Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

Although in the past, the majority of people who were elderly or disabled were cared for in domestic or community settings, the funding of institutional settings like nursing homes and hospitals through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has led to more people being moved into these settings who might be better served in their homes or in their communities. In order to improve the funding available to people seeking care in their homes or in community homes, the Congress in 1981 passed a law establishing Medicaid's Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver program, allowing Medicaid to give funding to people receiving care in their homes and communities.

Although progress has been made since then, the system is still biased toward institutional care, with nearly two-thirds of all long-term care (LTC) funding going to institutional care. In order to change this, CMS has been offering grants to help states establish "money follows the person" procedures that allow an individual to transition easily and safely between different care settings. The goal of this system is that persons with LTC needs be able to:

· Live in the most fully integrated community appropriate to their needs and desires

· Be able to exercise meaningful choices about their care setting, including their living environment, their service provider(s), and the amount of aids and supports utilized

· Receive quality care appropriate to their needs and desires

To facilitate this goal, the CMS has offered many grants to states to help them develop and maintain systems for non-institutional care.

Pennsylvania has received a grant under this program for the period from 2007-2011, during which time the federal government will cover half the state's cost share for these care programs under the original Medicaid agreement. As a result, the state is investigating ways to eliminate barriers built into state laws or budgets that prevent the flexible use of Medicaid funds.

With the high level of nursing home abuse and neglect, it seems desirable to move as many people as possible out of these institutional settings into private care settings.

If this transition has occurred too late for your loved one, who has suffered as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, contact the experienced nursing home injury lawyers at Pomerantz, Perlbger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.