On August 21, DignityMA hosted a webinar in support of the request to MassHealth to put aside the Request for Response (RFR) and engage in meaningful exploration with stakeholders to improve current systems. During the webinar, Mike Levine, Assistant Secretary at MassHealth, announced that the agency was no longer pursuing an independent assessment entity came […]
Category: Home and Community Based
Bringing People Home – website by the Center for Public Representation Bringing People Home flyer (pdf) Bringing People Home October 2024 Newsletter (pdf) Ongoing Monitoring and Discussion Coordinated by the Center for Public Representation and Greater Boston Legal Service, six groups have been created to monitor the implementation of the agreement and the transition of […]
Joint Legislative Committee on Bonding, Capital Debt and State AssetsApril 2, 2024 Download (docx) Testimony in Support of H. 4138 – The Affordable Homes Act Dignity Alliance Massachusetts applauds the Healey-Driscoll Administration for their leadership in addressing the issue of housing as proposed in House Bill No. 4138 – the Affordable Homes Act. The legislation […]
Governor Healey’s budget proposal threatens 50 years of disability rights *Boston Globe, March 28, 2024By Alex Green Her proposal to slash fundamental personal care services for the disabled is baffling. Every day, more than 40,000 Massachusetts residents wake up in their own beds and go about their lives thanks to a personal care attendant. These […]
By Richard MooreDignityMA’s poet laureate (aka, Chair, DignityMA’s Legislative Workgroup), with an AI assist Humpty Dumpty, policy bold,Sat on a wall, so we’re told.A vision of streamlining, a central core,For long-term care, they’d have us explore. All the Governor’s horses, men and women,Would centralize forms, again and again.No more local helpers, with faces so kind,Just […]
The news below, on Benjamin Healthcare Center’s announced closing, is listed most recent first. DignityMA Offers Help to Attorney Feaster Below are excerpts from an April 5 email sent to Attorney Feaster as he begins to navigate the conditions and options at Benjamin Health Care Center. Best case is for the Center to remain open, […]
*Boston Globe, January 17, 2024By The Editorial Board Higher prices, worse outcomes don’t serve patients or providers. When Pamela Daly got new wheelchair brakes, they rattled and didn’t work. She complained to the manufacturer but after a month was still waiting for replacements. Daly, a disability rights advocate, was late to an event at the […]
In a British Town, a New Way of Caring for Older People Is Bringing Hope New York Times (free access)By Megan Specia, December 29, 2023 For 12 years after her husband died, Norma Fitzgerald tried to maintain her independence, living alone in an apartment on the outskirts of Hull, in northern England, despite her mobility […]
*The Boston Globe, By The Editorial Board, October 27, 2023 (updated) Unnecessary segregation in nursing homes ‘has been linked to accelerated mental, emotional, and physical decline’ when residents have little autonomy and little ability to engage in outside activities, a lawsuit says. For many people with disabilities, living in a nursing home is a last […]
EOHHS (Executive Office of Health and Human Services) held a public hearing on October 20, 2023 to hear comments on proposed amendments to 101 CMR 206.00 implement Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget requirements. Both Dignity Alliance Massachusetts and Pete Tiernan of HCBS Solutions responded. DignityMA and HCBS agree with each other’s testimony. The DignityMA comments […]