Tina Smith: “Yesterday I introduced the Money Follows the Person Act of 2005, along with Senator Harkin. My job as a Senator is to…”

“Yesterday I introduced the Money Follows the Person Act of 2005, along with Senator Harkin. My job as a Senator is to help protect and defend the freedoms of all Americans. One of the most important freedoms we enjoy is the freedom to choose where we live. For example, many people overlook the importance of being able to choose to live among family and friends and not among strangers. All too often this basic freedom is denied to older Americans and Americans with disabilities. Currently, we are unnecessarily isolating people with disabilities from their communities, friends, families and loved ones by placing them in institutional care facilities. Many of these Americans should not be in a nursing home or institutional setting. A disabled person can often be better served and integrated into their community by living in community-based homes. However, recent data indicates that 70 percent of Medicaid dollars are spent on institutional care and only 30 percent are spent on community services for the disabled. This is because Medicaid currently requires that States provide nursing home care for Americans with disabilities, but does not require the same for community-based services. Due to this inequity in Medicaid law many individuals with disabilities and older Americans are forced to live in isolated settings. In order to preserve the freedoms of our friends and loved ones in the disabled community, we must do something to reverse this trend.”