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