Welcome

The following three FY 2027 Budget Amendments are DignityMA’s highest priority.

We have several other important FY 2027 Budget Recommendations.

Recent Quotes

See more quotes on our Quotes Page.

Massachusetts’ health care system is in a crisis. Patients across the Commonwealth are struggling to access timely primary, behavioral health, and specialty care; emergency departments are experiencing sustained boarding; and inpatient and long-term care capacity constraints are burdening families, clinicians, and hospitals. These access breakdowns sit alongside other longstanding structural failures that are driving unsustainable cost growth and worsening affordability for patients, employers, health plans, and providers.

Call to Action: Solutions to Confront Pressing Health Care System Challenges (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, June 1, 2026)

Maxwell Jones is in his 70s, has advanced Alzheimer’s disease, and lives in a nursing home in eastern Massachusetts. Not too long ago, he went three days without a meal because his roommate kept stealing his food, and no one stopped it from happening—either because staff didn’t notice or they didn’t have the time or training to intervene.

Nursing Homes Are De Facto Psychiatric Wards but Lack Care (Psychology Today, May 11, 2026)

For the majority of nursing home residents, that monthly allowance is the only money they control. It is what allows them to buy the small items that make life bearable and preserve a sense of identity [Editor’s note: In Massachusetts, the allowance is $72.80.] The nursing home may provide a bed and basic meals, but it does not provide everything that makes a person a person. . .

No one should have to depend on a child to buy them a tube of toothpaste. No one should have to choose between a haircut and toiletries. And no one should spend the final years of their life asking permission for every small personal need because the state has determined that $50 [or $72.80] a month is enough. . . If New Jersey cannot afford to allow a nursing home resident to keep an additional $90 a month [or Massachusetts, $40.52], what exactly are our priorities?

The question is not whether the state can afford the increase. The question is whether the state can justify denying it. . .

This is not a luxury or a handout. It is not extravagant. It’s about dignity.

New Jersey’s $50 nursing home personal allowance is a disgrace (The Jersey Vindicator, May 31, 2026) 

Quick Links

• MA at a Crossroads: DignityMA’s Vision for Long-Term Care
• Resource Websites – curated list of allies and experts
• DignityMA Participants in print – Participants write about DignityMA issues
• Dignity Digests – weekly compilation of articles on long-term services, support, and care.
• Legislative Priorities – Current bills advancing our goals
• Priorities – In-depth and updated information on our priorities

Mission

Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is dedicated to transformative change to ensure the dignity of older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers.  We are committed to advancing new ways of providing long-term services, support, living options, and care, while respecting choice and self-determination.  Through education, legislation, regulatory reform, and legal strategies, this mission will become reality throughout the Commonwealth.

As a grass-roots coalition of aging and disability service and advocacy organizations and supporters, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts works to secure fundamental changes.

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DignityMA Priorities and Key Topics

MANHR – A Program of DignityMA

Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Homes has essential information on nursing homes in MA, including advice for resolving complaints.

In the News

Visit News and Views for more.

Remembering with Dignity

A Dignity Alliance MA digital memorial to honor those who died during the COVID-19 Pandemic.