Do you want to bookmark ?

There’s no place like home for Tennesseans who need long-term care. They want to access services in their homes or communities, but in most cases, they can’t. There is little money for alternatives to nursing homes available in Tennessee. The state ranks last in federal funding for home and community-based care.

This year, that may change. AARP is working with Gov. Phil Bredesen and legislators on a plan to restructure the state’s long-term care system and provide more alternatives to nursing homes. The “Long-Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008” seeks to create consumer-directed care options and provide quicker and easier access to services that would allow recipients to stay home as long as possible.

AARP has been working to raise awareness of the issue and the need for more home and community-based care throughout the state.

AARP also commissioned a study that found nearly nine in ten Tennessee voters want to be able to access long-term care services at home and that 57 percent of respondents are worried that they can get care in the setting of their choice.

It certainly would be more cost-effective for consumers and for the state to have more alternatives to institutional care.

A nursing home costs about $66,000 a year, while two hours of daily care in the home costs about $14,000 a year. Despite that, nearly 99 percent of more than $1 billion in federal funding for long-term care in Tennessee goes to nursing homes.

“We are thrilled that Governor Bredesen and state legislative leaders are making it a priority to provide more choices that allow Tennesseans to live independently and with dignity as they age,” said AARP State Director Rebecca Kelly.

The Tennessean article "Enable people to live where they thrive"
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/OPINION01/804030407/1008