Tuesday, February 12, 2008

No Place to Grow Old

You may have noticed the article on the front page of the Oregonian’s sunrise edition. It shares the plight of families trying to find placement for their loved ones on Medicaid. Many care facilities are struggling to remain in the black with the low reimbursement rates and more are canceling their contract. This leaves those clients with few choices of where to go.

There is currently a bill in the Oregon legislature which will cause some restructure of the human services department and increase Medicaid rates for community based care by about $261.00 per month. I encourage you to contact your senator and representative to vote in favor of SB 1061. This bill will enable many Adult Care Homes to remain solvent while caring for their Medicaid clients.
Juanita Funkhouser chats with client Bernice Tyler, 91, as her husband Carrol, listens in, at the adult foster care home she co-owns with her husband Jeff in Tigard. A growing number of assisted living centers and adult foster homes are turning away Medicaid patients because they say the state does not pay enough for their care.

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