This program is central to my freedom and
independence. Without it, I might be forced to surrender myself to a
nursing home. But because federal long-term care policy still heavily
favors institutionalization, countless people with disabilities are
forced to give up their freedom in exchange for assistance.
Those of us using community assistance programs like the one in my state are just a budget cut away from joining them.
For everyone who has been or may be caught in this painful trap, reversing this institutional bias in Medicaid policy is key.
Neither Obama nor McCain list long-term care as an issue on their main Web pages.
Obama does have a nine-page platform addressing disability issues,
in which a small section proclaims his support of a major piece of
proposed legislation that would make it much easier for people to
receive Medicaid-funded assistance in their homes. There is a paragraph
on Obama’s Web site about giving seniors long-term care choices that
are “consistent with their needs, and not biased towards institutional
care.”
McCain’s Web site proposes no specific disability agenda. The only
long-term care discussion I could find was a paragraph that proposes
creating more “pioneering” programs to help seniors receive home
assistance.
Both candidates are giving the issue of long-term care short shrift.
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