Today is Community Choice Act Day - STAY OUT OF NURSING HOMES

[Traveling_Home]

http://www.jfactivist.org/

CCA Day: Support Housing Choice
* * * Call to Action * * *

Monday, February 16th, President's Day, ADAPT will contact the Obama (a sponsor when he was a Senator) Administration.

Tuesday, February 17th, CCA supporters across the country will visit the local offices of members who haven't signed on.

Ask your U.S. Senators and Representative in Congress to become initial cosponsors of the Community Choice Act (CCA)!

It only takes a COUPLE of minutes. CCA will be reintroduced soon. Rather than start all over again building the number of cosponsors, we want to have the bill reintroduced with as many initial cosponsors as YOU help us get.

Use these links to contact your US Senators and Representative.

Contact your Senators at:
http://capwiz.com/rochestercdr/issues/alert/?alertid=12598871

Contact your Representative at:
http://capwiz.com/rochestercdr/issues/alert/?alertid=12597841

-CCA Summary (will be assigned a new bill #):
http://www.adapt.org/casa/summary.htm

-CCA Talking Points:



Talking Points on the Community Choice Act


1. The demographics of our country are changing. More and more people with disabilities are living, and could be thriving! Reasons for these changes include:

a) the aging process, the graying of America, b) children born with disabilities are living, c) young adults, who previously would have died from accidents or illnesses, are living -- thanks to medical technology and other advances.

2. Our long-term service system must change. Created over forty years ago, it is funded mainly by Medicare and Medicaid dollars; medical dollars not originally meant to meet people's long-term care needs. We must think out of the box to empower people and allow REAL choices.

3. The money should follow the individual, not the facility or provider. A national long-term service policy should not favor any one setting over the other. It should let the users choose where services should be delivered. Our current system is not neutral, and it doesn't reflect people's choices.

4. The current system is needlessly expensive. We must explore cost-effective ways to meet people's needs.


Community services have been shown to be less expensive on average than institutional services, and better liked by individuals.

In FY 2005, 63% of our total $94.5 billion long term care Medicaid dollars ($59.34 billion) are spent on nursing homes and other institutional services, leaving only 37% ($35.16 billion) for all community services (waivers, personal care, home health, etc.)

5. People with disabilities -- both old and young -- even those with severe mental and/or physical disabilities want services in the most integrated setting possible. Overwhelmingly, people prefer community services so they can stay in their own home.

6. People with disabilities and their families want REAL choice, which means:

a) equitable funding opportunities, b) no programmatic or rule disincentives to community services, and c) options for services delivery which include agency based services, vouchers, and fiscal intermediaries. Empower people with disabilities and families.

7. Family values keep families together

a) children belong in families b) grandparents at home! c) Mom and dad together with the kids d) communities take care of their own.

8. Money following the individual can eliminate overburdening government rules and regulations.

9. A functional system based on need instead of medical diagnosis could end FRAGMENTATION of the service delivery system.

10. Keeping people in the community allows the possibility for individuals with disabilities to train for work so they can become TAXPAYERS instead of TAX USERS.

11. The federal government needs to work in partnership with the states to create flexible delivery systems that give people REAL choice.

12. Change can cause fear of the unknown. Some long time providers of services and families believe REAL choice would threaten what they have. We cannot continue the system as it is today; it is expensive, fragmented, overly-medical and disliked by almost everyone.

There's No Place Like Home!

[msongs]

1. the medical/religious industrial complex feeds off of taxpayers

for those who can avoid the death homes (oops, "nursing" homes) end of life may be better. for those who cannot afford or manage home care, it should become easier. The keep people alive at all costs mentality is cruel and expensive.

In my dad's case he had the best military retirement plan and needed dialysis every other day. We could not swing transportation to dialysis from home on a reliable basis so he moved to an excellent facility with apartment style living and medical supervision as needed, but it was NOT home and never could be. Unfortunately, his demise came quickly, but while he still had his wits about him, and did not degenerate into a long term incapacitated state.

He elected hospice care, despite the wishes of his medical providers to place him in hospital, full of tubes and HIGH income generated for the medical facility.

For the medical industrial complex, the preferred out come is a hospital full of people on tubes and machines, because that is where hospitals make the most money.

The facility my dad was in had a constant parade of religious charlatans trying to seperate the residents from their cash and belongings in the name of Jesus. Only christians were allowed in, never any Jewish religious people and of course NO muslims, buddhists, etc. We finally had to tell the management to keep their bible hacks away from my dad. Once that mission was accomplished everything else went well..more or less

Msongs