In the News

Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2009

On behalf of the 60 Plus Association and our more than 200,000 Illinois members, we applaud your ongoing investigation into Illinois' trouble-ridden nursing-home system. We also commend Gov. Pat Quinn and the members of the Illinois State Senate for moving rapidly yet smartly toward reform, especially State Sens. Jacqueline Collins, William Delgado, Mattie Hunter, Susan Garrett and Heather Steans.

Your reporting and the recent state hearings reveal a broken, outdated nursing-home system in dire need of reform. Existing patient protections aren't being adequately enforced, and those problems are amplified by an antiquated system where state government dictates the health care choices for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans.

On one hand, Illinois is steering people with mental illnesses -- even criminal histories – into nursing homes. At the same time, Illinois is denying seniors and people with disabilities access to less-costly and less-restrictive care, like home care and adult day care, leaving them no place to go but those same nursing homes.

While Illinois must do a better job of enforcing existing standards that protect nursing-home residents, the 60 Plus Association believes that the greatest benefits of reform come from empowering patient choice. We should support the hundreds of thousands of seniors who would prefer a community-based program that enables them to remain in their own homes and independent for as long as possible, and make sure that state funding follows the needs and desires of patients.

Creating a level playing field where patients and their doctors choose the care that's right for them not only drives down costs for patients and taxpayers but leads to innovative choices and better health care.

We look forward to working with lawmakers, the governor and our fellow advocates for seniors in the coming months to make sure the job gets done.

-- Amy Noone Frederick, executive vice president, 60 Plus Association, Alexandria, Va.