Acford J P
Am J Law Med. 1979 Spring;5(1):59-79.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare recently proposed a "Family Responsibility Plan" which would impose a financial obligation upon adult children in the state for the nursing-home care of their parents who receive Medicaid. By examining the Massachusetts plan, this Note seeks to evaluate the viability of a concept of family responsibility, under which adult children contribute to the state Medicaid expenses of their medically indigent parents in nursing homes, as a means of combating the increase in state Medicaid expenditures. The Note examines the legal and policy issues raised by the Massachusetts welfare department's plan in particular, and by the concept of family responsibility in general. The author concludes that alternative methods of cost containment, such as positive financial incentives, would be more appropriate mechanisms for reducing state Medicaid expenditures than family--that is, adult child--responsibility plans.
马萨诸塞州公共福利部最近提出了一项“家庭责任计划”，该计划将要求该州成年子女为其接受医疗补助的父母在养老院的护理承担经济责任。通过审视马萨诸塞州的这项计划，本评论试图评估家庭责任这一概念的可行性，即在这一概念下，成年子女为其在养老院中因医疗原因陷入贫困的父母承担部分州医疗补助费用，以此作为应对该州医疗补助支出增加的一种手段。本评论特别审视了马萨诸塞州福利部计划以及一般意义上的家庭责任概念所引发的法律和政策问题。作者得出结论，诸如积极的经济激励措施等其他成本控制方法，将是比家庭（即成年子女）责任计划更合适的减少该州医疗补助支出的机制。
