The Daily Ardmoreite - Aging Services Costs, Population Increasing

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By Unknown

The combination of rising costs, a growing population of seniors and inadequate funding has resulted in problems and delays in services provided to Oklahoma's aging population, according to a Department of Human Services official.

Beth Batman, Hank Ross and Randy Tate made their presentations to the Oklahoma House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Public Health and Social Services at the behest of state Rep. Joe Dorman.

The combination of state and federal funding for aging services has decreased, according to Batman, programs administrator for the DHS Aging Services Division. She said that here are 708,024 Oklahomans who are age 60 or older, or 19.7 percent of the state population. By 2030, that population is projected to rise to 954,795, or 24.45 percent of the population.

"Senior nutrition programs are primarily reliant on federal funds from Title III of the Older Americans Act," said Batman. "With the population shift from rural to urban areas of this state, the federal funding has also shifted, reducing some funding to rural and Western Oklahoma senior programs. This, coupled with the rising costs of providing nutrition services, has severely impacted senior nutrition services."

Ross, president and CEO of Ross Healthcare, said seniors and veterans would be better served at a less costly price if they received more home health care. He also said that the veteran care system does not interact well with private health care providers, resulting in lost opportunities for veteran care.

"I was excited to be invited by Representative Dorman and the House committee as they explore ways to expand healthcare to Oklahomans through the expansion of Medicaid," said Ross. "Furthermore, my testimony and others was heard to better serve our seniors and veterans in delivering an improved cost effective healthcare system."

Tate, CEO of NorthCare, said community mental health funding has decreased and resulted in fewer Medicaid patients looking for mental health care, especially early in their disease process.

Dorman said the funding problem could be addressed by expanding Medicaid and efficiently using our existing services.

"I think that we are leaving federal money on the table that could go to address the cracks in our services for veterans and seniors," said Dorman, D-Rush Springs. "Medicaid funding is Oklahoma taxpayer money sent to D. C.. We should bring the money back and use it, for Oklahomans. I also agree with the presenters that we should strive to improve the use of that funding by seeking out home health care options when appropriate, as it is both economical and often more comfortable for patients. The bottom line is, Oklahoma must do a better job of taking care of our Seniors and Veterans."

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