[nfbmi-talk] more on older blind il 70b bsbp

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Thu Jun 19 11:48:08 UTC 2014


(Valarie: please distribute to other members of MI SILC. Thank you.)
June 19 2014 Nursing Home Diversion for Blind Persons

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

810-516-5262

Joeharcz at comcast.net

 

To: Several

 

All,

 

 

 

This is precisely why protecting the efficacy of and demanding accountability for the older blind and independent living programs for Michigander’s who are blind (including those with multiple disabilities) is so important. It is a stark and demonstrable fact in the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons 7OB report for the last Fiscal Year that BSBP had more than $100,000 more in carry forward funds from the prior year and served less than 50 percent of the older blind and IL blind community. It goes to the total drift in mission, which is to rehabilitate people who are blind in this agency since the infamous Executive Order 2012-10 and the re-organization under the auspices of Edward rodgers, and LARA.

 

It also goes to protecting home help services (re: auditor general’s report), and basic access (of which there is none for people who are blind) to DHS and related services.

 

Simply teaching blind folks of all ages alternate skills, and other supports which keep people in their own homes and communities is not only the right and moral thing to do, but also is less expensive than institutionalization. Thus less of a burden upon taxpayers as well.

 

While I might appear to be a Johnny One note in discussing “blind-centric” comments here, I am not so. This, of course goes to all people with disabilities. That said, people who are blind in this state represent a known sub-set, that I am personally intimate with,  and being a person who is blind and  being activist for citizens who are blind.

 

 

 

(See attached article and sources.)

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

 

Cc: NFB MI

Cc: ED, and Chair MI SILC

Cc: TB, RSA

Cc: BSBP Commissioners

 

 

 

Attached Article for Reference:

 

 

 

Nursing home care now costs more than twice seniors' average income By Robin Erb Detroit Free Press Medical Writer The annual cost of nursing home care

may have grown even less affordable to Michigan's seniors and people with disabilities, now costing families about $93,075 - more than 2½ times older adults'

average income of $35,504, according to a new report. The drastically outsized cost of care compared to income - 262% in Michigan - is staggering elsewhere

as well. The national average was 246% in 2013 compared to 241% in 2010, according to the report, Raising Expectations, a joint venture between the Commonwealth

Fund , a health research foundation, and two advocacy groups for older adults, the Scan Foundation and AARP . "People will go into a nursing home and spend

down their savings they have in a very short time," said Lisa Dedden Cooper, advocacy manager for AARP Michigan. And that, in turn, means taxpayers eventually

pick up the cost of their care. The report, an update to the 2011 Raising Expectations report, assesses long-term care by affordability, quality and choice.

It ranked Michigan 31st overall among states - a result of a mixed-bag of measures. On the upside, Michigan's seniors and disabled people have a lot more

choice than in many other states. For example, Michigan spends more of its Medicaid dollars on home- and community-based options that can help keep a client

out of a nursing home compared with many other states, Cooper said. Moreover, recent funding increases have increased those options - so much so that Michigan

fares even better in that measure than what's reflected in the report. On the downside: "We're falling behind in support for family caregivers," she said.

That's not surprising to advocates who work with seniors, people with disabilities and their families and have seen program cuts in tough economic times.

Several years ago, the Southfield-based Area Agency on Aging 1-B was forced to close a respite program in which the agency covered costs for a short stay

in nursing homes for seniors and disabled people, to give caregivers a rest. Those kinds of programs can keep people out of nursing homes. "One of the

best ways to help caregivers - to sustain their energy and to prevent burnout - is to give them a break," said Jim McGuire, research director at the agency.

For a copy of the report, go to www.longtermscorecard.org . 

 

 



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