Advocates say low-income people may face nursing homes

From the Wall Street Journal:

Budget shortfalls are causing states to cut support services for the elderly and people with disabilities, making it tougher for many to continue living on their own.

At least 15 states, including Alabama, Virginia, and Massachusetts, are cutting programs that allow people to receive personal care services in their own homes, according to the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Long waiting lists for services are getting longer as a result, and many elderly and disabled people will have to pay for services themselves or move into more restrictive and expensive nursing homes that continue to receive funding. In surveys, people with disabilities and the elderly say they prefer remaining in their communities rather than living in nursing homes. Nursing homes cost far more per person than community-based care.

“The call volume is increasing exponentially and the people are desperate,” says Sarah Lightell, chief operating officer at the Senior Resource Alliance, which uses state funds to provide home-care services to the elderly in central Florida.

See earlier posts about budget cuts in Illinois, Massachusetts, California,  Florida and Pennsylvania.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, community services, elderly, housing, independent living, nursing homes, waiting list/waivers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.