Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Minnix expects Senate to include CLASS Act in healthcare reform bill

Patti's Comments:  This is important, but it is more important for the Senate to include the Choice Act!!!

Excerpt from McKnight's: (click for entire article)

The president and CEO of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging feels confident that the CLASS Act will make it into a final healthcare reform bill. "I felt like all along it was going to wind up in health reform," Larry Minnix told McKnight's Monday. He spoke during the association's annual conference in Chicago. "It's just the right thing to do."

The CLASS Act was part of the major healthcare reform legislation that the House passed Saturday. The bill now faces an even tougher test in the Senate where several moderate Democrats are opposed to the CLASS Act because of the cost involved, and other aspects of the legislation.

The act would create a consumer-funded national long-term care and disability insurance trust. Workers would pay into the trust and be eligible to receive cash after a vesting period of five years. The cash benefit they receive would be tied to their level of disability. Minnix called it "one of the big transformational items in the healthcare reform bill."

Sullivan family of Marlette face drastic cuts to state aid to care for paraplegic son injured in MSU lightning strike

Patti's Comments: I am going to keep posting this as a protest until this matter is resolved for John and his family!

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

John Sullivan hasn't walked, talked, fed, bathed or clothed himself in 24 years -- since the day he was struck by lightning during a high school golf tournament at the age of 17.

Every day since, Richard Sullivan has slept in a recliner at his son's bedside, alert to the slightest noise that might mean John needs help.

"I always worry about him choking even though he has an excellent gag reflex," said Richard Sullivan, 65. "I don't think I could sleep in a bed anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to."

Every morning, the retired dairy farmer uses a system of slings and hoists to move his 6-feet 4-inch, 185-pound son from the bed to a wheelchair to a whirlpool tub and back again.

More hours are spent changing the layers of bed pads and sheets, then dressing John and feeding him through a stomach tube.

Throughout the day, Sullivan repositions his son regularly to avoid pressure sores. In 24 years, John Sullivan has never had a bed sore.

After nearly 20 years of jumping through legal hoops, the Sullivans won full compensation for John's 24-hour care in 2006.

Now the family is headed back to court again, after the state Department of Human Services notified them on Aug. 31 that compensation for John's care -- called "chore services" -- will be cut back to 168.5 hours per month, at the rate of $7.50 an hour.

That means the family stands to lose about 75 percent of its income, unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The following links have background information on this case:

Ruling won't force in-home Medicaid

Medicaid Does Not Have To Fund In-Home Services, Judge Rules

John Sullivan Update

Patti's Comments: I am going to keep posting this as a protest until this matter is resolved for John and his family!

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

John Sullivan hasn't walked, talked, fed, bathed or clothed himself in 24 years -- since the day he was struck by lightning during a high school golf tournament at the age of 17.

Every day since, Richard Sullivan has slept in a recliner at his son's bedside, alert to the slightest noise that might mean John needs help.

"I always worry about him choking even though he has an excellent gag reflex," said Richard Sullivan, 65. "I don't think I could sleep in a bed anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to."

Every morning, the retired dairy farmer uses a system of slings and hoists to move his 6-feet 4-inch, 185-pound son from the bed to a wheelchair to a whirlpool tub and back again.

More hours are spent changing the layers of bed pads and sheets, then dressing John and feeding him through a stomach tube.

Throughout the day, Sullivan repositions his son regularly to avoid pressure sores. In 24 years, John Sullivan has never had a bed sore.

After nearly 20 years of jumping through legal hoops, the Sullivans won full compensation for John's 24-hour care in 2006.

Now the family is headed back to court again, after the state Department of Human Services notified them on Aug. 31 that compensation for John's care -- called "chore services" -- will be cut back to 168.5 hours per month, at the rate of $7.50 an hour.

That means the family stands to lose about 75 percent of its income, unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The following links have background information on this case:

Ruling won't force in-home Medicaid

Medicaid Does Not Have To Fund In-Home Services, Judge Rules

John Sullivan Update

Patti's Comments: I am going to keep posting this as a protest until this matter is resolved for John and his family!

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

John Sullivan hasn't walked, talked, fed, bathed or clothed himself in 24 years -- since the day he was struck by lightning during a high school golf tournament at the age of 17.

Every day since, Richard Sullivan has slept in a recliner at his son's bedside, alert to the slightest noise that might mean John needs help.

"I always worry about him choking even though he has an excellent gag reflex," said Richard Sullivan, 65. "I don't think I could sleep in a bed anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to."

Every morning, the retired dairy farmer uses a system of slings and hoists to move his 6-feet 4-inch, 185-pound son from the bed to a wheelchair to a whirlpool tub and back again.

More hours are spent changing the layers of bed pads and sheets, then dressing John and feeding him through a stomach tube.

Throughout the day, Sullivan repositions his son regularly to avoid pressure sores. In 24 years, John Sullivan has never had a bed sore.

After nearly 20 years of jumping through legal hoops, the Sullivans won full compensation for John's 24-hour care in 2006.

Now the family is headed back to court again, after the state Department of Human Services notified them on Aug. 31 that compensation for John's care -- called "chore services" -- will be cut back to 168.5 hours per month, at the rate of $7.50 an hour.

That means the family stands to lose about 75 percent of its income, unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The following links have background information on this case:

Ruling won't force in-home Medicaid

Medicaid Does Not Have To Fund In-Home Services, Judge Rules

John Sullivan Update

CT doctors challenge assisted-suicide statute

Excerpt from Fierce Healthcare: (click for entire article)

Two Connecticut physicians have filed a challenge to the state's assisted-suicide statute, arguing that they should have the right to offer what they call "aid in dying." This represents a new approach to what has been a long battle by some physicians to win the right to assist terminally-ill patients with suicide. The plaintiffs include Gary Blick, MD, an HIV/AIDS specialist in Norwalk, and Ronald Levine, MD, a Greenwich internist.

Right now, state law says that a person is guilty of second-degree manslaughter if he (or she) intentionally causes or aids another person, other than by force, duress or deception, to commit suicide." The doctors' challenge argues that "aid in dying is a recognized term of medical art," and may be appropriate in some cases.

Sullivan family of Marlette face drastic cuts to state aid to care for paraplegic son injured in MSU lightning strike

Patti's Comments: I am going to keep posting this as a protest until this matter is resolved for John and his family!

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

John Sullivan hasn't walked, talked, fed, bathed or clothed himself in 24 years -- since the day he was struck by lightning during a high school golf tournament at the age of 17.

Every day since, Richard Sullivan has slept in a recliner at his son's bedside, alert to the slightest noise that might mean John needs help.

"I always worry about him choking even though he has an excellent gag reflex," said Richard Sullivan, 65. "I don't think I could sleep in a bed anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to."

Every morning, the retired dairy farmer uses a system of slings and hoists to move his 6-feet 4-inch, 185-pound son from the bed to a wheelchair to a whirlpool tub and back again.

More hours are spent changing the layers of bed pads and sheets, then dressing John and feeding him through a stomach tube.

Throughout the day, Sullivan repositions his son regularly to avoid pressure sores. In 24 years, John Sullivan has never had a bed sore.

After nearly 20 years of jumping through legal hoops, the Sullivans won full compensation for John's 24-hour care in 2006.

Now the family is headed back to court again, after the state Department of Human Services notified them on Aug. 31 that compensation for John's care -- called "chore services" -- will be cut back to 168.5 hours per month, at the rate of $7.50 an hour.

That means the family stands to lose about 75 percent of its income, unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The following links have background information on this case:

Ruling won't force in-home Medicaid

Medicaid Does Not Have To Fund In-Home Services, Judge Rules

John Sullivan Update

Patti's Comments: I am going to keep posting this as a protest until this matter is resolved for John and his family!

Excerpt from mlive.com: (click for entire article)

John Sullivan hasn't walked, talked, fed, bathed or clothed himself in 24 years -- since the day he was struck by lightning during a high school golf tournament at the age of 17.

Every day since, Richard Sullivan has slept in a recliner at his son's bedside, alert to the slightest noise that might mean John needs help.

"I always worry about him choking even though he has an excellent gag reflex," said Richard Sullivan, 65. "I don't think I could sleep in a bed anymore. It's amazing what you can get used to."

Every morning, the retired dairy farmer uses a system of slings and hoists to move his 6-feet 4-inch, 185-pound son from the bed to a wheelchair to a whirlpool tub and back again.

More hours are spent changing the layers of bed pads and sheets, then dressing John and feeding him through a stomach tube.

Throughout the day, Sullivan repositions his son regularly to avoid pressure sores. In 24 years, John Sullivan has never had a bed sore.

After nearly 20 years of jumping through legal hoops, the Sullivans won full compensation for John's 24-hour care in 2006.

Now the family is headed back to court again, after the state Department of Human Services notified them on Aug. 31 that compensation for John's care -- called "chore services" -- will be cut back to 168.5 hours per month, at the rate of $7.50 an hour.

That means the family stands to lose about 75 percent of its income, unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The following links have background information on this case:

Ruling won't force in-home Medicaid

Medicaid Does Not Have To Fund In-Home Services, Judge Rules

John Sullivan Update

The perverse incentives of health care

Excerpt from Freep.com: (click for entire article):

The New York Times magazine has a fascinating report on work done in a Utah hospital system to standardize some of its procedures based on its own experience about what led to better outcomes. (It refers, as do most stories along this line, to Michigan hospitals’ success in tamping down intensive care infection rates related to IV insertions by using a similar tactic.)

But here’s the paragraph that really epitomizes how screwed up our health care system is now:

When Intermountain standardized lung care for premature babies, it not only cut the number who went on a ventilator by more than 75 percent; it also reduced costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Perversely, Intermountain’s revenues were reduced by even more. Altogether, Intermountain lost $329,000. Thanks to the fee-for-service system, the hospital had been making money off substandard care. And by improving care — by reducing the number of babies on ventilators — it lost money. As James tartly said, “We got screwed pretty badly on that.” The story is not all that unusual at Intermountain, either. That is why a hospital cannot do as Toyota did and squeeze its rivals by offering better, less-expensive care.

When the financial incentives are so badly aligned with the preferred outcome – better health – is it any wonder that no one can agree how to a) improve health care and b) ensure that everyone has access to it?

Health Insurance Reform

Patti's Comments:  So folks -  do you agree or disagree??

Excerpt from Legal Medicine: (click for entire post)

I am amazed at how the opponents of health care reform think it is more important to take away existing laws which hold doctors and hospitals responsible for their actions. Why is protecting a system which, by its own estimate kills 98,000 people a year, more important than making sure that all Americans who want health care coverage can get it?

Take a look at some of these true stories of medical negligence.  Could money be the reason?

Health Care Reform And People With Disabilities

Patti's Comments:  The class act and the choice act are good news!!!

Excerpt from Disability Scoop: (click for entire post)

Health care reform legislation passed Saturday by the House of Representatives is the “high water mark” for people with disabilities, advocates say, but the measure still has a long way to go as all eyes turn to the Senate, which must consider the legislation next.

The House bill, which comes after months of negotiation and heated debate, requires health insurers to offer more comprehensive coverage and to provide insurance to a wider swath of the population including those with pre-existing conditions. The measure would also create new long-term care options and expand Medicaid.

“The fact that the package has paid such attention to people with disabilities is very significant,” says Marty Ford, chair of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities.

Special needs kids' parents should rejoice over health care bill's passing

Patti's Comments:  Hey folks, do you agree with this?

Excerpt from Examiner.com: (click for entire article)

On Saturday, November 7th, 2009, The House of Representative passed the bill H.R. 3962, a reform on the health care industry in America. What does this mean for parents of special needs kids? The biggest pieces of this legislation is the removal of the insurance companies’ ability to deny coverage based on “pre-existing conditions” and the public insurance exchange.

No matter what your party affiliation, it is hard to deny that it was time for things to change in the insurance area. You may not agree that it was the government’s job to make these changes or you may think that the government is the only thing that could. Either way, the reform is on its way. The Senate is likely to pass a bill as well. The full outcome of the blending of the two bills is not yet known and will have to be monitored as it develops, but in the meantime there is news to be happy about!

AARP support letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

AARP announced its endorsement of the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) and the accompanying Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (H.R. 3961). The Association’s support follows nearly two years of work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to craft a health care reform plan that meets the needs of AARP’s nearly 40 million members and all older Americans. Among those needs are reforms that strictly curb insurance companies’ discrimination against older Americans and Medicare improvements that strengthen benefits while protecting the program for future generations.

See letter for more details:  Download AARP letter to Nancy Pelosi

Names of the Dead

Patti's Comments:  Such a sad state of affairs — we allow our own to die…needlessly.

Excerpt from Greatscat: (click for entire article)
 
While the GOP and Blue Dog Dems sit on their thumbs and create roadblocks for real healthcare reform in the US, the list of the names of the dead 44,000+ Americans who die each year due to lack of adequate -- or any -- health insurance grows.