We the undersigned call for a fundamental restructuring of the long term care system in the United States. The Federal/State Medicaid financed program is institutionally biased, excessively complex, overly expensive, professionally-driven and unfair. This system of funding reflects the paternalistic, maintenance- oriented biases towards disabilities from the era during which it was constructed. This system of funding perpetuates second-class citizenship and community exclusion. Its costs are unsustainable. The last 40 years have seen a paradigm shift from condemning persons with disabilities to institutions to inspired life of full participation in their community. These new cultures known as the recovery, self-determination and independent living movements have brought hope and dreams to millions of Americans. However, the Medicaid system needs to be transformed to align with this new culture and values.
We the undersigned call for a fundamental restructuring of the long term care system in the United States. The Federal/State Medicaid financed program is institutionally biased, excessively complex, overly expensive, professionally-driven and unfair. This system of funding reflects the paternalistic, maintenance- oriented biases towards disabilities from the era during which it was constructed. This system of funding perpetuates second-class citizenship and community exclusion. Its costs are unsustainable. The last 40 years have seen a paradigm shift from condemning persons with disabilities to institutions to inspired life of full participation in their community. These new cultures known as the recovery, self-determination and independent living movements have brought hope and dreams to millions of Americans. However, the Medicaid system needs to be transformed to align with this new culture and values.
We signed the "Bi-Partisan Call to Transform Medicaid" petition!
# 159:
6:40 pm PDT, Sep 9,Name not displayed, California
# 158:
1:19 pm PDT, Jul 29,Carl Rosenstock, Wisconsin
# 157:
2:02 pm PDT, Jun 3,Kenneth Smith, Indiana
The President and Congress should start by addressing the short-comings and misgivings of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit!
# 156:
12:50 pm PDT, May 9,Donald Kievit, Florida
We strongly support the need to upgrade Medicaid to provide the necessary support for the needy and disabled. It is long overdue!
# 155:
2:09 pm PDT, Apr 30,Lori Sue Johnson, Michigan
Mom will be forced into a nursing home soon, as we are running out of money. She has Alzheimer's. Putting her into the warehouse for the elderly and infirm where she will be ignored as long as she doesn't break the rules is going to be devasting.
Medicare rules state that mom will get $60 a month from her social security check, and can keep her house. Who pays the property taxes? What happens when we can't sell the house in this economy? Medicare needs to be fixed!
# 154:
1:36 am PDT, Apr 23,Roberta Mahannah, Missouri
A change in the system is long overdue. A maybe by injecting a system wide change we might find out where fraud exist and take over it and correct it and punish the ones involved with it to the fullest of the law.
# 153:
2:24 pm PDT, Apr 20,Name not displayed, Minnesota
# 152:
5:09 pm PDT, Apr 15,Jamie Lee, California
# 151:
8:21 am PDT, Apr 14,Jacinda Moore, New York
# 150:
4:35 pm PDT, Apr 12,Deborah Descant, Louisiana
My child receives the NOW Waiver and because of the help we receive at home my child has flurished beyond what her expectations were because of the one on one care and all the love she receives from her family, friends and workers. When my child was born the doctor botched up the delivery and my child was born dead. They did everything they could to revive her, but nothing worked. They pronounced her clinically dead. They placed her on a gurney table next to the wall and when the man from the morgue came to get her and take her downstairs to perform an autopsy he and the nurse noticed the umbibical cord was pulsating and they got an instant heart beat. The doctors gave her two hours to live and she will be 20 years old on November 3, 2009. My child's doctor said that if my child were put in an institution even just for a week or two that she would not survive. How can you take away funding, or cut funding on children / people with disabilities. Where is your conscious? My child is a living example that she wants to live and I know this for a fact because she beat death more than once. She has a very strong will to live and she has proven that time after time after doctors have given up on her. Please make sure you know what you are doing, taking away or cutting programs. Think before you act because it may be someone's life that you save, like my daughter. Thank You.
A Very Concerned Parent,
Deborah Descant
# 149:
5:11 pm PDT, Apr 11,Kayla Philbrick, Maine
# 148:
3:52 pm PDT, Apr 11,Patty Smith, Louisiana
# 147:
12:15 am PDT, Apr 11,Daniel Burleigh, Michigan
HELP!!!
# 146:
3:06 pm PDT, Apr 10,Angela Tomaine, Michigan
# 145:
7:54 am PDT, Apr 10,Dianne Machacek, Minnesota
# 144:
7:07 am PDT, Apr 10,Jeanne Moe, Minnesota
We have 2 sons with Fragile X Syndrome. The syndrome presents itself with intellectual disability and autism. I also work in the health care field and see numerous ways that savings can be acquired through Medicaid, yet preserve the preventive options that decrease long-term costs. It is time for Medicaid to be transformed to better meet the needs of the disabled.
# 143:
5:24 am PDT, Apr 9,Ann Durham, Kentucky
# 142:
9:33 pm PDT, Apr 8,Cecile Kudela, Minnesota
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this petition.
# 141:
11:00 am PDT, Apr 8,Carol Coomer, Minnesota
# 140:
10:35 am PDT, Apr 8,Craig Parker, Minnesota
# 139:
8:51 am PDT, Apr 8,Nicolas Thomley, Minnesota
# 138:
6:26 pm PDT, Apr 6,Wai yee Chan, Hawaii
# 137:
3:46 pm PDT, Apr 6,Scott Bowditch, Hawaii
# 136:
10:15 am PDT, Apr 6,Hazel Lee-Briggs, New Jersey
Center for Independent Living of South Jersey Inc.
Hazel Lee-Briggs Executive Director
# 135:
8:33 pm PDT, Apr 5,Riki Nichols, Montana
# 134:
8:31 pm PDT, Apr 5,Colleen Nichols, Montana
As the parent of a young adult who has disabilities it is time to transform the medicaid system to be able to provide services to our family members in their homes and communities.
# 133:
4:10 pm PDT, Apr 5,Alice Cherry, Alabama
# 132:
2:31 pm PDT, Apr 5,Name not displayed, Missouri
It's time to modernize this system and stop discriminating against people with disablities.
# 131:
1:47 pm PDT, Apr 5,Nancy Kievit, Missouri
My parents can't move to the state I live in (where I could be helping them on a regular basis) because this state would require that they spend all of their combined life savings if one of them needs to go into a nursing home, leaving the other destitute.
I have experience with Medicaid funded in-home caregivers. They are severely lacking in motivation and trustworthiness. Giving people who need in-home care the funds to hire someone they know and trust, who will actually do what they are being paid to do, would be a great improvement.
# 130:
8:08 am PDT, Apr 3,Ann Roscoe, Minnesota
# 129:
4:47 am PDT, Apr 3,Joseph H. Probst, Michigan
# 128:
1:59 am PDT, Apr 3,Name not displayed, Hawaii
# 127:
5:37 pm PDT, Apr 2,John Mitchner, Rhode Island
# 126:
5:15 pm PDT, Apr 2,Courtney Hatch, Hawaii
# 125:
12:29 pm PDT, Apr 2,Kathleen Richins, Hawaii
I have a 16 year old son with a disability, and I would like to express my sincere interest in having the Medicaid program more responsive to individual choice and inclusion in the community. I am concerned that under the current expensive system, there will not be the necessary funds to assist the majority of individuals with disabilities.
# 124:
12:21 pm PDT, Apr 2,Name not displayed, Hawaii
# 123:
11:44 am PDT, Apr 2,Kevin Dierks, Hawaii
Please take up this historical opportunity to raise the quality of service provided through Medicaid and the quality of life experienced by recipients simultaneously. We can rebuild, we have the data.
Peace.
# 122:
11:13 am PDT, Apr 2,Valerie Kaiser, Michigan
# 121:
11:05 am PDT, Apr 2,Karen Wagner, Colorado
# 120:
10:20 am PDT, Apr 2,Angela Weaver, Oregon
# 119:
8:27 am PDT, Apr 2,Jayme Bishop, Rhode Island
# 118:
7:52 am PDT, Apr 2,Cynthia Grinstead, Virginia
My mother had Alzheimers, she was in assisted living at 75. The cost was 4,500, she then went on medicaid and I was not allowed to care for her by hiring help in my home at half the cost in VA. She was not allowed to stay in assisted living at 4,500 a month. Instead, she was forced to go to a nursing home at over $7,500 a month (2,500 of her income per month) and died their within a year due to poor care and not enough staffing. So, the governments out of pocket cost was 5,000 a month instead of 2,000, why????? Becsuse it needs to be updated to suite todays needs.
# 117:
6:03 am PDT, Apr 2,LeeAnn Grimm, Wisconsin
# 116:
7:04 pm PDT, Apr 1,Sam Janney, Wyoming
# 115:
3:25 pm PDT, Apr 1,Anni Simons, Minnesota
# 114:
8:51 am PDT, Apr 1,Beth Cooke, Kentucky
I am a grandmother of 1 and my son just received some news that my grandson Logan has to be tested for Autism. We have in my family 4 others with Autism and we love and care for each of them. Nothing has changed but we as grandparents and mothers need to reach out and help to reform the healthcare system.
# 113:
8:19 am PDT, Apr 1,Todd Wilder, Idaho
# 112:
7:41 am PDT, Apr 1,Pat Mellenthin, Minnesota
# 111:
7:07 am PDT, Apr 1,Robyn Saylor, Michigan
# 110:
9:49 pm PDT, Mar 31,Jessica Garten, Georgia
# 109:
8:11 pm PDT, Mar 31,Arthur Helfer, Kentucky
# 108:
7:52 pm PDT, Mar 31,Christine Mahaney, North Carolina
# 107:
4:28 pm PDT, Mar 31,JESSICA MARIE MATHIS, Georgia
i am a college student who has a disablity i think that alll people especialy senior citizen should have the right to unlimited healthcare . The curent health care system goes againist everything that the Unites states stands for because if the united states potrays it self as a place of freedom and a "wel fare state" meaning that the united states is a place that looks out for the social potical , physical and mental state of its citizens then why is it that everyone has to struggle due to a crumbling and detorating medicaid system within the United STATES . THE MEDI CAID SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE DRASTICIALLY REFORM
# 106:
4:00 pm PDT, Mar 31,Sarah Knight, Oregon
# 105:
3:46 pm PDT, Mar 31,Cheryl Trommater, Michigan
I am also a senior citizen. I urgently hope to see all health care systems transformed before illness or accident traps me into a nursing home. We all want to look forward confidently to living the lives we choose, in the homes we choose.
# 104:
3:03 pm PDT, Mar 31,Nona Scott, Oregon
# 103:
2:00 pm PDT, Mar 31,Lena Davidson, Oregon
This transformation is essential for us to align with recover, self-determination and independent living movements. Please consider this petition an imperative step towards progress.
# 102:
1:19 pm PDT, Mar 31,Brandy Campbell, Michigan
Brandy Campbell
