toomer of Utah ADAPT, "More and more of us have
come to see the need for home and community-based services from two
perspectives- disability and aging. The perspectives may differ a bit, but
the desire to remain in our own homes with the services and supports we
need is exactly the same. We must assure passage of the Community Choice
Act now."

On Tuesday, May 1, ADAPT will host HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson
for a meeting at their hotel in the morning, and then will meet with Mike
Hudson, Chair of the Republican National Committee in the afternoon.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/

Report Analyzes Deficit Reduction Act's Effect On Medicaid Long-Term Care Coverage Access, Eligibility

"Medicaid Long-Term Care: Few Transferred Assets Before Applying for Nursing Home Coverage; Impact of Deficit Reduction Act on Eligibility Is Uncertain," Government Accountability Office: For the report, GAO uses Health and Retirement Study data to determine how Deficit Reduction Act asset requirements affect eligibility and access for Medicaid long-term care. The study also examines financial characteristics of nursing home residents across the nation, demographic and financial characteristics of a sample of Medicaid nursing home applicants, and the extent to which applicants transferred assets at less than fair market value (GAO, "Medicaid Long-Term Care: Few Transferred Assets Before Applying for Nursing Home Coverage; Impact of Deficit Reduction Act on Eligibility is Uncertain," March 2007).