Testimony to

Senate Ways and Means Sub Committee on

Department of Aging

Senator Jean Schodorf, Chair

February 24, 2004

My name is Gina McDonald and I represent the Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living (KACIL). KACIL represents 13 Centers for Independent Living (CIL’s). Centers provide services to people with disabilities of all ages. Centers for Independent Living also provide assistance to businesses and all other entities in the community to assist them in offering services to people with disabilities. We advocate at a state and national level for the rights of all people with disabilities to live in the communities of their choice.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today regarding the Department on Aging budget.

I have four immediate requests and a long range idea.

1. Provide adequate funding for the Waiting list for the frail elderly.
2. Provide adequate funding for the Senior Care Act.
3. Ensure that there are no arbitrary caps on the number of hours or on the assistive technology a person can receive on the Frail Elderly Waiver. There are no caps on services in Nursing Facilities (NF’s).
4. Please assist us in getting rates equalized for the Self Directed Services on the FE Waiver.

When will we look at the institutional bias in this country to decide it is just too expensive to put people away for the rest of their lives in nursing facilities? We know it is more expensive, no doubt.

What are we doing to ensure that everyone in Nursing Facilities must be there and cannot benefit from home and community based care?

The State of Washington has created a program where they have statewide case managers who go into facilities and develop transition plans for people to return to the community. The goal is to have NF’s only used for acute care.

I have attached information on that program to this testimony as attachment A.

I ask that you encourage the Department on Aging to investigate this program and start the same program in Kansas.

The DOA could encourage communication between the CIL’s and the NF’s to start thinking creatively about what it would take for NF’s to provide services in the community.

Wouldn’t it be great if there came a day when the only time someone has to go to a facility for services is for acute care? Wouldn’t it be great if the staff from an NF could provide HCBS in real community settings?

It could save the state money, save people from having to leave their homes to get services and could allow the NF’s a new funding source. The availability of attendants would be greater because they would be working for the NF.

It would then be in everyone’s interest to move people out of facilities as soon as possible. Isn’t that what most of the “baby boomers want?

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.

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