Editorial: New York's Long Term Care Crisis

Imagine trying to explain to your 93-year-old mother that she needs to move to a new long term care facility where she won’t recognize her surroundings or any of her caregivers.

Or try telling a child that his father – recovering from major injuries after a car accident – must spend the next three months of rehabilitation at a nursing facility an hour or more away from home.

These situations will become more and more common if Albany fails to reform New York State’s nursing home reimbursement system this year.

Since 2003, nearly 30 nursing homes in New York State have closed their doors – and more than 80% are losing money caring for Medicaid patients. Nursing homes are literally fighting for survival.

And unless a long overdue reform package is adopted – like the one passed by the state Senate and Assembly but then vetoed – more facilities will close and more families will have to scramble for adequate care for their loved ones.

Read the rest of this opinion piece at the Albany (NY) Empire Page.