| About
40 years ago, I was the social work intern charged with solving
a sensitive problem that many families face today. An elderly
woman lived with her daughter. The mother's deteriorating health
required more help than the daughter could provide. I interviewed
a number of nursing home administrators. One individual, in particular,
I remember to this day with disgust and loathing.
I
told him of the daughter's anguish and wish to see her mother
well cared for. As with all human beings, her mother didn't
want to be sent away to an inhumane institution.
I
asked the nursing home administrator how he would handle this
ubiquitous, sensitive situation. In a cold, well rehearsed response,
he told me that he would meet the mother and lie, explaining
that he wanted to take her out for a ride. Bottom Line: he would
simply never bring mom back home.
For
the mother and for all people, there is no place like a loving
home. Fortunately for her, her daughter, and my own peace of
mind, I was able to locate a very supportive, comfortable situation
for her. Decades later, such torture, in one form or another,
recurs 24/7 with government complicity and financial assistance.
Human beings are stripped of their dignity and self-determination,
because they are disabled by poor health and insufficient funds.
For
these reasons, for personal reasons and in response to numerous
requests, I am writing a self-protection manual to help patients
and their families enforce patients' nursing home rights. The
title will be, HOW TO PLAY NURSING HOME HARDBALL and will be
patterned after the framework and easy-to-use, fill-in-the-forms
that have proven to be so useful to patients who have used our
HMO HARDBALL system.
In
its own time, this nursing home patient protection manual will
be published. However, we are presently engaged in an epic civil
rights struggle to enforce HMO patient rights, when HMOs, state
regulators and state courts conspire to violate them. Click
on the following link to read about Jackie's pioneering civil
rights brief filed with the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
BATTLE
OVER THE COURTS - Cover story
MORAL
AUTHTORITY - EditoriaL
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