KB Times
Katten & Benson, Your Elder Care Law Specialists
August 2011
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| Did You Know? |
- 12% of older adults in Texas live in poverty
- 11% of Texas residents are enrolled in Medicare
- Medicaid is the largest federally funded program in Texas
2010 Legislative Budget Board Texas Fact Book
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| K & B Happenings | |
Congratulations!
Steve was honored by the Tarrant Area Gerontological Society (TAGS) on July 26, receiving the Harriett Griffin Award for his impact on public policy. Other honorees were Dr. David Capper, who received the Mildred O. Hogstel Award, and Jane Oderberg, who won the Janet Pacatte Award.
Presentations
Kim will be talking about Hoarding at Emeritus at Tanglewood Oaks on August 12. For more information call Betsy Allaire at 817-922-9559.
Monica will be doing another intensive Medicaid seminar on August 18 at Bethesda Gardens in Fort Worth, from 4:30-7:00. For more information, call Stephanie at Universal Health Services, 817-451-1404.
Let's Talk Choices: Navigating Through the Healthcare Maze
This is a great, day-long seminar for professionals and the general public. It will be held September 16, 8:00 am - 2:30 pm at Southcliff Baptist Church. Call 682-472-0118 to register.
Time Off
Monica will be out of the office August 11-12.
Steve will be out of the office August 18-19.
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Medicaid Update
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Over the last few months, I've had a lot of people ask me what was going to happen to Medicaid. Of course we all remember that when the 82nd Texas Legislature convened in January all the talk was about a 30% cut to Medicaid, and what that would look like.
Well, the news is not as bad as all that, but it's still not great. I recently heard Tim Graves, the President and CEO of the Texas Healthcare Association give a presentation on what happened during the legislative session. The Texas Healthcare Association is a non-profit trade organization that represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state. Here is some of what I learned:
- Revenue increased 5% between the 2008-2009 biennium and the 2010-2011 biennium, not enough to keep pace of budget growth.
- Tax collections fell 1.8% during the same time frame.
- 56% of tax dollars goes to fund education; almost 23% goes to fund health and human services.
- Of health care expenditures, only 4% goes to pay for nursing home care (2004 figure).
- Texas is at the bottom (49) in terms of nursing facility expenditures per person.
The budget for 2010-2011 was $187.5 billion; the initial budget proposal for 2012-2013 was $156.4 billion. The budget that passed is for $172.4 billion. What this means for nursing homes is that they will not have any further pay cuts, although their pay was cut 3% in 2010-2011. So for now, nursing homes dodged a bullet. Other services were not so lucky. Intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled will be cut 2%, on top of a prior 3% cut. Certain waiver programs were cut 1%, on top of a prior 2% cut.
None of this takes into account that Medicaid has been underfunded up to this point (remember, we rank 49 in nursing home expenditures). Nor does this take into account that while revenue has increased a tiny bit, as Mr. Graves said in his presentation, we may have just kicked the can down the road until the next legislative session.
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Molly's Musings
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 | Remember when the grass was green?
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Hi, Everyone!
I don't know about you, but it seems like the dog days of summer have been here since January, and come to think of it, I'm not too sure I like that term. No one around here likes all this hot weather, but I'm pretty sure everyone still likes me.
One thing I've heard a lot about lately is how hard it is to help older family members decide that it's time to move. There are lots of reasons families decide that it's time for a move:
- The older adult might have dementia and might not be safe at home alone anymore
- The older adult might decide a big house is too much trouble to take care of
- Maybe the older adult has a lot of health problems and needs help managing their healthcare
It's always easier to make the decision when everyone can agree that it's time, but it doesn't really seem to happen that way very often. I also see that sometimes families can't decide the best place for Mom or Dad to move to. Lots of older people are only familiar with the "resthomes" their parents may have gone to, but a lot has changed. There are a lot of really nice retirement and assisted living places out there.
Molly  |
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Don't forget that we are always here and ready to help with your long term care planning needs.
Sincerely,
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Kim Olmedo, LCSW, CCSM, CSW-G
Elder Care Coordinator
Katten & Benson
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