Kentucky Group Lobbies State For Home-Based Care for Seniors, People With Disabilities

Advocates for seniors in Kentucky are holding forums and lobbying state legislators to give seniors "more choices and autonomy" over the delivery of their health care, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports. Kentuckians for Quality of Life, a coalition of agencies that serve seniors and people with disabilities, is pushing lawmakers to shift nursing home funding directly to patients to "allow them to make decisions." Advocates say allowing seniors and people with disabilities to arrange for their own home-based care is cheaper than paying for care in an institutional setting -- $20,000 a year per person compared to up to $40,000 a year for nursing home care. Additionally, the group says that home-based care is required by federal law, based on the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead interpretation of the American with Disabilities Act. In that decision, the court ruled that states should provide services in the most "integrated setting appropriate," which advocates claim is the home. Cathy Murphy, co-chair of the coalition, said, "Our goal is to influence policy and funding so that every Kentuckian, regardless of disability or age, can enjoy a better quality of life and say where I live is my choice." Kentucky currently operates a program that subsidizes seniors or those with disabilities for home-based care; however, the program has a 10,000-person waiting list. The coalition is also pushing for additional training of nurses who care for patients with dementia, which affects 70% of nursing home residents (Carrico, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, 10/16).