BOSTON — With the casino debate dominating Beacon Hill, elder care activists feel legislators have lost sight of a fight in which home-care providers are pitted against nursing homes for limited government money.
"Our legislators, and all the rest, know that elder care is a top priority, but they also are being bombarded with the issue of gambling," said Roseanne DiStefano, executive director of Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley.
When DiStefano left a rally for home-care services last month at the Statehouse, she hoped that home-care providers would receive the money they requested.
"You leave there feeling very optimistic, but at the same time no one makes any promises and you understand that they can't," DiStefano said.
Legislators have been distracted by a number of issues as this year's budget process has unfolded, according to Anne Springer, spokeswoman for SeniorCare Inc., a private agency that offers home care to elders and adults with disabilities in Massachusetts.
"I think it's really important for us to remember that people who are entering their older years are people who have supported us in a number of wars and that we should not forget them," Springer said.
Rep. Barbara L'Italien, D-Andover, a long-standing proponent of home-care services, agrees that legislators have largely been consumed by the casino debate.
"Casinos are sort of taking all of the oxygen out of the room. We need to really make a decision one way or the other on this and then move on to the next pieces at hand," L'Italien said.
Last week, L'Italien circulated a letter on behalf of home-care services, urging legislators to support Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed shift in funds.
Patrick's budget proposal would allow for a $46 million transfer from nursing home services to home-care services to fund the first year of the Community First initiative.
The initiative, a No. 1 priority for Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, is designed to help elders and adults with disabilities live independently at home.
Nursing homes receive 70 percent of the state's available long-term spending dollars, according to L'Italien.
The letter was submitted to House and Senate budget writers with 70 signatures.
L'Italien sees home care as a less expensive alternative to nursing homes, which now wind up caring for most ailing seniors.
"We're just trying to make more of a level playing field between those who seek community-based care versus the virtual entitlement that we have in this state to go into a nursing home if you're sick enough, spend down your assets or are poor enough," L'Italien said.
Massachusetts Aging Services Association, a statewide provider of nursing facilities and residential care communities, failed to respond to several calls.
Sen. Susan Tucker, D-Andover, an opponent of the governor's casino proposal said it's past time for the casino debate to end.
"In my opinion, this casino issue has taken too much time and too much energy out of this building. It has just taken attention away from other important things."
