By Dave Ranney, KHI News Service, January 05, 2010
TOPEKA — The Kansas Department on Aging on Tuesday announced it was cutting four in-home services for the state’s frail elderly due to budget constraints.
The cuts are expected to reduce the department’s Medicaid spending by about $2 million, including $625,000 in state funds.
KDoA Secretary Martin Kennedy caseload numbers and costs had increased beyond budget.
"So there’s a gap we have to close," Kennedy said.
Services affected by the cuts:
The cut in dental services took effect Jan. 1; the remainder becomes effective Jan. 15. Those now receiving services will not get them after that date.
By dropping the four services, Kennedy said, the department avoided having to institute a waiting list for in-home services that are considered essential in helping frail seniors avoid expensive moves to nursing homes.
"We’re at a point where there are no good options," Kennedy said. "I don’t want to say we’re desperate, but were at a point where the only things left for us to do are go to a waiting list or cut nutritional services. Nobody wants to do that."
Kennedy said many of the people who would be put on a waiting list would require nursing home care within a few days or weeks.
Medicaid-funded nursing home care, he said, costs the state considerably more than in-home services.
"It makes no sense, financially," Kennedy said.
About 550 frail seniors — all of whom are poor — will be affected by the cuts.
Advocates for the elderly were saddened by news of the cuts.
"I don’t know what else to say — it’s just sad," said Julie Govert Walter, executive director of the Manhattan-based North Central Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging.
"First of all, you have to understand that the people we’re talking about here are some of our most vulnerable citizens," Walter said. "And then what we’re seeing is the unraveling of a service delivery infrastructure that so many people have spent so much time and effort developing over the last 20 years. It hurts my heart to see us going backward."
Walter said she hoped lawmakers would develop "funding options" during this year’s legislative session that would allow the services to be restored.
Kennedy said the cuts are expected to keep the department in the black though June. After that without additional funding, he said, KDoA would be forced to either adopt a waiting list or cut meal programs.
Rep. Bob Bethell, R-Alden, said he’s looking for ways to salvage the department’s budget.
"Don’t ask me how," he said, "because at this point I don’t know that we can do anything until we arrive at a solution to the problem and the problem is ‘no money.’"
Bethell is chairman of the House Aging and Long Term Care Committee.
In Kansas, about 5,400 frail seniors receive in-home services through Medicaid.