Community-based care makes sense and cents
By State Representative Denis E. Guyer
Communities have flourished for generations with entire families living near one another and being able to care for aging relatives. But today too often family members cannot provide assistance to loved ones so seniors needing assistance may feel they have no choice, but to leave their homes. The future lies in finding ways of assisting seniors so they can continue to live in the community that has been a home to them, often for decades.
Community and home-based care for our aging and disabled population makes sense. It has been proven time and time again that home and community-based care costs less and honors the wishes of many who wish to remain in their community. Many seniors feel that they do not have the support they require to remain in their homes nor do they have supportive options in their community. The loss of a driver's license or the onset of an illness may result in the loss of independence and lead some to leave their home. Yet, this is beginning to change as the Commonwealth tackles the many barriers seniors face when they look for the least-restrictive living arrangements.
In the last session, we passed changes to the Medicaid program allowing seniors who are enrolled in the state-run Medicaid program the option of receiving care at home or within in the community. This measure provides for pre-admission counseling for all people entering a nursing home, and raised the eligibility for the Medicaid program to an income level of $1,715 per month and $10,000 in assets. This program is still new to many people and looks to raise awareness of community-based alternatives. Also, through increased usage, many community and home-based service organizations will be able to grow and expand to offer more efficient and effective services. The simple act of allowing people to choose to remain in the community will result in a cost savings of $134 million to the state in the first five years alone.
The Legislature invests billions of dollars each year to continue to provide community support for seniors. In our Fiscal Year 2008 budget, there have been many gains for home and community-based services. As a member of the House, I was proud to support continued funding for the Family Caregivers line-item, which would provide some financial incentive to family members who provide home-care services to their loved ones, funding for mental health services to help seniors suffering from depression and other mental illnesses, funding for Councils on Aging that provide important services to many seniors directly in their community, funding for community-based supportive housing, and funding for many other vital programs. I also successfully fought to restore the funding for the Berkshire Talking Chronicle, a service many people at home rely on when they can no longer read print whether due to reading problems, hand tremors, or deteriorating eyesight.
I hear from many people on a limited income that they cannot stay in their family home due to increasing property taxes. Working with the Governor, it is my hope that the legislature will directly increase the property tax exemption for senior citizens in this coming year, and provide full reimbursement for the property taxes cities and towns will lose from these exemptions. This reimbursement would allow cities and towns to stabilize their budgets and would reduce the property tax for all residents.
There are still many challenges that the State and the Berkshires will have to try to tackle as more and more seniors remain in the community. However, I believe that the improved quality of life will be worth it in the long run, and I am committed to making it happen.
Denis Guyer represents the Second District. He can be reached at 617-722-2400, 413-684-0033, or rep.denisguyer@hou.state.ma.us
