INDIANAPOLIS — 13,679 people in Indiana are currently on a Medicaid waitlist. Being on that list could force them to move from an assisted care facility to a nursing home.
That was a concern for Jo Lyn Garing and her family, who chose to let her grandmother, Josephine Malone, live out the rest of her life at the assisted living facility Bloom at Kessler.
Due to her being on the waiting list, her family was concerned that she would have to be moved to a nursing home.
"No one should have to worry about how their loved one will afford end-of-life care,” Garing said. “Or about how they will keep their loved one in their home or an assisted living facility."
FSSA created the waitlist to solve budgetary issues. That issue was a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall. But now, families are stuck asking questions and not getting answers. Democratic State Representative Carey Hamilton says that is unacceptable.
"Putting someone on a waitlist for assisted living could mean they are transferred to more expensive care in a nursing home,” Rep. Hamilton said.
WRTV reached out to FSSA to see if they were going to allocate more funding to the PathWays and Health and Wellness waiver. They sent the following statement:
FSSA has set aside an estimated minimum of $5 million of HCBS funds to be used to support individuals residing in assisted living facilities at the time the waiver waitlist went into effect.
All the remaining HCBS and ARPA dollars are allocated. Anything not spent by early 2025 would no longer be available to FSSA.
We continue to work diligently on ways to invite more individuals each month to apply for the wavier. This month we increased total number of invitations from 925 to 1,700. You can find that announcement here. We will continue to look for ways to increase these numbers further in subsequent months.
WATCH | FSSA addresses changes to Medicaid and Medicare waivers
In the meantime, families like Garing's hope the agency knows how it impacts Hoosier’s lives.
"At the end of someone’s life, we shouldn't have to worry about where is she going to be,” Garing said.
WRTV also reached out to Republican State Representative Ed Clere. He is on the Medicaid Advisory Committee, as well as the chairman of the Ways and Means Health and Medicaid Subcommittee.
He said the following:
While I appreciate FSSA’s efforts to find money to help individuals who had been approved for a waiver and were in assisted living at the time the waiting list went into effect, we need to find a way to serve everyone who qualifies for HCBS services, regardless of when they became eligible and regardless of whether they are in assisted living or wish to remain in their home. The waiting lists for the Pathways waiver and other waivers are unacceptable. As a result of the waiting lists, individuals and families are suffering health and quality-of-life impacts, and the state is likely to end up spending more money in the end.
Clere went on to say:
It is my understanding that FSSA is reallocating ARPA money that was budgeted for other purposes but is not expected to be fully expended for the budgeted purposes. As the deadline to use ARPA funds approaches, they are trying to make sure to use all available funds. This is a good use, but we need to do more. We need to eliminate the waiting lists for Pathways and all other waiver programs. Of course, this will ultimately require legislative action in the upcoming budget session, but in the meantime, FSSA should do everything it can to make sure all eligible individuals receive services.
