California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a nonprofit group that spearheaded the law Arnold just vetoed, has issued the following press release:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2007

Governor Vetoes Bill to Protect Nursing Home Abuse Victims

San Francisco -- On Sunday night, just hours before it would become law, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 399, striking down an immensely popular bill to aid elder abuse victims in nursing homes by improving investigations of abuse and neglect. The bill would have required the California Department of Public Health to complete investigations within reasonable time limits and to notify complainants of findings.

Abuse and neglect have reached crisis proportions in California nursing homes. Complaints and facility reports of abuse and neglect have more than doubled in recent years and continue to grow at double-digit rates each year. More than 15,000 complaints and facility reports are expected to be investigated this year.

Introduced by Assembly Member Mike Feuer, AB 399 responds to the California Department of Public Health's longstanding failures to conduct timely and effective investigations of nursing home complaints. The failures are well documented in a series of government reports, including an April 2007 report by the California State Auditor. It shows the Department failed to timely complete more than 60 percent of 15,275 investigations conducted between July 2004 and April 2006, and that more than 500 complaints remained open for more than one year.

For nursing home residents, the broken investigation system is a matter of life and death. The slow investigations subject residents to continued mistreatment and also compromise the Department's ability to collect evidence. Most nursing homes face no consequences for abuse or neglect because the Department substantiates so few complaints (only one in six according to a 2007 study by the California Healthcare Foundation).

Even complaints involving deaths suffer extreme delays. This is especially true in cases involving AA citations, which involve a finding that neglect or abuse led to the death of a nursing home resident. Typical delays range from one to two years. See attached CANHR summary of recent AA citations.

"The veto is devastating to elder abuse victims in nursing homes," said Patricia McGinnis, CANHR's Executive Director. "It is shocking that the Governor won't commit to timely investigations of abuse and neglect."

Other than the Governor [picture here with President Bush], AB 399 faced no opposition. The California Legislature voted 117 - 1 in favor of it. AB 399 is supported by dozens of organizations, the nursing home industry, and citizens throughout California who see it as an historic opportunity to restore integrity to California's nursing home complaint investigation system.

For more information contact:
Pat McGinnis, Executive Director, CANHR (415) 974-5171
Michael Connors, Advocate (626) 796-6178
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR)
www.canhr.org"

The veto is just one of a series of vetoes of pro-family bills by Governor Schwarzenegger. For more information, read Julius Young's article in the California Progress Report:
"Schwarzenegger Vetoes Pro-Family Bills As Corporate Interests Trump Family Values"

Email the Governor and tell him what you think and that you vote - click here.

Felicia Curran
www.ElderAdvocacyLaw.com

The New York Times reports that Stanford scientists believe that they have developed a blood test that can accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms of truly debilitating memory loss are apparent. Currently, Alzheimer's disease can only be diagnosed definitely after death through autopsy, and with clinical probability through a battery of memory and behavioral tests.

The test proceeds on the assumption that the brain of a person who is developing Alzheimer's sends out signals to the body's immune system, releasing certain proteins into the blood. The blood test looks for the presence of 18 proteins in the blood thought to carry that message. The test is reported to be 90 percent accurate in distinguishing the blood of people with actual Alzheimer’s from the blood of those without the disease, and to have an accuracy rate of 80 percent in predicting which patients with mild memory loss would go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease two to six years later.

The studies need to be replicated in another lab, and it is likely to be a few years before the test would be available to the average person at their doctor's office, but the test may be available next year on a research study basis.

It is also hoped that this will be the first step in finding a cure for the disease.

To read the Times article, click here.

Felicia Curran
www.ElderAdvocacyLaw.com

If gay men and lesbian women face discrimination when they are young, active, and able to take care of themselves, what happens as they age, lose their independence, and need to enter nursing homes and assisted living facilities? Check out an article in yesterday’s New York Times ( "Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice and Uncertainty in the Twilight Years" by Jane Gross) to get a taste of what homophobia is like in the nursing home setting. The picture isn’t pretty.

The article quotes experts as saying that most gay elderly do not declare their identity when they enter the nursing home. Instead, for fear of prejudice and isolation, they retreat back to the invisibility that was necessary for most of their lives. They introduce their partner as “their brother” to nursing home staff and to other residents to avoid being shunned. They avoid having their openly gay friends come to visit, and they hide any memorabilia that may disclose that they are gay.

77-year-old lesbian Jalna Perry (pictured here), says that her guard was up all the time when she was in a nursing home or assisted living facility, for fear that she would be shunned by care givers and other residents.

Living in the nursing home's closet takes its toll. The article describes how gay elderly often fall into depression more quickly, and have a higher incidence of premature death than heterosexual elders.

On the other hand, stepping out of the closet may also cut short the gay elder’s life. When one openly gay man entered a nursing home on the East Coast, he was moved off the regular patient floor, in response to the homophobia of other residents and families, and housed with patients with severe disabilities or dementia. He hung himself in despair before the nursing home could be persuaded to treat him decently.

When Gloria Donadello (pictured here), entered a nursing home, her new roommate greeted her with the words, “Get that man out of my room.” That was enough for Gloria. She moved into an adult-assisted living center that specializes in gay and lesbian residents.

What if your community doesn’t have a care facility that promotes itself as friendly to gay seniors? Bruce Steiner, 76, pictured at the top, with his partner Jim Anthony, 71, said that his approach is to essentially to come as he is – “visit several nursing homes” and give “them the opportunity to encourage or discourage [you].”

At least part of the problem is that nursing homes and assisted living facilities don’t usually make an effort to ask about sexual orientation, or to prepare staff members and residents for the possibility that some residents may be gay. In California, we have made a start to address the issue of sensitivity to gay elders with the “Older Californians Equality and Protection Act,” passed in 2006. The law requires state aging agencies to provide sensitivity training and support for senior services for gay elders. For example, nursing home admissions staff may receive training in how to interview prospective residents in a way that respects each person's sexual orientation. Or nursing home residents may receive support to help familiarize themselves with issues relating to sexual orientation differences.

What can you do to help gay elders? For starters, don’t make assumptions that each elder you meet has the same sexual orientation as you do, and respect their differences. Correct your family and friends if they make homophobic remarks. Put yourself in the gay elder's shoes. And support laws in your community to prohibit discrimination in nursing homes and assisted living facilities based on sexual orientation sexual identity. In California, we have the Civil Rights Housing Act of 2006, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation and sexual identity, and we also prohibit state contractors from such discrimination, which covers nursing homes receiving state Medical funds.

The Times' website has a terrific multimedia file containing DVD interviews with the elders interviewed in the article. Listen and hear them describe their experiences in their own words. The website will also refer you to resources relating to gay elderly - click here. It's a great resource.

Felicia Curran
www.ElderAdvocacyLaw.com

The chickens are coming home to roost as a result of President Bush’s mistake in privatizing the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Benefit.

A New York Times article reviews audits done by the government relating to private Medicare plans, summarizing their findings by saying that “tens of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics and had claims improperly denied by private insurers that run the system’s huge new drug benefit program and offer other private insurance options encouraged by the Bush administration.”

If you or a family member have a Medicare plan provided by these companies:

UnitedHealth
Wellpoint
Sierra Health Services
Humana
The Sterling Life Insurance Company
MemberHealth
Bravo Health

I suggest that you read the article, which describes how these private companies have adopted unscrupulous business practices resulting in delaying access to medications urgently needed by Medicare patients.

For example, the article says that in March 2007, Sierra Health Services ended drug coverage for more than 2,300 Medicare beneficiaries with H.I.V./AIDS, alleging that the patients had not paid their premiums. In fact, according to the audit, in many cases, the premiums had been paid, and beneficiaries had canceled checks to prove it. Sierra Health Services had canceled their drug coverage to avoid having to pay for the costly drugs that the AIDS patients needed. The patients were reinstated on the Sierra drug plan only after repeated requests from federal officials.

Read the New York Times article online - click here.

Felicia Curran
www.ElderAdvocacyLaw.com

When Arnold Schwarzenegger played Los Angeles narcotics detective John Kimble in Kindergarten Cop, he was said to be “the toughest undercover cop in LA. If you're bad, he'll know it. If you're hiding something, he'll find out. If you cheat, he can tell.”

Some of Arnold’s funniest lines in the movie were when Arnold, as Detective Kimble, took charge and demanded action. Remember such lines as:

“You lack discipline!”

“Well I've got news for you! You are mine now! You belong to me!”

“Who is your daddy, and what does he do?“

"You tell him you didn't do your homework"

“I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions, and I want them answered immediately.”

“Stop whining!”

Arnold is now governor of our state. Unlike Detective John Kimble, Governor Schwarzenegger seems ready to accept excuses for inept and incompetent performance by government agencies that operate under his command. There is a bill sitting on Arnold’s desk, Assembly Bill 399 (Feuer), passed by the California legislature, that only requires the governor’s signature to become law. The bill would require the California Department of Health Services to complete investigations of complaints against nursing homes within 40 business days. The governor’s spokesperson says that he “hasn’t yet taken a position on whether he will sign the bill.”

What is he waiting for? All I can say is it’s time for the Governor to sign that bill and to tell the Department of Health Services to “stop whining.”

The Los Angeles Times did an article describing the types of delays that have prompted the bill.

In July 2006, 81-year-old Octavio “Nito” Jimenez (pictured here) was rushed from an Oxnard nursing home, Maywood Acres, by ambulance to an acute care hospital, where doctors found advanced, infected wounds on his heel and buttocks. The nursing home had told Octavio’s family only that he had “a little sore” on his foot.

His granddaughter Josie Valdez (pictured here) asked the county Ombudsman to investigate. The Ombudsman referred the matter to the state Department of Health Services, stating, “the family is very concerned that they will lose their father from neglect.”

Unfortunately, they were right. A few days later, Octavio passed away from an apparent heart attack. In the 15 months since the complaint was filed, the Department of Health Services still hasn’t investigated the complaint. “To this day, nobody has been able to tell me what the findings were.” Josie Valdez is quoted as saying. “It hurts families and it hurts the person unable to care for themselves.”

The Department of Health Services has proved time and time again that they will not complete investigations on their own accord. They need the fixed deadines provided by 399 to force them to complete investigations on time.

Consider these other delays documented by The Los Angeles Times:

“* One year to investigate and impose a $100,000 fine against Westgate Gardens Care Center after an unattended 77-year-old resident choked on a grape and later died. Instructions in the resident's records indicated she was not to be served whole fruits or left alone when she ate.

* Eleven months to investigate and fine Beverly Healthcare Center in Stockton $80,000 after its air conditioner failed during a heat wave in July 2006. One resident died from hyperthermia caused by the high temperatures, and another resident was taken to the hospital with the same condition, the state said. The home has since changed its name to Golden Living Center-Stockton.

* Fourteen months to cite Manorcare Health Services in Hemet after an 83-year-old dementia patient fell out of his wheelchair, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. He was supposed to be placed in chair with a lap cushion to prevent falls. The home was fined $75,000.

As Assemblyman Feuer says, the bill is needed to quickly flag problems at nursing homes and ensure they are corrected.”

"A timely investigation with timely results can make the difference literally between life and death sometimes," Feuer said. "Forty days is plenty of time to conduct a meaningful, finely grained, detailed investigation."

Arnold, residents of nursing homes need your help. Tell Department of Health Services, “Don’t procrastinate,” “I own you. You are mine now.” Give them some deadlines.

Let the Governator know what you think - send him an email – click here.

Felicia Curran
www.ElderAdvocacyLaw.com