At a public hearing of the PA Long Term Care Commission focusing on funding priorities for long-term care in light of the Affordable Care Act, our intern Leslie Allen had her white paper highlighted, discussed, distributed, and entered into the record. Entitled Adopting the Community First Choice Option in PA: Consider the Savings, the paper describes 1.5 billion dollars that the Commonwealth could save over four years by adopting the Community First Choice Option, a program under which people in need of long-term care would receive services in the community instead of being relegated to nursing home care. The paper was presented as part of the testimony of Liberty Resources, Inc., the Center for Independent Living for Philadelphia and several surrounding counties. Here are links to her report and the executive summary. Congratulations to Leslie, who is now a graduate and employee of PHLR(Public Health Law Research) at Temple Law School. Among other things, her work will include maintaining datasets on mental health commitment standards in different states.
Related to long term care, federal legislation has been introduced by Senator Harkin designed to ensure that Medical Assistance recipients can receive long-term care in their homes. The bill is called The Community Integration Act of 214 as SB 2515, whichwill be available shortly here.