Now that this year's General Assembly session is completed, it's time to look at the pluses and minuses that resulted for seniors. In our opinion the biggest "pluses" were in the final version of the "Global Medicaid Waiver" contained in Budget Article 17. These were: a) a strong provision for oversight by a new permanent legislative committee; b) a firm goal of allocating at least 50% of Medicaid long-term care spending to home and community-based care by December 31, 2012; and c) immediate rate increases for providers of Medicaid-funded homecare services.
We were particularly pleased by the strong oversight provision regarding not only the terms of the original 5-year agreement with the federal government, but also ongoing monitoring of how that agreement is implemented. We hope that negotiations of the Global Waiver with the federal government produce sufficient funding and protections for any economic or medical contingencies that could occur in the next five years. We hope that the Rhode Island Office of Health and Human Services will be truly flexible and creative in redesigning the long-term care system. These are our hopes. The Senior Agenda Coalition will be actively involved in the process of implementing this Global Waiver. We will offer suggestions and watch vigilantly to make sure that needed changes are achieved that enable more of our state's seniors to age in the community.
In the end, Rhode Island 's seniors themselves and their families will be the best "experts" on how well this Global Waiver is working. If the legislature's oversight committee meets regularly and listens to our seniors, the program will be far more likely to succeed.
The budget's minuses were obvious: major cuts to many programs that help keep our seniors in the community, including respite care, Meals on Wheels, and senior centers. As we pointed out last month, these cuts were completely inconsistent with the goals of the Global Waiver. The Senior Agenda Coalition is committed to documenting how the cuts in services and programs will be affecting Rhode Island 's seniors in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008.
On June 19 our office received the following e-mail from a senior citizen household:
"Please explain the budget cuts for transportation for the elderly. My husband takes the ride bus to dialysis three times a week. How will that affect him?"
I told her, reluctantly, that new cost sharing for the RIde program would cost her family $12 per week, or $624 per year. She has agreed to do an interview and tell their story of how this will affect her husband's vital medical care. We want to hear from other seniors become harmed by these cuts, and give them the opportunity to tell their stories. Please send us an e-mail at senioragendari@yahoo.com or call our office at 274-6900, extension 205 if you are willing to be interviewed. We want to help make your voices heard. The struggle to keep needed services accessible to all seniors will continue.
Bill Flynn, Executive Director, Senior Agenda Coalition