Senior Advocacy in Action Alert

5/17/2012 3:30pm

Legislators will be making 2013 budget decisions soon. Please contact them regarding funding for senior programs Right now, there are home and community based programs for older adults that work and save the state and the taxpayers millions of dollars annually – but they are underfunded.

MI Choice: Long-term care at home that saves Medicaid dollars- Medicaid-funded nursing home beds cost taxpayers on average $172/day; MI Choice allows eligible people to remain at home with supports that cost on average $52/day.  There aren't enough MI Choice dollars to meet the needs of all who wish to join; 8,000 people still wait.

MI Choice Nursing Facility Transition Program (NFTI)- NFTI transitions Medicaid clients in nursing homes who want to leave but face barriers such as not having an accessible home, or needing services and supports to stay at home. Last year, over 1,600 people were transitioned; 3,000 people still wait. Proposed funding for 2013 will only fund the program for two months, yet according to Governor Snyder’s 2012 Executive Budget, NFTI has saved the state $65 million since 2008!

In-Home Services help people manage their own resources- Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) programs help older adults stay in their own homes through programs like Meals on Wheels, home and community based services, and volunteer programs.
Money for these programs has been cut 28% ($10 million) over the past few years while demand for these services has grown.

Contact these members of the Conference Committee (listed below) and urge them to fund:

$11 million to reduce the wait list for MI Choice
$23 million for the Nursing Facility Transition Program in the MI Choice budget—to meet the goal of 1,600 transitions in 2013.
$1.1 million to Office of Services to the Aging plus a 5% increase in each of the next three years. This will partially restore the $10 million in funding cuts over the past three years.

Conference Committee Members:

• Senator Roger Kahn, M.D. (866) 305-2132 senrkahn@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator John Moolenaar (517) 373-7946 senjmoolenaar@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Vince Gregory (517) 373-7888 senvgregory@senate.michigan.gov
• Senator Glenn Anderson (866) 262-7306 senganderson@senate.michigan.gov
• Rep. Chuck Moss (877) 707-6677 chuckmoss@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Matt Lori (877) 262-5959 mattlori@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Pete MacGregor (855) 347-8073 petermacgregor@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Joe Haveman (866) 908-4347 josephhaveman@house.mi.gov
• Rep. Richard LeBlanc (888) 737-5325 richardleblanc@house.mi.gov

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