>
> Settlement will give disabled more home care
>
> By ANDY MILLER
> Published on: 06/29/06
>
> The state has settled a civil rights lawsuit from seven Georgians with
> physical disabilities by creating more opportunities and funding for
> thousands of disabled people to live in their homes and communities
> instead of nursing homes.
>
> The agreement, announced Wednesday, cites a state program that will
> spend $4.3 million during the fiscal year beginning July 1 to offer
> community services to 1,000 more people, ranging from home-delivered
> meals and home health aides to physical, speech and occupational
> therapy.
>
> The lawsuit, filed in 2003, alleged that forcing the physically
> disabled
> to
> live in nursing homes violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and
> other laws. The suit demanded the state provide services so they could
> move
> into a community setting if they chose that alternative.
>
> The suit aimed to "change the way the state looks at long-term care,"
> said attorney Charlie Lester of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, which
> represented the plaintiffs pro bono. "People are happier and
> healthier" in home or community settings, Lester said. "The difference
> is unbelievable." And in most cases, it's less expensive to serve them
> there, Lester said. The litigation sought services for thousands of
> Georgians who were deemed eligible for home- and community-based care
> but remained on waiting lists for that aid.
>
> The settlement cited the state's progress in community care, including
> reducing the waiting lists, launching a referral service for seniors,
> and expanding a program that manages health services for people with
> chronic medical needs. "The state made significant improvements and
> changes," Lester said.
>
> State officials did not give an estimate of the total cost for all the
> expanded programs, but emphasized that community services often cost
> less than nursing homes.
>
> "I am extremely pleased with this agreement which benefits these
> individuals as well as our state," Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a
> statement. "This case has elevated the awareness of critical issues
> for people with physical disabilities in nursing homes who could
> benefit from home and community-based services."
>
> Mark Johnson, advocacy director for the Shepherd Center in Atlanta,
> which treats spinal cord, brain and other catastrophic injuries, said
> the state recently has improved its commitment for people with
> disabilities. "I'm happy for the plaintiffs, but am still concerned
> about Georgia's commitment to ending the institutional bias in
> long-term care," Johnson said.
>
> Of the seven plaintiffs, four now are receiving services in the
> community, two are in nursing homes awaiting housing, and one returned
> to a nursing home due to physical problems, Lester said.
>
> One plaintiff, Patricia Redmond, said Wednesday that she's much
> happier living with her sister rather than in an Austell nursing home.
> Redmond, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2000, also has diabetes,
> seizure disorder and hypertension. She now gets services that include
> home health care and supplies.
>
> Redmond, who has lived with her sister for two years, said Wednesday,
> "I feel better."
>
> Georgia lagged other states in spending on home and community waiver
> services for people with disabilities, the lawsuit alleged. "At one
> time, we were one of the states most dependent on nursing homes,"
> Lester said Wednesday. "We've moved up substantially."
>
> Some of the community services are run by Medicaid, the insurance
> program for the poor and disabled that is jointly run by the state and
> federal governments. State Medicaid officials said they have decreased
> by 30 percent the number of Medicaid-funded nursing home beds used per
> capita.
>
> While the state's changes are geared to helping the physically
> disabled, the lawsuit cited a landmark 1999 case filed by two mentally
> disabled patients who sought release from Georgia Regional Hospital in
> DeKalb County. A 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that states
> must transfer disabled patients into more homelike settings when they
> are deemed ready for release or discharge from an institution.
>
> The state said it has been in compliance with that ruling.
>
> Staff writer Jim Tharpe contributed to this article.
