From left to right, back row: Southbury resident Joe Stango, Bob Veillette’s sons Dr. Greg Veillette and Mark Veillette, Naugatuck resident Bonnie Veillette and entertainer Tony Orlando. Front row, left to right: Naugatuck resident Bob Veillette and his daughter Stephanie DeLuca of Terryville.
Tony Orlando helps Medicaid reform supporters celebrate recent legislative success
Uncasville, Conn. (Aug. 4, 2008) — Tony Orlando, the entertainer who immortalized the yellow ribbon as a symbol of homecoming, gave an hour-long concert at Mohegan Sun Aug. 2 to help more than 300 Medicaid reform supporters celebrate the success of their recent efforts to expand home-care choices in Connecticut’s Medicaid program. . more>>
Medicaid reform bill gains 10,000 signatures of support, 15 legislative co-sponsors
WATERBURY, Conn. (March 25, 2008) — The Medicaid reform bill pending in the Legislature has received letters with more than 10,000 signatures of support and gained 15 legislative co-sponsors.
The bill (SB No. 561) would increase the number of patients transitioned from institutional care to the new home-care program Money Follows the Person (MFP) and invest in the future of health care by creating jobs that will ensure enough skilled workers available to support a fundamental shift to greater consumer choice in Connecticut’s Medicaid system. more>>
Proposed bill would expand Money Follows the Person, add skilled workers to support more home care
WATERBURY, Conn. (Feb. 14, 2008) — Medicaid reform activist Joe Stango today proposed legislation that would expand the new home-care program he helped create and ensure there will be enough skilled workers available to support a fundamental shift to greater consumer choice in Connecticut’s Medicaid system.
There are four parts to Stango’s proposed bill: more>>
LETTER IN SUPPORT OF MEDICAID REFORM
You can support our efforts by downloading this letter of support and signing it. We will then present them to the committee. Please do it now!
1. Download this letter (pdf)
2. Sign the letter and mail it to:
Joseph Stango
C/O Advocates for Medicaid Choice
Box 192
Southbury, CT 06488
Connecticut receives a $24.2 million federal grant to implement Money Follows the Person, for 700 Connecticut residents over the next five years.
In 2005 Joseph Stango, a Southbury, Connecticut resident, attempted to bring his 83yearold mother, Dora, home from a skilled nursing facility. Stango learned, however, that because his mother’s care was paid by Medicaid, the government health insurance for lowincome elderly and disabled persons, Dora Stango’s benefits would not follow her home. Unable to afford the cost of caring for his mother at home, Stango was forced to leave her in the nursing facility. Thus began a quest by Stango to bring “Medicaid Choice” to Connecticut.
Along the way, he has received more than 15,000 letters of support from individuals and families who have experienced similar inflexibility in the state’s Medicaid system. As well, he has had thousands of emails and phone calls from individuals who not only support him but also seek his help in keeping their loved ones home.
In 2006, Stango played a pivotal role in the passage of groundbreaking legislation that put Connecticut among a handful of states at the forefront of Medicaid Choice. The State Legislature voted to allow Connecticut to apply for a federal grant to participate in Money Follows the Person (MFP). Grants are awarded competitively to states to test the financial and clinical viability of using Medicaid dollars for home care. In early 2007, Connecticut received a $24.2 million federal grant to implement Money Follows the Person with 700 Connecticut residents over the next five years.
Upon receiving the federal funding, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell praised Joe’s leadership in bringing the issue of Medicaid Choice before the Connecticut legislature: “Joe’s work in raising awareness at the Legislature and throughout the state was critical in getting Money Follows the Person off the ground…His goal to bring his mother home to live with him is a true labor of love that now should help hundreds of Connecticut residents.”
See the chronology of events that lead to the formation of this movement . . . .more>>
What is "Money Follows the Person?" . . . more>>
Governor Rell Announces $24.2 Million Federal Grant to Help Connecticut Residents Move from Nursing Homes
Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that Connecticut is receiving a $24.2 million federal grant to pioneer new ways of helping people move from nursing facilities and other institutions to life at home with family and friends. The initiative has become known in Connecticut as Money Follows the Person.
“This represents a tremendous step forward in our efforts to help people with disabilities and their families,” Governor Rell said. “The idea is to use Medicaid dollars as flexibly as possible to give people more choices about their living situation. more>>
What is "Money Follows the Person?" . . . more>>
Bill makes accessing Medicaid help easier Resource center gives care options
SOUTHBURY — Elderly people and their families soon will have a place to get information about Medicaid benefits for themselves and relatives. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed a bill that sets aside $1 million to create an Age and Disability Resource Center, a clearinghouse where anyone in Connecticut can get clear and accurate information about their benefits and care options. Sponsored by Rep. Arthur J. O’Neill, RSouthbury, the bill was the brainchild of Joseph Stango of Southbury, who successfully lobbied for a program that allows nursing home residents to return home and not lose financial aid. The program, called Money Follows the Person, will bring the state $24.2 million in federal support to help residents with the transition to home care. It will allow 700 people to receive home care over five years. A separate bill introduced by O’Neill would have expanded the program to serve more people, but it was not considered. Stango said he will ask O’Neill to resubmit the bill next year. more>>
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