“I’ve seen over the years just how many people have benefited from assisted living. It saved them from going to the nursing home when it wasn’t safe for them to live at home,” Riedel said. The rate cut will push “more and more people into nursing facilities that shouldn’t be there."
The judge granted the temporary restraining order requested by seven disabled plaintiffs who are suing DHS over the agency's allocation of attendant care hours and scheduled a hearing for Wednesday, May 23 at 10 a.m.
DHS says it must have an emergency rule in place to avoid disruption of services to disabled and elderly beneficiaries receiving services at home. But Legal Aid calls that "alarmist claptrap."
DHS says it must seek an emergency rule to ensure continuity in the program. But Legal Aid of Arkansas disagrees, saying the agency's warnings of loss of services are "totally concocted."
The legislature's health care consultant highlighted one of the most wasteful and inhumane health care issues in the state: Medicaid's reliance on institutions in caring for the elderly and the disabled, rather than using home or community-based services. It did not, however, endorse the Community First Choice Option.
KUAR's Kelly MacNeil reports that Medicaid money for the state's center for developmentally disabled at Booneville is in jeopardy because of lax supervision of residents.
As testimony continues in the federal lawsuit over the operation of the Conway Human Development Center, I have a letter to share from parents on the side of more community treatment for people with developmental disabilities.