A growing number of elderly people living in long-term care facilities across the state are being evicted as soon as their payments convert to Medicaid, reports a Feb. 6th article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. The state Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), operated by Multi-Service Center, confirms this, reporting that the office handled more than 700 complaints last year related to this topic -- a 50% increase over the year before.

"The system is getting frayed around the edges," Louise Ryan, the state's long-term care ombudsman, told the PI. "People are getting harder to take care of, and when [homes] can find an opportunity to discharge the person, they will."

Because Medicaid payments lag behind rising health care costs, long-term care facilities seem to feel justified in replacing Medicaid residents with those who have better financial resources. There are currently no laws that make this practice illegal.

LTCOP is working on Senate bill 6009 which would at least require truthful disclosure by facilties about what will happen to residents when Medicaid kicks in, giving families clear information up front.

Ryan also is optimistic that this issue will receive national attention since the PI article was recently listed on the congressional blog, CongressCheck.com, visited by congressional staffers and members of Congress. 

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), Multi-Service Center's only statewide program, provides advocacy for elderly and disabled people living in long-term care facilities across the state. More than 400 volunteers are trained and certified to be ombudsmen, who regularly visit more than 2,000 long-term care facilities throughout the state, serving as the voice for residents of these facilities. For more information, contact Louise at louiser@multi-servicecenter.com.