The recent fight in Michigan over our MICHOICE (HCBS) waiver funding for the rest of this fiscal year shows how far we have to go to get people to understand why community based long term care is a critical policy initiative. It seemed fine with the legislature that the waiver would close down for the rest of the 07 fiscal year, and more than $20 million in additional nursing home costs would be generated by those who wanted to stay in or go to the community, but couldn't. All this in a battle over spending too much money.
The fight was over politics, and once again, our legislators forgot that these decisions affect people's lives. Apparently, after a while, it all seems like a game of online poker, with someone else's money.
Now that constituents are complaining about being left in institutions, perhaps something will be done.
Stay tuned...
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