Topic: Real Life Stories: Share comments on "Mary & Warren: Coping with a Long-Term Illness."

In 1960, five years before the Medicaid program went into effect, America's nursing homes showed a total income of 950 million dollars. 25 years later, they took in 53.1 billion dollars. What market forces have created a growth industry out of the dumping of America's people with disabilities?

Contrary to popular belief, people are in nursing homes as a result of being unable to do certain things on their own. NOT because they are old. Nursing homes are NOT safe places to live and no one is "better off there."

This nation continues to lack a policy for home and community based services for people who require assistance with daily living tasks. The Health Care Financing Administration's own figures show that nursing home can cost as much as 6 times as much as receiving services in the home.

There is a solution. American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today have recently gained a commitment from Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to introduce the Community Attendant Services Act during this session of Congress.

This bill would provide people with situations such as Mary and Warren's with the alternative of remaining in their homes with their families while reducing the cost of this long-term care to America's taxpayers.

Nearly every person, at some point in their life, experiences disability. Therefore, nearly every person faces the reality that at some point in their life that the lack of services available to them in their home will force them to leave their families and their homes.