Long-Term Care Bill of Rights
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-02-27 12:05:00-05:00
2006 AARP Kansas Legislative Priority
An act concerning older citizens and those with disabilities; relating to appropriate long-term care in Kansas; providing long-term care principles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. The Kansas Legislature finds and declares that, in keeping with the traditional concept of the inherent dignity of the individual in our democratic society, that older citizens and those with disabilities are entitled to enjoy health, honor and dignity; that funding for long-term care/home and community based services is a priority; and that future policy development shall be guided by the following principles:
(1) The state of Kansas shall strive to provide a comprehensive, integrated long term care system throughout the state that is responsive to the varied long term care needs of Kansans of any age, or economic status;
(2) Public Policy related to long term care shall stress individual choice, autonomy, self-determination, and privacy;
(3) Administration of public programs and services to serve all LTC populations shall be integrated to ensure better, more coordinated policy making, and more efficient service delivery, thus maximizing the appropriate use of state resources;
(4) Long term care system eligibility requirements and provider reimbursements shall create incentives to expand the most needed services; to serve people in the most appropriate care setting of their choice; and to provide quality care;
(5) Elderly Kansans and people with disabilities shall receive the necessary care and services in the least costly and the least confining setting of choice possible;
(6) Public funding shall improve access to and information about care options other than nursing homes as well as care in the home and community;
(7) The expanded and improved home and community based care services shall be developed in a way that supports and complements the services provided by informal caregivers;
(8) All Kansans who are elderly and/or with disabilities shall have access to services through a single point of entry to current descriptive, comparative, and cost-related information about their various care options;
(9) Strong reporting requirements to document quality and performance of all providers shall be a foundation of the LTC service system;
(10) Strong consumer protections and adequate public oversight, advocacy, and enforcement shall be available for all LTC consumers.
Section 2. The act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book and shall be known and may be cited as the Kansas Long-Term Care Bill of Rights.
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