Money Follows the Person Project: NC
Posted by Kim on May 25th, 2007 / Print This Post
From North Carolina:
An estimated 550 older and disabled North Carolinians will be able to live at home instead of in nursing homes or psychiatric hospitals, thanks to a $16.9 million federal grant, state officials said.The money, part of a $1.75 billion, five-year federal project called Money Follows the Person, will pay for caregivers to provide personal services, hygiene, cooking and other activities in an older person’s home.
It’s a start on meeting the desire of a large majority of older people to live at home as they age; the federal money could help those moved from institutions with everything from housing deposits to hot meals in their new homes. Another goal is to save money, keeping people out of high-dollar, high-maintenance settings such as nursing homes.
Consumer costs for a nursing home easily run $50,000 a year. Medicaid is likely to save more than two-thirds of the $1.75 billion it’s spending on the project by keeping patients out of nursing homes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. But Medicaid rules have typically made it easier to get care in a nursing home or other institution than at home.
“We know that a lot of people would not wind up in care facilities if they had the option of someone helping them at home,” said Alice Watkins, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, Eastern North Carolina branch.
In addition to personal care, the grant money will pay for help with transportation, counseling and even home modifications, said Dr. William Lawrence Jr., deputy director of the state Division of Medical Assistance. It could also pay for respite care, paying for someone to fill in occasionally for a family member who normally handles the care.
“We are going to target elderly and disabled people in nursing homes who have been there for at least six months,” Lawrence said. “It will be those who are now stabilized and clearly in a situation where they could benefit from moving back to a least restrictive environment.”
There’s much more to this article…read it all. More and more states are trying to figure out ways to keep people OUT of nursing homes, and that is a GOOD thing.