Illinois Medicaid Lawyer

by Tom Olofsson, Attorney at Law, www.MyTrustLawyer.com (773) 905-1193

An Associated Press report, which was picked up by several newspapers, states that some nursing home residents feel as though they are being held against their will. They allege that nursing homes have a strangle hold on Medicaid reinbursements. These residents state that it is too hard for them to get care at home and that the situation needs to change.

The story by Matt Sedensky is titled, “For Some, Nursing Homes Are a Prison.

The story states, “…Medicaid recipients across Florida challenging the nightmare of the old and disabled: to be forced from comfort and familiarity into a nursing home.

The story says, “the state is illegally forcing them to live in nursing homes when they should be able to live where they choose. Advocates charge that nursing homes, afraid of losing money, have successfully pressured politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult. They have filed a federal lawsuit… on behalf of nearly 8,500 institutionalized Floridians.”

Sedensky continues, “There are very, very, very few people who cannot be cared for outside in the community,” said Stephen Gold, a Philadelphia disability lawyer who, along with AARP attorneys and others, is representing the group. “Why should the state give a damn whether you put the money in the left pocket of the nursing home or the right pocket of the community?

“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” said Toby Edelman, an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.”

It remains to be seen whether this will become a trend. Patient advocates could sue on behalf of Illinois Medicaid recipients. With its large aging population Illinois could be next