State Sen. Lowe Finney (D-Jackson) announced that the Bureau of TennCare’s new Choices long-term care program launched this week in West Tennessee. The program allows more senior citizens to receive in-home, long-term care services.
“Long-term care services give Tennessee seniors the opportunity to receive quality care in their own homes, surrounded by their families and friends,” Finney said. “It saves taxpayer money and allows seniors the ability to choose their care provider where services are available.”
The program is a part of the larger Long-Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008, which Finney sponsored and has since worked to expand to nearly double its capacity.
Under Choices, seniors choose who gives their home care and how it is given. The care providers work for the patients, who can hire, train and schedule the workers. Seniors are able to hire people they trust, at a lower cost to the state and no additional cost to the patient.
Choices services include help doing everyday activities like bathing, dressing, preparing meals or doing chores.
Other services include pest control, household errands and even minor home modifications like wheelchair ramps and grab bars.
“The growing need for long-term care services is a situation many Tennesseans face every day, and the number of people who will require services is expected to triple in the coming decades,” said Governor Phil Bredesen.
“That’s why it’s increasingly important to offer cost-effective services that are designed to support existing care provided by family, friends and others in the community.”
Choices was originally slated to begin in West Tennessee in spring of 2011. At hearings earlier this year, Finney and other lawmakers from West Tennessee criticized the Bureau for the proposed delay and pushed for the program to commence statewide by August 1.
“Those facing daily health care needs cannot afford to wait another year,” Finney said. “Each day of delay brings frustration and worry for patients and their families, and greater inefficiencies for our state.”
Finney said that 40 percent of new members in TennCare’s long-term care program are being served in their homes and in the community.
Less than 10 years ago, TennCare provided a few hundred people care with home- and community-based services, but that number has since grown to 6,000 and could hit 12,000 by the end of the year – all while using existing state dollars.
“As our senior population increases and lives longer, we must provide care solutions that are both economical and beneficial to our seniors,” Finney said. “Through Choices, Tennesseans can choose less costly, more effective care from providers they trust.”
Finney intends to work to further expand the program next year so that even more at-home services can be offered regardless of the level of need an individual requires.
To be eligible for Choices, recipients must need the level of care provided in a nursing home and qualify for Medicaid long-term care.
For more information about the Choices program, call 1-866-836-6678 or visit www.tn.gov/tenncare/Choices.
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