Nick Dupree reminds us that, in many states, people who are ventilator-dependent continue to be forced into institutions when they turn 21. It’s a grim reminder that health care reform should (but probably won’t) include a uniform set of Medicaid home care services that all states must make available to people with disabilities. Poorer states could receive a helping hand from the feds via an enhanced matching rate or perhaps even full federal funding of these services. It’s absurd that someone should be threatened with institutionalization just as they are approaching the threshold of adulthood.
It’s also worth noting that Nick has spent the past eleven months in a New York facility while he awaits approval for home care services. The longest I’ve spent in a hospital setting is three months, so I can only imagine the levels of stir-craziness he’s enduring. Here’s hoping that Nick can soon make his escape and begin a life of independence and discovery in Gotham.
