This Sample Release Is For You to Put on Your letterhead, edit, and email out to your local newspaper, radio, etc on Monday, October 24th. at 1 pm.
Do NOT release it earlier than 1 pm.
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, October 24, 2005
Contact: [Your name and phone number here]
EQUAL CHOICE BILL FOR ELDERS, DISABLED PASSES COMMITTEE
Would Honor Preference of Disabled to Live At Home
A landmark piece of civil rights legislation for the elderly and disabled of Massachusetts was reported favorably today by the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs. The “Equal Choice” bill rebalances how the Commonwealth spends nearly $2 billion in state and federal taxes on individuals at risk for nursing home care.
“This bill responds to the very deeply-felt desire of our seniors and individuals with disabilities to remain living at home for as long as possible,” explained _____________________________. “It’s about time we give families more control over the decision of where you will receive care if you need personal care.”
The new bill opens the door for seniors and the disabled to receive an array of services that better respond to their right to remain a vital part of the community. The current MassHealth laws and regulations are “biased” towards the costliest, favoring the most restrictive form of institutional long term care.
“This bill says that the money needed to keep an elder living in the community will follow their needs,”_______________noted. “Our state spends 78% of its MassHealth long term care dollars on nursing homes. We need quality nursing homes, but we need to make sure that only those who need that level of care are there.”
Other states, like Oregon and Washington, have dropped their institutional spending to below 50% of Medicaid dollars, increasing their community care spending, and serving more elders at no additional cost. This trend nationally has been called the “rebalancing” of long term care. Massachusetts has roughly twice as many nursing home beds per person 65+ than the state of Florida. The Commonwealth currently spends close to $2 billion a year on long term care services for the elderly and disabled.
The Equal Choice bill passed today by the Elder Affairs committee:
• ends the “institution first” policy of MassHealth
• gives consumes a real choice of setting
• promotes the least restrictive form of care
• saves money by better managing long term care dollars
• mandates that all individuals seeking nursing home care be informed of their community care options before going into an institution.
Most home care services are considerably cheaper than comparable nursing home services. Although MassHealth nursing home patient days have fallen 17% over the past 5 years, there is still much to be done to guarantee that care is delivered in the most cost-effective, least restrictive setting.
“A 10% decline in institutional placements could save the taxpayers as much as $169 million annually,” Senate Elder Affairs Chair Senator Susan Tucker (D-Lawrence) noted, “while at the same time giving families the kind of care they really want.”
House Elder Affairs Chair, Representative Robert Correia (D-Fall River) also pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that disabled people have a right to receive care in the “most integrated setting” appropriate to their needs. “Our bill responds to that 1999 decision, by restoring choice to the consumer,” Correia explained, “and giving elders more power over critical life decisions.”
The Equal Choice bill has been endorsed by [NAME OF YOUR AGENCY/GROUP), and the major elderly and disabled rights groups in the state, including Mass Home Care, Massachusetts Association of Older Americans, Disability Policy Consortium, Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and Senior Center Directors, the Silver Haired Legislature, the Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, the Home & Health Care Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Council of Home Care Aide Services, and many other groups.
The Equal Choice bill was reported favorably at an Executive Session of the Elder Affairs committee today.
