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Thoughts from
AAA8 Director:
Rick Hindman
Community Perspectives on AAAs
Ohio's Area Agencies on Aging have helped seniors stay in their homes and have saved tax payers millions. The AAAs are critical partners in their communities.
As Ohio works to find ways to manage growing Medicaid rolls, the AAAs provide 30 years of proven Medicaid savings and have developed home and community-based expertise.
Ohio can provide better care for those in need and shift the balance toward cost-effective service by keeping AAAs in place and allowing the momentum to continue.
Currently, 58% of Medicaid long-term care consumers are served in nursing facilities and 42% are served at home or in the community. If the balance were evened to 50-50, Ohio could save $750 million over the next three years!
AAAs are critical partners in accomplishing this 50-50 goal. Supporting established organizations that save the state money and understand the state's resource network will be critical moving forward.
AAAs offer a care management model that offers quality service while containing costs. Those savings are then returned to the state's bottomline - to the taxpayers for additional long-term care services as the demand increases.
As Ohio seeks to move from five Medicaid waivers down to one, make your voices heard to legislators. Share with them the importance of Area Agencies on Aging in directing seniors to non-Medicaid services. Only 9,000 of the 300,000 people who contacted AAAs last year (just 3%) entered Medicaid-funded services.
The savings add up: it costs the state $20,000 annually for in-home care, compared to $60,000 for nursing facility care.
And, 94% of Ohio consumers prefer home and community-based settings.
Tell your legislators that AAAs are not-for-profits that are adept at assisting consumers with the process of finding the right care at the right time and at holding down costs.
Visit the Ohio Assoc. of AAAs website for advocacy materials on Ohio's network.
Advocacy Resources:
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RFP Noted for LIS & MSP Outreach
The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) asked ODA to inform AAAs that an RFP has been issued for the performance of Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) and Medicare Savings Program (MSP) outreach, education and enrollment activities between January 1 and June 30, 2012.
ODI plans to award a maximum of four contracts up to $45,000 each for this work in four defined regions. A minimum of 500 LIS and MSP applications per region is required. Nonprofit organizations and government entities not affiliated in development, marketing or sales of insurance products are eligible to respond. Full details including the RFP itself are available on the Ohio Dept. of Administrative
Services procurement web site:
Inquiries regarding the RFP may be submitted via the above link. Completed proposals are to be
submitted via e-mail to Gretchen Lopez
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 | | Clyde's home health nurse Tish Efaw, LPN, comes daily and helps him with his medications and other needs. |
Seniors Transition Home with Ohio's
Home Choice Program
Marietta resident Clyde Cokely agrees that there's no place like home. The Ohio Home Choice program available through The Buckeye Hills Area Agency on Aging, District 8 (AAA8) provided Clyde with resources and support to transition from a long-term care facility to the community.
Finding his home as a resident of Norwood Green Apartments, Clyde now enjoys the privacy of his own apartment and the freedom to journey to Wal-Mart when he wants to shop. Clyde receives services from Medicaid State Plan and the PASSPORT in-home program with home-delivered meals and homemaking and personal care support from Medi Home Health aides. He has in-home care coordinated by the Quality of Life nursing staff and
has an emergency home response system. Clyde is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and takes advantage of transportation services through the Washington County Veterans Services Commission.
 | | Shown with Clyde are Sue Davidson, his AAA8 Home Choice Transition Coordinator and Kara Wright, LSW, his AAA8 Home Choice Case Manager |
"The purpose of Home Choice is to assist folks who are eligible and who want to locate a home and move from a long-term care facility back into the community," said Jane Skeen, LSW, Home Care Director of AAA8. "Transition coordination is the unique aspect of this program. Through it, the Area Agency on Aging can help give people greater control and connect them to essential community services such as locating housing, setting up a household and more as they transition. A Case Manager helps coordinate all of the support services needed."
Once individuals are in long-term care facilities, it is difficult for them to move back into the community because they usually do not have homes or access to other services and supports necessary for daily living. Transition coordination will help them plan and arrange for services and supports they will need while relocating from an institution to the community.
Home Choice assists 60+ and people of any age with disabilities who wish to move from long-term care facilities to qualified home and community settings. It supports individuals with transition services up to $2,000, by locating housing, transitioning and connecting to community services such as health care, pharmacies, personal assistance and more.
To learn more about Home Choice, call AAA8 at 1-800-331-2644. AAA8 serves caregivers in the region including Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry, and Washington Counties. |
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At his home in Monroe County, PASSPORT client Albert McCormick (seated) is shown with Area Agency on Aging 8 Housing Coordinator Joe Gage; Beverly Anderson, USDA Marietta Area Specialist and Michael Rutherford, USDA Area Director. USDA and AAA8 partnered on a housing project for McCormick. |
PASSPORT & Housing Programs Support Region's Seniors and Caregivers
Enabling seniors who wish to stay at home and receive care in the community rather than in a nursing facility, caused two programs serving the aging to coordinate services for one Monroe County family.
On their farm near Lewisville, Albert and Ann McCormick receive support for Albert's care through the Ohio PASSPORT home care program. They also recently received support for a Housing project to revitalize their bathroom to facilitate Albert's care at home.
For seniors trying to "age in place" in older homes, one program through the Area Agency on Aging 8 is making a difference. Albert has been served by the PASSPORT program in his home since 2010. Through the program, Albert was also eligible to be considered for Housing support to install a walk-in shower and other newer bathroom items. The Housing project was supported with nearly $5,000 in funding through the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Section 504 housing repair grant program.
"We helped more than 130 individuals in the Marietta Region with the housing repair program last year," said Beverly Anderson, USDA Marietta Area Specialist. "We were pleased to partner with AAA8 on this project to provide Albert with handicap accessibility and even a new hot water heater."
Speaking of Charity Howell from Summit Acres Health Care, Ann said "Our home health aide is just wonderful. She comes twice a week and does a lot for Albert."
Albert's PASSPORT Case Manager Vicki Bennett, RN, explains that Albert receives support like personal care, home maker services, home delivered meals (through GMN Tri-County, Inc. and Monroe County Senior Center), necessary medical equipment and an emergency response system.
"Funded through Medicaid, last year PASSPORT allowed about 1,200 seniors in our region to remain at home for a fraction of the cost of a nursing home placement," said Rick Hindman, AAA8 Director. "This in-home program serves as a substantial cost-saving measure for the state, as well being the much preferred choice for seniors. Albert's PASSPORT care plan will cost $9,322 this year as compared to the average annual nursing home costs of $60,000."
According to AARP, nine out of 10 people surveyed would prefer to receive long-term care services in their own home or community.
Anyone interested in learning more should request a free in-home consultation and details on PASSPORT or Housing options by calling AAA8 at 1-800-331-2644 or by visiting www.areaagency8.org. You can also find us on Facebook. AAA8 serves Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry and Washington Counties. |
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 Person-Centered Care Program Announces Facility Partners
The Area Agency on Aging 8 (AAA8) Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program will initially be working with the following facilities across the region to support the person-centered care "Culture Change" efforts.
Selected facilities include The Arbors at Marietta, Logan Health Care Center, Hickory Creek Nursing Facility, Rocksprings Rehabilitation Center, New Lexington Care and Rehabilitation Center and Overbrook Care Center.
The Ombudsman program addresses concerns about the quality of long-term care services and negotiates for the solution of problems that arise between providers and consumers of long-term care services. Culture change is the common name given to a national movement for the transformation of older adult services based on person-centered values and practices.
Person-centered care is not about more forms, more lists, more reporting, or more work. It is about finding a decent and kind way to serve older adults that makes their lives and the lives of their caregivers more meaningful, a common-sense approach to bringing care back into caregiving at the nursing home and enriching the lives of those that live and work there.
For more information, call 1-800-331-2644. To learn more about the Person Centered Care initiative, visit http://www.centeredcare.org.
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Ohio's Aging & Disability Resource Network (ADRN)
Is Official Cooperative
The SE Ohio ADRN learned that the State of Ohio has officially designated it as a legal "Cooperative." With support from the Ohio Cooperative Development Center at OSU South Centers, the ADRN is developing the Cooperative's structure and by-laws.
Nearly 30 organizations have now formally partnered with the SE Ohio ADRN with signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs).
Core services offered by the SE Ohio ADRN include information and access, options counseling, streamlined access to services and person-centered discharge planning.
To learn more about the SE Ohio ADRN, contact Mindy Cayton at
1-800-331-2644 ext.266 or 740-376-7645 or visit www.areaagency8.org. |
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More Ohioans Can Access Assisted Living Waiver
Barriers to enrollment removed
Elders and others statewide can access Ohio's Assisted Living waiver more quickly thanks to program changes. Anyone living in the community can now access the program. A second change means that eligible consumers can begin receiving assisted living services while their Medicaid eligibility is being determined.
The Assisted Living Waiver program pays the costs of care in an assisted living facility for certain people with Medicaid, allowing the consumer to use his or her resources to cover "room and board" expenses. Services include 24 hour on-site response, personal care, supportive services (housekeeping, laundry, and maintenance), nursing, and transportation, meals and recreational programming.
These changes bring the enrollment process for the Assisted Living waiver in line with PASSPORT, which does not require consumers to live in nursing or residential care facilities for six months or participate in a Medicaid waiver program before enrolling. State-funded services, also known as presumptive enrollment, have been available through PASSPORT since 1990.
Eligible individuals may be offered enrollment in the state-funded component of the Assisted Living program, if the PASSPORT Administrative Agency (PAA) has determined that the individual meets all the other eligibility criteria, as they wait for the final determination of their Medicaid eligibility from the county Department of Job and Family Services.
AAA8 uses an in-person assessment and completes a financial information worksheet to determine if an individual meets all the eligibility criteria. Using the financial information worksheet ensures that decisions about presumed Medicaid financial eligibility are made consistently across the state.
AAA8 can offer enrollment to any individual who meets the non-financial eligibility criteria and who:
* Has a total gross income that is less than the current institutional need standard ($2,022);
* Is married and has total assets that are less than the current asset standard ($1,500);
* Does not have a trust of any type;
* Has not transferred resources within the last 60 months;
* Has an estimated client liability that does not exceed the estimated costs of care; and
* Agrees in writing to pay the estimated monthly client liability, calculated by AAA8
A person may remain on the state-funded program for only three months. AAA8 will help the consumer explore other care options and transition to a different care setting if the individual is not approved for the Medicaid-funded Assisted Living waiver program. An individual who is either denied enrollment in the state-funded assisted living program or ceases to meet the eligibility criteria after enrollment will have the opportunity for a hearing with the Legal department at the Department of Aging.
Nearly 3,200 Ohioans currently use the Assisted Living waiver. For more information, call AAA8 at 1-800-331-2644. |
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Network of Care Library Offers Resources
The SE Ohio Network of Care Library is best-in-class. It contains more than 30,000 articles, fact sheets and reports produced by the leading experts and organizations in the health field.
It includes fact sheets and checklists on health topics and a searchable database on prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Having a medical test? If you want to learn more about a test or exam you are having conducted, search the medical tests section.
 If you are having symptoms, use the online body map (click on image at left) to help find and learn more about those symptoms.
Visit the Network of Care for Seniors & People with Disabilities, provided by
the SE Ohio Aging & Disabilities Resource Network. The Network of Care serves the counties of Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Perry and Washington. The project is part of a broad effort by our community partners to improve and better coordinate long-term supports and services locally.
Click Here to access The Southeast Ohio ADRN Network of Care site.
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