EXCERPTS: PLEASE READ and BECOME AN INFORMED VOTER! Unfortunately, Amendment 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot would make it more likely that seniors and people with disabilities who need care will end up in large institutions such as nursing homes, because funding for home- and community-based services that people prefer will become increasingly scarce. Amendment 1, at its core, provides special constitutional protection for the nursing home industry. This amendment would financially protect the Medicaid rates paid to nursing homes and other large institutional providers. Services for people who want to be cared for in their homes and communities would have no such protection and would be more vulnerable to cuts during financial downturns. The same is true for other important state priorities such as higher education. The amendment threatens to reverse the great strides Louisiana has made in recent years to create a balance between institutional nursing home care and the home-based services that seniors clearly prefer. As recently as 2000, Louisiana had 34 nursing home residents for every citizen receiving Medicaid-funded home and community-based services. Louisiana had more nursing home beds, per capita, than any other state. The balance has now shifted considerably. Roughly 28 cents of every long-term care dollar in Louisiana now goes to home- and community-based services, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. But there is much more work to be done. Louisiana still has the fourth-highest concentration of nursing home beds, one-fourth of which are vacant (the 12th highest rate in the country). The vacant beds alone are costing the state $15 million per year, according to the legislative auditor.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 17:09:25 +0000
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