Tennessee Citizen Action Applauds Governor’s Long-Term Care Initiative
Tennessee Citizen Action, a statewide grassroots advocacy group, is applauding Governor Phil Bredesen’s initiative to rebalance long-term care spending in Tennessee to create more long-term care options and lessen the state’s dependency on institutionalized nursing home care.
The organization said the Governor’s actions are particularly welcome in light of recent reports that conditions at Tennessee nursing homes have continued to worsen. In 2007, the state experienced a record number of admissions suspensions — double the number in 2006 and triple the number in 2005. State inspectors found 152 incidences in nursing homes in 2007 that put residents in “immediate jeopardy.” Two nursing homes have already had their admissions suspended in 2008.
“Governor Bredesen is showing tremendous courage and leadership with this landmark commitment to ensuring that our elderly and disabled citizens receive the best care available,” said Karla C. Hewitt, president of Tennessee Citizen Action. “The current system leaves families with very little choice other than nursing homes, which have a record of abuse and neglect in Tennessee. A more balanced system will give people options and allow them to live in the comfort and security of their homes or in community-based settings.”
Last week, Governor Phil Bredesen in his State of the State address made a commitment to rebalance the long-term care funding formula with the announcement of the “Long-Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008.” This proposed legislation will redirect funding to provide more home- and community-based options for those Tennesseans in need.
Currently Tennessee spends more than $1 billion annually on long-term care, 99 percent of which goes to nursing homes, leaving a mere one percent for home- and community-based care. This funding disparity ranks Tennessee last in the nation for the percentage allocated to home- and community-based care.
Tennessee Citizen Action strongly encourages the state’s elected leaders to support Governor Bredesen’s initiative and develop appropriate solutions for the challenges that exist within the long-term care system.
About Tennessee Citizen Action (TNCA)
TNCA is Tennessee’s consumer watchdog organization working on behalf of a number of consumer protection issues, including patients’ rights; nursing home reform; quality health care; increased home- and community-based options with more consumer control; title lending; aftermath of sub-prime lending crisis; workplace health and safety; and voter education, registration, GOTV, problems with electronic voting and lack of a paper trail. TNCA is a grassroots citizen group based in Nashville seeking to build a unified movement for reform in Tennessee. TNCA works to create long-term political change by building diverse coalitions around our major issues. The organization actively works in coalition with a range of health care, environmental, government reform, and labor organizations. For more information, visit: http://www.tnca.org.