Some Lawmakers Pushing for More Medicaid Home Services

It currently costs more than 55 thousand dollars a year to keep a single Medicaid patient in a nursing home. Some state lawmakers are pushing for changes that could cut those costs by more than half. MPB’s Stephen Koranda reports.

For many disabled and elderly Mississippians on Medicaid needing long-term care, nursing facilities are often the only option. But by providing some services in home, many of these people can stay there. House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland says allowing people to stay in their homes has multiple benefits.

“There’s the dignity of it. There is the fact that the person is in an environ in which they want to be,” says Holland. “It maintains better health, mentally and physically over time. It’s what most states are trying to move toward. We’ve been a little slow doing it, and it’s time we caught up.”

Some opponents don’t approve of Medicaid paying for services like cleaning and other housework, but Holland believes it's better than the alternative.

“they are sent on to the skilled nursing home at an average of about $5700 per month,” says Holland. “People shouldn’t get upset because someone’s coming in to help granny cook a little, clean the house a little and stay at home, because their taxes are better distributed because she is staying at home.”

There would be some costs to implementing more home based services, but savings could be more than 50 percent over the cost of a nursing home. Hob Bryan of Amory is chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

“It’s sort of a cath-22, they argue we don’t have the money to increase the number of home and community-based services,” says Bryan. “By not doing that, we are in fact spending more and more money on nursing homes and more costly alternatives.”

State lawmakers could consider legislation to expand services as soon as this week. Bryan says money from an economic stimulus package could also help get more home-based services off the ground.