DID YOU KNOW?

 

Did you know that the state of Missouri is being investigated by the Department of Justice for delaying people's applications to go onto Medicaid?  Missouri has been deemed the worst state in the country for this 

Medicaid serves low-income individuals and families living at the poverty level. Delaying someone's application for 45 days denies access to doctors, medications, surgeries, and more. 

Why delay applications?  Does Missouri treat people awaiting Medicaid this way because it can? This is one example of how Missouri has failed people in need.  No one wants to be on Medicaid. It's a necessity. Not a choice. 

Feds to scrutinize Missouri’s worst-in-the-nation Medicaid application delays • Missouri Independent

Did you know there is no set ratio of staff to residents in nursing homes in Missouri? This means one CNA  could be responsible for an entire hall of residents. Let's say the hall they are working on comprises 40 residents. That's a lot of resident ts for one CNA. They cannot possibly provide the best care to each resident. The staff can't get to each resident promptly. (Imagine being left on a bedpan so long that you fall asleep waiting for someone to come.( That happened to me.)

Not having a set staff ratio to residents is unfair to both sides. The residents suffer because they are not given the quality of care they deserve. The nursing staff is overworked. This leads to burnout and to a nursing home being staffed by agency staff who know nothing about the residents they have been assigned to care for. Mistakes (while unintentional) in a resident's care or medications could be made. Residents of nursing homes need caring staff as well as consistency in staffing. Residents need staff they can trust to provide them the best care.

Did you know this? The cruelest and most egregious thing Missouri has done.

Imagine being dumped in a nursing home because you have a mental illness. You are denied the ability to choose, to go out, or to see your friends.  Missouri and your guardian made the choice for you. You are scared and alone. you've lost hope. You have not been aware of supportive housing, and other programs that would allow you to be a part of a community instead of a drain on society.

You are locked away and forgotten. You can't decide what you want to eat or what clothes you wear. Imagine. I can't even.

What about working with the person's court-appointed guardian and Missouri so that an individual feels a part of the process. There are decision-making support programs. Make this and all other support programs available to them.

Missouri what is wrong with you?  I am embarrassed and ashamed to live in this state. This is how my state legislators treat Missouri's most vulnerable citizens? Just because we/they are on Medicaid.

More accessible housing

Set staffing ratios in nursing homes

Offer support services to those who have a mental illness. Institutionalizing them serves no positive purpose, It is dehumanizing and degrading.

There are people in the St. Louis area who are advocating for accessible exam tables in doctor's offices as well as accessible testing equipment such as in radiology. I can personally attest to the fact that accessible medical tests are needed.

I'm still fired up. I am all in I heard a new term on social media. An impacter is a positive source of change. I was meant to do this. I want to open legislator's minds in my little corner of the world.

To the State of Missouri, I ask the same question. Would you want your loved one to be treated this way?

Do better.