Quotes of the Week - Dignity Alliance

This page has quotes from the 2025 Dignity Digest issues, beginning in July, ordered by newest first.

For previous quotes, visit:

September 16, 2025

“The way I think of health equity is the capacity of the system to spend more resources and more money on those who need it the most.”

Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, Mass. HHS Secretary on protecting health equity and access (CommonWealth Beacon, September 15, 2025)

“I’m not asking for God. I’m just asking for people to just do their job, that’s all.”

Tom Gilbert, a disability rights advocate who himself is visually impaired, commenting on the MBTA’s responsive to accessibility concerns, Announcements on MBTA trains can be wildly inconsistent. For some, it’s more than a minor inconvenience.(*Boston Globe, September 10, 2025)

“I’m a single parent, and one day I won’t be here. My kids are going to be adults soon, yet my son doesn’t know how to read and write. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ There really is no help here.”

Emma Miller of Wake Forest, North Carolina, who is among tens of thousands of U.S. parents who have filed complaints with the federal Education Department alleging that schools sometimes mistreat children with disabilities and are breaking the law, Parents Fear Losing Disability Protections as Trump Slashes Civil Rights Office(KFF Health News, September 15, 2025)

By several measures, the United States is the world’s least healthy high-income country.

Trump’s Policies Are Endangering Your Health(*New York Times, September 12, 2025)

How we care for our elders reveals a great deal about us as a society. The current for-profit system is not meeting that standard.

James Lomastro, Buying and selling of nursing homes raises concern (Boston Globe, September 14, 2025)

Housing is health care, the foundation for recovery, stability, and dignity. Evidence shows that when veterans have a safe place to live, they are far more likely to access mental health care, recover from substance use disorders, and find stable employment.

‘Housing First’ saved veterans. Don’t abandon it now.(*Boston Globe, September 14, 2025)

“Without swift improvements in administrative readiness, [the new requirements] will deepen state challenges, increase costs, and leave millions of children and families at risk of losing health coverage.”

States unprepared to implement Medicaid work requirements: report(Healthcare Dive, September 8, 2025)

‘We could lose a generation of scientists in a very short time.’

Michael Collins, chancellor, UMass Chan Medical Center, Trump Is Shutting Down the War on Cancer(New York Times (free access), September 14, 2025)

‘This is one of the most productive periods in the history of cancer research. At the same time, my colleagues are experiencing something between malaise and terror.’

Norman Sharpless, former Director of the National Cancer Institute of the United States, Trump Is Shutting Down the War on Cancer(New York Times (free access), September 14, 2025)

Some 90,000 cases of Parkinson’s are now diagnosed each year in the United States, about one every six minutes, on average. It is the world’s fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease, causing tremors, stiffness and balance problems. It is also the 13th-leading cause of death in the United States. One factor in its increase may be the way we have come to live, for there’s growing evidence linking it to a range of pesticides and industrial chemicals, including paraquat and substances used in dry cleaning.

The Clue to Unlocking Parkinson’s May Be All Around Us(*New York Times, September 15, 2025)

“Chemicals in our food, water and air have created this largely man-made disease [Parkinson’s]. These chemicals are all around us, and none are necessary.”

Dr. Ray Dorsey and Dr. Michael S. Okun, two Parkinson’s experts who write in a new book, The Parkinson’s Plan, The Clue to Unlocking Parkinson’s May Be All Around Us(*New York Times, September 15, 2025)

Public health experts have warned of the perils of falls for older people for decades. In 2023, the most recent year of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 41,000 Americans over 65 died from falls, an opinion article in JAMA Health Forum pointed out last month.

Why Are More Older People Dying After Falls? (KKF Health News, September 15, 2025)

The senior housing and care sector is attracting investors from a range of new backgrounds, including family offices, foreign funds, and the real estate arms of financial firms that have traditionally sunk money into other asset classes.

But as they offer new money and new models, are operators ready to put their best foot forward, educate potential partners with little knowledge of the industry, and fork over reams of data to make investors comfortable?

New investors are knocking — but can nursing homes land the deal? (McKnights Long-Term Care News, September 14, 2025)

September 9, 2025

“[The nursing home] industry is more about cash flow than it is production. They sell these properties like baseball cards.”

David Kingsley, a former Kansas University Medical Center professor who founded the Center for Health Information & Policy, a health care research and advocacy nonprofit, Nursing home care turmoil: quick profits and quality concerns (Boston Globe, September 7, 2025)

“The state has added more than $340 million in supplemental funding to nursing homes since 2023, in addition to higher Medicaid payments to facilities, but has failed to tie the money to specific mandated improvements, such as minimum staffing ratios. Instead, [the money] was dropped into a fragmented system with for-profit chains, private equity, and management companies already circling for opportunity. This attracted more financial actors into the space, each trying to bite off a piece of the new money.”

Paul Lanzikos, Coordinator, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts and a former MA Secretary of Elder Affairs, , Nursing home care turmoil: quick profits and quality concerns (Boston Globe, September 7, 2025)

“Dysfunction happens when boards become isolated from residents and rely solely upon management to report and interpret the state of the community.”

Paternalism: A Wake-Up Call (Lifeline, a publication of the National Continuing Care Residents Association, Volume 2, 2025)

One example from the book stands out: a presentation by a [continuing care retirement community] CCRC board to a group of 200 residents included a question about whether they understood the concept of compound interest. Seriously? As the author notes, this kind of condescension reflects the underlying assumption that seniors are no longer capable of independent thinking.

Paternalism: A Wake-Up Call (Lifeline, a publication of the National Continuing Care Residents Association, Volume 2, 2025)

“Older adults are moving into senior housing at a rapid pace, and that trend will continue given the wave of Baby Boomers and many more ‘solo agers’ who don’t have a caregiver to rely on as a safety net.”

Lisa McCracken, head of research and analytics, National Investment Center, Older Adults Seek Senior Housing at Record Rate (National Investment Center (NIC), April 3, 2025)

Particular groups are more vulnerable to faster aging because of heat, the researchers found. If you’re an older person who has lived through many heat waves, you may age faster than a younger person who had the same exposure. Other factors, such as living without air-conditioning or working outdoors, can also make your aging rate significantly worse.

Cui Guo, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong who led the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, In a Hotter World, Some People Age Faster, Researchers Find (*New York Times, August 12, 2025)

“People just have low awareness that heat kills or that, in this case, has adverse health consequences. That’s just been a persistent challenge.”

Kristie Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington, In a Hotter World, Some People Age Faster, Researchers Find (*New York Times, August 12, 2025)

“This warehouse, [a 75,000-square-foot facility located next to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s warehouse, near the crossroads of Interstate 95 and the Massachusetts Turnpike], is so much more than just shelves of materials, equipment, and supplies – it represents resilience, readiness, and a collective commitment to respond quickly and fully to care for our communities when disaster strikes.”

MA Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah, State stockpiles supplies for next pandemic (*Salem News, September 8, 2025)

”For children who have complex needs associated with serious emotional and mental health conditions, the expanded and enriched network of community support agencies announced today promises to deliver capable, comprehensive, intensive, and timely care.”

Danna Mauch, President and CEO, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Healey-Driscoll Administration Expands Community-Based Behavioral Health Services for Children and Youth (Office of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, September 3, 2025)

“We should not have to choose between going to church, or going shopping, or going out to lunch. This day and age, $50 is not acceptable anymore.”

Deborah Leary, a resident at Monroe Community Hospital, a residential health care facility in Rochester, NY, who is advocating for an increase in the monthly personal needs allowance authorized by the state, Nursing home residents call for raise in $50 allowances, stagnant since 1988 (WHAM (ABC Channel 13), September 5, 2025)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has drafted an interim final rule that would repeal the minimum staffing standards for long-term care facilities that were adopted in 2024 despite major objections from providers.

CMS intends to repeal nursing home staffing rule (McKnights Long-Term Care News, September 2, 2025)

September 2, 2025

[C]orporatization’s effects on nursing home care appear to be largely negative. After being acquired by a private equity firm, nursing homes tend to avoid sicker residents, deliver lower-quality care, and have higher resident mortality. Many nursing homes with private equity backing engage in questionable financial practices, such as “profit tunneling,” which involves paying inflated prices to suppliers that are owned by the same firm to shield profits from regulators and reduce potential liability in malpractice litigation. Regulation is weak, and unlike in the IVF industry, people using nursing home care tend to be vulnerable and quality is hard to measure, which creates incentives for profit-driven managers to reduce quality in order to boost profits.

The Corporatization Deal — Health Care, Investors, and the Profit Priority (*New England Journal of Medicine, August 30, 2025)

“What’s going to happen when millions of Americans can no longer find a home care provider? What happens when immigrants aren’t in the field to pick our crops? Who’s going to staff our hospitals and nursing homes?”

Arnulfo De La Cruz, president of SEIU 2015 in California, 1.2 million immigrants are gone from the US labor force under Trump, preliminary data shows (Associated Press, August 31, 2025)

“[T]he state has weaponized claims about protecting patient privacy to an extreme degree, often far beyond the federal government, in ways that serve its interests at the expense of the public interest. Precisely because the public is largely unaware of the countless tragedies inflicted by these institutions—tragedies told in this hidden history—people with disabilities today face very-real threats by the non-disabled including the revival of large-scale institutionalization where the practice has been abolished, and its expansion where it stubbornly remains”

From the report of the Special Commission on State Institutions (Report of the Special Commission on State Institutions, May 15, 2025)

“It’s just raising more and more barriers. It’s like an obstacle course. I don’t know anybody who’s not confused.”

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco commenting about confusion surrounding the provision of Covid vaccines, C.D.C. Uncertainty Upends Covid Vaccine Access at CVS and Walgreens (New York Times (free access), August 28, 2025)

Despite Massachusetts’ reputation for excellence in sectors such as education, healthcare, and innovation, economic prosperity remains out of reach for many residents. Approximately one in ten Massachusetts residents live below the federal poverty line, with many more experiencing economic insecurities while working, caregiving, or studying.

Pathways to Possibility: A Ten Year Road Map to Expand Economic Mobility In Massachusetts, Report issued by The Special Commission on Poverty in the Commonwealth, June 2025

“It’s got, like, a heart rhythm that’s not viable at the moment. If it’s not shocked out of it now, it may not survive.”

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who led the C.D.C.’s center for respiratory diseases until he resigned this week, commenting about the condition of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Will the C.D.C. Survive? (*New York Times, August 29, 2025)

Disease doesn’t ask permission before invading a body, but the diseased must often seek permission before trying to remove it. Unwelcome to the strange, infuriating world of prior authorization, where doctors must get approval from health insurance companies before performing big procedures or prescribing certain medications.

Insurance Companies Send Chilling Letters Just Before Surgery. But Why? (*New York Times, August 22, 2025)

“For years, residents at Van Duyn Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Syracuse, NY endured unacceptable neglect that caused traumatic injuries and tragic deaths. We are holding Van Duyn’s owners accountable for these conditions.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James, Nursing home to pay $12M to settle financial fraud, understaffing allegations (McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 26, 2025)

In the months since Kennedy became secretary of health and human services, the former CDC officials told the Globe Friday, it became apparent he did not seek out, nor seemed interested in, the deep reservoir of medical and scientific expertise at what is the nation’s preeminent public health institution. Kennedy’s decisions, they said, particularly those related to vaccines, at times directly contradicted scientific evidence gathered by the agency.

CDC officials who resigned in protest describe embrace of anti-science, anti-vaccine ideology under RFK Jr. (*Boston Globe, August 29, 2025)

Could a misspelled word cause a medical crisis? Maybe, if your medical records are being analyzed by an artificial intelligence system. One little typo, or even the use of an unusual word, can cause a medical AI to conclude there’s nothing wrong with somebody who might actually be quite sick.

Study warns AI diagnostic tools can be easily misled (*Boston Globe, August 30, 2025 (updated))

“It’s really surprising that we are taking the most unpopular part of Medicare Advantage and applying it to traditional Medicare.”

Neil Patil, a senior fellow at Georgetown and a former senior analyst at Medicare, Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures (*New York Times, August 28, 2025)

“I think it’s the back door into privatizing traditional Medicare.”

Frances L. Ayres, a 74-year-old retired accounting professor, Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures (*New York Times, August 28, 2025)

“This constant hoop jumping is resulting in too many skilled nursing patients being discharged too soon against medical advice, threatening their recovery.” We want to make sure Medicare Advantage plans are providing the therapy benefits our seniors were promised and are not leaving important — sometimes life-saving — medical decisions to AI or insurers without appropriate guardrails and oversight.”

Clif Porter, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, Medicare Advantage plans frequently deny post-acute care for nursing homes, survey finds (Healthcare Dive, August 28, 2025)

“If you’re in pain but can’t tell me you’re in pain, how are you going to express it? Well, it might be through just being kind of cranky — you get a little cranky when you’re hurting. You might hit me because I’m trying to move something that hurts. But that’s not perceived as pain, it’s perceived as bad behavior, so we miss a lot of pain in this population.”

Barbara Resnick, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, Can We Spot Pain When Dementia Takes Away Words? (University of Maryland at Baltimore, Undated)

“I think some of us fear that when this legal component goes away, the MBTA might start to slip on the commitments that it’s made. There’s always the possibility that we sue again.”

Katarina “Kat” Torres Radisic, who works for the Boston Center for Independent Living, A judge has been watching the MBTA on behalf of riders with disabilities. That is about to change. (*Boston Globe, September 1, 2025 (updated))

By emphasizing nutrition as a cornerstone of mental health care, health care providers can encourage preventive measures that could alleviate the burden of depression across communities.

Nutrition’s Impact on Depression in Nursing Home Seniors (Bioengineer.org, August 31, 2025)

“By creating this tiered structure, we’re making it easier for families to access fresh, nutritious food while ensuring that our farmers have a strong market for their produce. This initiative will not only increase food security but also strengthen our local agricultural economy.”

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle, Everyone benefits from Healthy Incentives (*Salem News, September 1, 2025)

Our new ten-year projections reflect a general slowing of growth in both homeowner and renter households. According to our new paper, between 2025 and 2035, annual growth in homeowner households is expected to range from 337,000 to 685,000, while annual growth in renter households ranges from 174,000 to 523,000.

A Decade of Slowing Household Growth Ahead for Both Owners and Renters (Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, August 25, 2025)

Both older renters and homeowners are struggling with rising costs. Renters: 58% of older renters were cost-burdened in 2023, totaling 4.5 million households. Many live on fixed incomes that don’t keep up with rising rents, leaving little money for other necessities.

Homeowners: The share of cost-burdened older homeowners rose from 24% to 28% between 2019 and 2023, affecting 7.9 million households. Those with a mortgage are more likely to be burdened (43%) than those who own their homes free and clear (19%). Rising property insurance costs are a factor, even for those without a mortgage. Furthermore, people in their 80s and over are more likely to face these challenges, with nearly 40% being cost-burdened, compared to just over 32% of those aged 65–79. This is partly due to declining median income and an increase in single-person households in this older age group.

One in Three Older Households Is Cost Burdened (Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, August 11, 2025)

August 26, 2025

Calls for more transparency around ownership and financing have become a common response to private equity presence in the nursing home industry, but transparency alone is not enough. The private equity tactics that undermined Genesis were legal and disclosed – announced in press releases, reported in industry and major media, and met without serious concern. What’s needed is not just greater visibility but clear limits on private equity practices that prioritize investor return over keeping nursing homes running safely and sustainably.

Genesis Healthcare files for bankruptcy (Private Equity Stakeholders’ Project, August 11, 2025). Emphasis added.

“Genesis Healthcare’s bankruptcy was a predictable result of a financial strategy that extracted value through debt and real estate transactions while leaving the company with fewer resources to sustain care. Unless these tactics are addressed directly, more nursing home operators may follow the same path and leave more patients, workers, and public programs to absorb the costs.”

Michael Fenne, Senior Research Coordinator at Private Equity Stakeholders’ Project, New PESP research analyzes Genesis Healthcare bankruptcy (Private Equity Stakeholders’ Project, August 14, 2025)

Families like mine are struggling to make sense of this rapidly shifting landscape. Lack of clear and accessible information, fear of impending federal cuts and proactive state reductions in Medicaid have left me and others confused and angry. . . How we care for our most vulnerable reveals what we believe about ourselves.

Rachel Roth Aldhizer a North Carolina mother, who is a paid caregiver of her profoundly disabled 4-year old son, a Medicaid recipient, I’m a Conservative. My Disabled Son Needs Medicaid to Live. (New York Times (free access), August 21, 2025)

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology “have developed their first prototype of an eldercare robot”.

“‘EBAR,’ or Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot, can help elderly and infirm individuals walk. It can help them get up from a chair or step out of a bath. It can even catch them if they fall, deploying air bags where needed.”

What could go wrong?

And forget about human interaction and the dignity of patients trying to survive in this setup.

For-profit nursing homes, cuts at VA pose social disaster (The Militant, September 1, 2025)

“[When I use Amtrak,] it makes me feel like freight. I don’t feel respected as a person.”

Aubrie Lee, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a power wheelchair, Disabled Amtrak Riders See Progress, but Still ‘Feel Like Freight’ (*New York Times, August 14, 2025)

“Clinicians, patients, and caregivers need guidance not only on what therapies to avoid, but on alternative non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic treatment strategies to consider in place of such potentially inappropriate medications.”

New guidance highlights safer alternatives to risky drugs for older adults (Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, August 22, 2025)

A STAT analysis of corporate filings found the people leading 275 of the most prominent health care companies made a combined $3.6 billion in 2024 — surpassing the $3.5 billion that a bigger group of CEOs made in 2023. In all, the average health care CEO made more than $13 million, and the median took home $5.5 million. Those were the highest figures since 2021.

Ninety-one CEOs earned at least $10 million in 2024, the highest number of executives making at least eight figures since 2021.

Health care CEOs harvest billions even as industry lags broader stock market (*STAT+, August 18, 2025)

[W]e owe all vulnerable people in Massachusetts the same protection – whatever their personal means, and wherever they live.

Editorial: August 22, 2025: Lessons from Fall River (WCVB, August 22, 2025)

Since 2020, at least 774 nursing homes have closed, according to an August 2024 report from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). About 20% of nursing homes have downsized since 2020 as well, reducing the number of nursing home beds by 62,567.

‘Pool of Piranhas’: Nursing Home Closures, New Buyers and Medicaid Rates All Play into Seller’s Market (Skilled Nursing News, July 7, 2025)

“It’s not hyperbole to say access to care is a national crisis. Nursing homes are closing at a rate much faster than they are opening, and yet with each passing day, our nation grows older. . . Our nation’s seniors shouldn’t have to wait for days or weeks in a hospital bed for the skilled nursing care they need, and families shouldn’t have to drive for hours to see their loved ones.”

Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living, Report: Access to Nursing Home Care is Worsening (American Health Care Association, August 22, 2024)

“I never spend a whole day indoors . . . Sports have given me so much. I’d say it’s been a lifesaver. I don’t like getting by — just waiting for dusk to fall. I need action.”

Emma Maria Mazzenga, 92-year-old competitive runner, This 92-year-old sprinter has the muscle cells of someone in their 20s (*Washington Post, August 24, 2025)

“A lot of the detrimental effects that you see with aging can be substantially reduced if we just keep those physical activity levels very high. . . It’s never too late to get started. . . Exercise is a good base, but you need to do a lot more. You need to take care of your entire body.”

Luigi Ferrucci, the scientific director at the National Institute on Aging, This 92-year-old sprinter has the muscle cells of someone in their 20s (*Washington Post, August 24, 2025)

[Kiki] is so happy. You can tell it. People saying she has no quality of life I don’t understand because she clearly has an amazing life. She has adapted and having the resources they have given her and the amazing love they are all giving her. She has friends of all kinds of people and different animals. Plus, she is educating children and adults on having a disability and still living an amazing full happy life. She has a purpose in life that she is fulfilling which must fulfill her.

Tricia MacDonald, a commentator about the YouTube video, Sheep has learned to drive motorized wheelchair

The housing shortage in Massachusetts is driving up prices and costs for everyone. At the same time, older and empty commercial properties across the state are ready for revitalization. These sites present an opportunity to be remodeled into new housing.

Healey-Driscoll Administration Launches $10 Million Initiative to Transform Commercial Spaces into Homes (Office of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, August 20, 2025)

“This is a targeted credit focused on jumpstarting commercial conversion to residential use. A little help for these projects can have a big impact in creating the housing we need and revitalizing downtowns.”

Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus, Healey-Driscoll Administration Launches $10 Million Initiative to Transform Commercial Spaces into Homes (Office of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, August 20, 2025)

A Government Accountability Office report, “Homelessness: Actions to Help Better Address Older Adults’ Housing and Health Needs” includes data showing that about 138,000 older adults (55+) experienced homelessness on a single night in 2023. Of these, about 46% were unsheltered and about 54% were staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens.

Gathered as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annual point-in-time count, the numbers show that of the 138,089 older adults experiencing homelessness on one night in January 2023, 98,393 were 55 – 64 and 39,696 were 65 and older.

Homelessness: Actions to Help Better Address Older Adults’ Housing and Health Needs (U. S. Government Accountability Office, October 9, 2024)

August 19, 2025

The real “pain point” for providers should be inadequate systems, not quality oversight...

The experts quoted [in New SNF audits ‘tip of the iceberg’ for measure validation, payment consequences] worry this validation program is the “tip of the iceberg” for expanded oversight. Good. Healthcare facilities receiving public funding should expect comprehensive quality validation. The expansion to claims-based measures and managed care patients represents appropriate stewardship of public resources. . .

Quality assurance shouldn’t be painful when you’re actually delivering quality care with proper documentation.

James A. Lomastro, PhD, SNF validation program — a necessary quality assurance measure (McKnights Long-Term Care News, August 8, 2025)

“It was definitely one of those nights where, the rules and everything kinda don’t apply, you just do what you gotta do.”

A Fall River firefighter about the Gabriel House fire, Hear from the firefighters who battled the deadly blaze at Gabriel House (*Boston Globe, August 7, 2025)

“Delays in refunding [continuing care retirement community (CCRC)] deposits — often high six figures in value — can cause significant financial harm, especially when funds are needed to pay for care in another facility, settle estates or support survivors. The lack of a statutory deadline allows providers to delay refunds indefinitely. These reforms are not radical — they are responsible, reasonable, and necessary to protect aging adults who have contributed a lifetime of resources and wisdom to the communities they now call home.”

Christine Griffin, an ALR Commission member and vice chair of the Linden Ponds Resident Advisory Council in Hingham, MA, CCRC recommendations draw mixed reviews from senior living, consumer advocates (McKnights Senior Living, August 11, 2025)

“The residents are ‘paying the bills’ and committing much of their life savings to live in the CCRC, they have earned the right to have a voice on the board. Is there a defensive fear that a resident may raise difficult questions for management or reveal actual events or issues affecting everyday living in a CCRC?”

David VanArsdale, an ALR Commission member and resident of Edgewood Retirement Community in North Andover, MA,CCRC recommendations draw mixed reviews from senior living, consumer advocates (McKnights Senior Living, August 11, 2025)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has officially ended its 5-Claim Probe audit process for nursing homes as of June 30.

CMS Pauses Nursing Home Care Compare Updates, Leaving 5-Star Ratings Static (Skilled Nursing News, August 15, 2025)

“It’s a perfect storm. It’s an unfortunate, devastating storm for our older Americans.”

Yolanda Stevens, program and policy analyst with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, referring to recently enacted cuts to the federal Medicaid budget, Amid growing ‘scandal’ of elder homelessness, health care groups aim to help (NPR Shots, August 16, 2025)

[Allaire Health Services, a New Jersey for profit nursing home company recommended to buy Mission Hill’s Benjamin Healthcare Center,] had the experience; they had the money; and while they’re not perfect, they have, in my view, the right resume in order to be considered for the position of the owner-operator.”

Attorney Joseph Feaster, state-appointed receiver of the Benjamin Healthcare Center, Benjamin sale moves forward (The Bay State Banner, August 6, 2025)

“Everyone seems to think not-for-profit is the nirvana of operation. Well, we have a not-for-profit and we’re a receivership right now, so I don’t think that that’s necessarily the answer.”

Attorney Joseph Feaster, state-appointed receiver of the Benjamin Healthcare Center, Benjamin sale moves forward (The Bay State Banner, August 6, 2025)

“It’s not kumbaya, it’s just sharing information. You don’t have to hug it out, just share information.”

Superior Court Justice Anthony Campo, who presided over the status conference for the Benjamin Healthcare Center, referring to communication difficulties between the facility and representatives of state agencies, , Benjamin sale moves forward (The Bay State Banner, August 6, 2025)

“We’ve stepped back into the world that we lived in before the [CDC’s vaccine advisory committee] was created. It’s just sowing some confusion. … It will be a little bit different this year.’’

Dr. Brenda Anders Pring, a pediatrician representing the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Less guidance offered on fall vaccine schedule (*Boston Globe, August 17, 2025)

“For far too many disabled Americans, traffic stops and encounters with law enforcement can be deadly. This is especially true for people who may have language and communication barriers. The Blue Envelope Act would help mitigate the harm people with communication disabilities face during traffic stops and educate the officials who interact with them, working across language and information barriers.”

AAPD President and CEO Maria Town, Norton Introduces Bill to Make “Blue Envelope” Programs Eligible for Federal Transportation Safety Funding (Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, August 7, 2025)

“He has no person who is in charge of his health care. It was never like this before. There’s a lack of staff, empty rooms, locked doors. It feels like something that’s not healthy.”

Wife of a veteran who served in Somalia regarding his experience with accessing Veteran Administration services, Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump as Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals (ProPublica, August 8, 2025)

At the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta, Maine, internal records show that there is a two-month wait for primary care appointments, which is triple the VA’s goal and 38 days longer than it was at this time last year.

Veterans’ Care at Risk Under Trump as Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses Reject Working at VA Hospitals (ProPublica, August 8, 2025)

“As a direct and proximate result of the negligence … Margaret Duddy sustained serious injuries, suffered conscious pain and suffering, and an untimely death on July 13, 2025.”

From the wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Gabriel House resident Margaret Duddy, First wrongful death lawsuit filed in connection to deadly Gabriel House fire in Fall River (*Boston Globe, August 15, 2025)

“He didn’t want the state getting involved in stuff and he resented that. He would push back and push back.”

Maggie Dionne, the director of housing and supportive services at the Executive Office of Elder Affairs from 2000 to 2007, commenting about Dennis Etzkorn, owner of Gabriel Assisted Living Residence, Years of complaints against Gabriel House owner offer glimpses of an embattled businessman (*Boston Globe, August 7, 2025)

August 4, 2025

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest cost estimate shows that the reconciliation package would reduce federal Medicaid spending over a decade by an estimated $911 billion (after accounting for interactions that produce overlapping reductions across different provisions of the law) and increase the number of uninsured people by 10 million.

Allocating CBO’s Estimates of Federal Medicaid Spending Reductions Across the States: Enacted Reconciliation Package (KFF, July 23, 2025)

The total population of senior citizens is 55.8 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of that, 1.3 million are in nursing homes. That’s about 2.3%. . . When we or our family members become part of the 2.3% of the elderly population who need nursing home care, what happens to us?

Editorial: What happens to nursing homes if Medicaid takes a hit? (TribLive, July 22, 2025)

“After hearing from advocates who serve as the direct voice of residents, there is no question that the [Assisted Living Residence] commission must take more time to ensure such a tragedy never happens again. Anything short of that will not be acceptable.”

State Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), Investigators narrow Gabriel House fire to two possible causes (*State House News, July 22, 2025)

A significant share of employees either said they expect to need long-term care or had caregiving experience, yet awareness, planning, and benefit take-up remained low, with many workers underestimating costs, unsure how to access services, and mistakenly expecting Medicare or Medicaid to cover future care.

Employee Perspectives on Long -Term Care (Employee Benefit Research Institute, May 1, 2025)

The state’s deadliest blaze in more than four decades has highlighted the lack of regulations governing assisted-living facilities that often care for low-income or disabled residents.

Smoking or oxygen machine may have caused deadly fire at Massachusetts assisted-living home (AP News, July 22, 2025)

Physicians helping patients with a long-term or terminal illness who make choices that wouldn’t be yours, I beg of you: Meet them with curiosity and compassion. If you can’t offer them the care they seek or the help they need, try to find someone who can.

My mother refused treatment for her breast cancer. Her doctors should have respected her choice (STAT, July 21, 2025)

Many attribute the recent declines in youth suicides to all the attention paid to the issue, and the ample resources devoted to it. “The same intensive efforts have not been made for older adults where there is a belief among some that depression is a natural part of aging. It is not.”

Mark Salzer, professor of social and behavioral sciences at Temple University, An overlooked demographic has the highest suicide risk — and it’s been rising (STAT, July 17, 2025)

Compared with their peers, companies acquired by private equity firms are 10 times as likely to go bankrupt.

Megan Greenwell, The Private Equity Wager: Heads We Win, Tails You Lose (*New York Times, July 2, 2025)

July 22, 2025

“We believe that the existing regulations are grossly inadequate, and the [Assisted Living Residence] Commission must extend its deadline to spend time reviewing post-investigation findings to expand upon its current draft.”

State Senator Mark Montigny, After deadly fire, Massachusetts orders safety plans from assisted living centers (BBC News Hour, July 20, 2025)

“This emergency initiative is a step in the right direction, but asking facilities to self-report compliance with fire safety requirements only reaffirms the urgency of further strengthening our regulations.’’

State Senator Mark Montigny, Mass. seeks info on assisted living fire protocols (*Boston Globe, July 19, 2025)

“The regulations are minimal.”

Liane Zeitz, an attorney who is a member of the state Assisted Living Residences Commission and DignityMA’s Assisted Living Workgroup, Lack of preparation said cause of deaths in care home blaze (Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, July 20, 2025)

Gabriel House had seen better days, but for residents and their families it was the center of a caring community.

Fire at Massachusetts assisted-living community gutted a tough community, victims’ relatives say (PBS News Hour, July 16, 2025)

Genesis HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest skilled nursing chains, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . , . The bankruptcy filing follows months of speculation about Genesis, after the company missed $4.2 million in rent payments . . . Genesis operates 218 facilities across 19 states.

Genesis HealthCare files for bankruptcy, nearing sale (McKnights Long-Term Care News, July 10, 2025)

“I’ll have couples come to me and they’ll have a million dollars, and they think they have a lot of money, but that’s really not a lot of money if someone’s in their late 70s or even early 80s.”

Malka Young, an aging consultant and director of Allies in Aging JFS Elder Care Solutions, What is an assisted living facility — and how does it differ from a nursing home? (*Boston Globe, July 17, 2025)

But [the recently enacted reform legislation] left open a big loophole. The Massachusetts law not only still permits private equity firms to own hospitals, but it also leaves intact their other, more widespread strategy of taking over independent physician practices.

The loophole that could allow another private equity debacle in Mass. health care (*Boston Globe, July 13, 2025)

“I don’t want to be in a locked-down facility. I would like some peace.’’

Ernest Coupe, 70, a resident of Gabriel House who was rescued from the fire and since the fire, has been placed in a nursing home in Fall River, Oversight of homes for elders too light? (*Boston Globe, July 20, 2025)

“Even as an attorney, I didn’t really understand what assisted living was until my own parents lived there. It’s only when something happens that you find the limitations.’’

Elder law attorney Kathleen Lynch Moncata, who is a member of DignityMA’s Assisted Living Workgroup, Oversight of homes for elders too light? (*Boston Globe, July 20, 2025)

“People think [an assisted living residence] is a nursing home with chandeliers and it isn’t.’’

Elder law attorney Kathleen Lynch Moncata, who is a member of DignityMA’s Assisted Living Workgroup, Oversight of homes for elders too light? (*Boston Globe, July 20, 2025)

Dignity Alliance Massachusetts is pushing for mandated staffing ratios, more frequent inspections, and more power for state regulators to impose penalties.

Oversight of homes for elders too light? (*Boston Globe, July 20, 2025)

“[Assisted living residences] were never envisioned to evolve into de facto nursing homes.”

Paul Lanzikos, Coordinator, Dignity Alliance Massachusetts and a former Massachusetts elder affairs secretary who helped craft the state’s first assisted living law in the early 1990s, Oversight of homes for elders too light? (*Boston Globe, July 20, 2025)