State Senator Edith G. Prague
May 13, 2008
Prague, Health Advocate Lembo Tout Value of Nursing Home Utility Initiative
State Senator Edith G. Prague (D-Columbia), vice-chair of the legislature's Select Committee on Aging, and State Healthcare Advocate Kevin Lembo praised the General Assembly for its consideration and passage of S.B. 382 this session. The bill, An Act Concerning Telephone and Cable Installation Fees for Nursing Home Residents, prohibits telephone and cable companies from charging nursing home residents a new installation fee when patients are moved from one room to another within the same facility.
As a measure of overwhelming support, the bill was approved unanimously in both the Senate and the House after unanimous votes in the four separate legislative committees that reviewed it. The bill was forwarded to the governor's desk May 6th for her expected signature.
"To some, this may appear to be a small issue, but for a nursing home resident whose primary link to the outside world is the phone or television, it's a very big deal," said Kevin Lembo, State Healthcare Advocate. "Often, nursing home residents have very little control over a move down the hall or to another floor in the facility. To have the stress of that change compounded by a bill from the cable or phone company seemed terribly unfair."
"In most instances, nursing home residents are people of modest means who would prefer to receive care in a more private setting, but can't afford to do so, and in most instances their voices have softened due to infirmity, so they're less able to advocate for themselves," Senator Prague said. "It seemed unconscionable for these giant utility companies to pile on installation charges after each move up or downstairs or just across the hall in the nursing home so with this new law, we intend to prohibit them from doing so."
"Our state's elders, and all those who reside in nursing facilities in Connecticut, have a champion in Senator Edith Prague. From the minute this issue was brought to her attention, she took it on with the energy and commitment necessary to assure its passage. Thanks to Edith, a small but important unfairness has been corrected," Lembo added.
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