The Senior Agenda Coalition has launched our “Aging in Community” campaign for 2008.
The purpose and focus of the work of our non-profit coalition of consumers, advocates, and providers will be to work on making Rhode Island a state where all of us can age in our own homes and communities were we invest our hearts.
2008 will be an interesting year that I hope will bring about great changes for our state in areas where we have really lagged behind almost every other state.
The good news is that there is $9 million is investment funds available for home and community care for FY2009. In the presence of tight budget times this is something positive in what seems to be very grim opportunities for funding vital services in our community. (see Susan Sweet’s column for more information on specific cuts and increased costs being passed on to the consumer)
This money is related to the “Perry/Sullivan” Long Term Care Services and Finance Reform Act passed in 2006 that I have wrote about extensively in past columns.
The intent of this Act is the re-balance the severely unbalanced system that Rhode Island has in delivering long term care services to the elderly and people with disabilities. In Rhode Island, 90% of long term care dollars go to nursing home care and only 10% into home and community care programs.
The vision for the state is to have more opportunities for people to stay in their own homes and communities when they need long term care services rather than enter into a nursing home before they need to.
Most people prefer to receive, or see their loved ones receive, long term care services in their homes or at least in a home like setting, such as residential housing, adult day care or an assisted living residence.
Informal caregivers are the backbone of the long-term care system, providing much of the assistance to individuals who want to remain in their homes and need help with daily activities, including eating, bathing, and dressing, or shopping, transportation, and taking medications. We need to develop a system that helps caregivers take care of those in need in the most beneficial way possible.
Every since the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision that ruled that services must be provided in the least restrictive setting to persons with disabilities, there is an increased legal emphasis to rebalance our long term care system as well.
To help make our vision for “Aging in Community” a reality and move our state into being number one in the country in delivering quality care in our homes and community, the Senior Agenda Coalition will partner with AARP and other organizations to support the “Fifty-Fifty in Five Years Campaign”.
The campaign will include legislation sponsored by Senator Perry and Representative Sullivan that, if passed, would require the state to reach the goal of spending a minimum of 50% of Medicaid long term care funding on nursing homes and 50% on home and community based care by the year 2012.
Rhode Island would prioritize increased investment in home and community based care and maintain the integrity and funding of current programs and investments that will help Rhode Island reach this goal.
While the Senior Agenda Coalition and other advocates support nursing home and other institutional living as a possible option for some consumers, we support a more balanced system of care for elders and adults living with disabilities. Our ultimate goal is to participate in and support reform activities that will encourage consumer driven care and expand the home and community based service system.
There are many ways to change our system. A few things that could immediately help us make the change is the expansion of Personal Choice and PACE programs, increasing the monthly maintenance allowance on Medicaid home and community programs, increasing outreach and education, giving program enhancements to providers of care, speeding up the eligibility process and helping consumers fill out the paperwork and gathering the necessary documents, and supporting and expanding caregiver programs.
If you would like to learn more about this issue or get involved, please contact me at 274-6900 or senioragendari@yahoo.com. Please check out our website at www.senioragendari.org.
Happy Valentine’s Day!