Nursing facility residents for decades have been medicated with antipsychotics and other psychotropics in order to sedate them and make them more easily managed. But these medications can impair quality of life and increase the risk of death. Reform initiatives have had limited success. Notably, even reform initiatives virtually ignore residents’ decision-making rights, assuming implicitly […]
The Biden Administration and other policymakers are actively discussing nursing facility reform, motivated in part by the death and isolation residents suffered during the COVID pandemic. Many of these reform proposals advocate for increased transparency and most focus on making more information available for the purposes of choosing facilities. We believe that transparency proposals should […]
This webinar took place on Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. PT/ 2:00pm ET Recent years have seen an increased—and overdue—focus on structural racism within the United States. Like any American institution, the U.S. system of long-term services and supports (LTSS), including nursing facilities, is not immune from structural racism. For example, during the […]
Six people with disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities, joined by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, filed a class action lawsuit today in federal district court in Boston. Their complaint claims that Governor Charlie Baker and other state officials have failed to provide community residential services and supports, and this failure has forced […]
Recent years have seen an increased—and overdue—focus on structural racism within the United States. The focus on “structural” racism—as compared to legal or explicit racism, for example—responds to ongoing disparities that statistically tend to favor white Americans over people of color and specifically over Black Americans. Like any American institution, the U.S. system of long-term […]
Many aging adults and people with disabilities will need support and assistance throughout their lifetimes. Medicaid (or Medi-Cal in California) is an important payer for these services provided in the home, called home and community-based services or HCBS. Absent Medicaid, people generally do not have access to these services unless they are able to pay […]
