Disability advocates Celebrate $98 million to

Pennsylvania for alternatives to nursing homes

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 15, 2007 ­– The Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC) today hailed the landmark announcement from the federal government that Pennsylvania will receive $98 million over the next five years to keep 2,600 people in the community and out of nursing homes and other institutions. 

 “This is a tremendous day for many people with disabilities in Pennsylvania living in nursing homes,” said Corey L. Rowley, Executive Director of the PA SILC.  “It represents a fundamental change in thinking about how long-term care is provided in the state and gives people the freedom to make their own choices.”

With the strong support of the disability community, Congress included the “Money Follows the Person” initiative in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.  Pennsylvania will use the funding to expand programs that provide services in a home or community setting.  This will give people with disabilities and seniors the option to move out of institutions, particularly nursing homes. 

“This gives meaningful choices to people with disabilities and seniors who, until now, had no choice but to live in an institution.  They will be able to choose the services they receive, where they receive those services and who provides those services,” said Rowley. “People with disabilities should have the option to receive services in their own home where they enjoy greater independence, improved quality of life and the comfort of living in a community.

For decades, the federal government has restricted the rights of people needing care and dictated that they must live in a nursing home or other institution.  To get home and community-based services, a person had to request a waiver of Medicaid program rules that paid for institutional care. 

Rowley added, “Before Pennsylvania received this grant, programs that enable a person to live in their own home and receive services got only a small percentage of the funding; the remaining nearly three-quarters was handed to nursing homes.  The Money Follows the Person philosophy and funding is a real way to narrow that disparity.”

Nationwide, the federal government is investing $1.75 billion to rebalance the emphasis on institutional care to offer more choices about home and community-based care.

There is more evidence than ever that people who need long-term care prefer to remain in their own homes and communities whenever possible,” said Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in a news release.   “This new program will help states shift Medicaid’s traditional emphasis on institutional care to a system offering greater choices that include home-based services.”

Pennsylvania is one of 13 states and the District of Columbia awarded funding in the second round of grants for Money Follows the Person.

A news release from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that further explains the grant is available here.

ABOUT PA SILC

The Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC) is a nonprofit, cross-disability, consumer-controlled organization dedicated to securing public policies that ensure civil rights for people with disabilities by supporting the independent living philosophy. 

The PA SILC was established in 1987 to comply with the federal "Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986" (P.L.99-506), which requires states to create a consumer-controlled advisory committee to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation's Independent Living Program.  In 1992, the federal Rehabilitation Act Amendments gave SILC co-signing authority on the federally-mandated State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL).

In compliance with state and federal law, a majority of the voting PA SILC members are persons with disabilities and are appointed by the Governor.  Additional representatives are from Centers for Independent Living, consumer or independent living organizations, and various state agencies.