skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Home ... or Nursing Home?

play audio
Play

Monday, January 29, 2007   

Advocates for people with disabilities will be listening closely when Governor Eliot Spitzer unveils his state budget this week. They say Spitzer could go a long way toward his goal of a patient-centered healthcare system if he would consider housing subsidies to help people move out of expensive nursing homes and back into the community.

Michael Costello, a 55-year-old carpenter with a physical impairment, knows the problem firsthand. He says the old system the Governor calls "too institution-centered" put his life on hold for more than two years. After becoming disabled, he got stuck in an expensive nursing home -- when all he really needed was wheelchair-accessible housing.

"The state could save a fortune if it provided affordable housing to some of the people now in nursing homes. I spent two-and-a-half years in a nursing home and it nearly drove me crazy, looking to get housing."

Disability advocates say if the Governor shifted some resources to housing subsidies, literally thousands of New Yorkers with physical limitations could find less expensive housing alternatives. But the subsidies will be necessary because housing costs are so high in New York, says Susan Dooha of the Center for Independence of the Disabled.

"Just a little investment in housing help would go a long way to achieving the governor's goal of patient-centered care, that spends money in the right places and lets people stay where they want to -- in the community."

Dooha says the state could also save a bundle on health care, by spending a little on housing help.

"We're talking about maybe 5,000 to 8,000 people who have said already that they would rather live in their communities than in nursing homes. Every single day, there are people discharged from hospitals to nursing homes, because they don't have the right kind of care in place to stay at home."



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021