U.S. health agency announces new $36M program

BOSTON ? Military veterans in Massachusetts having difficulty remaining independent and concerned about the possibility of moving into a nursing home may soon get some relief from a new federal grant program.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a $36 million program will spread financial assistance over 28 states and provide Massachusetts with a total $2.1 million in combined state and federal funds.HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and U.S. Veterans’ Administration Secretary James Peake said the joint effort will deliver essential consumer-directed home and community-based services to older Americans and to veterans of all ages under the agency’s Nursing Home Diversion grants program.In addition, Leavitt said a $17 million investment is planned to improve the delivery of these services to people with Alzheimer’s disease and assist their family caregivers.Leavitt said the federal part of the funding stems from President Bush’s New Freedom Initiative that calls upon all federal agencies to help people who need long-term care and prefer to live in their own homes and communities. As a result of the program, some of those who would have been placed in nursing homes will be able to remain at home, he said.The program will be overseen by HHS’s Administration on Aging. Under the arrangement, HHS will provide $10.5 million while the states supplement another $5.7 million.The Administration on Aging noted that the funding is vitally needed for older veterans and for those recently returned from war zones. The number of veterans over age 85 has tripled during the past decade, creating a significant expansion in the need for long-term care, Peake said.”The HHS funding is specifically designed to reach people who are not eligible for Medicaid, but who are at high risk of nursing home placement, and spend-down to Medicaid ? which often occurs when private-pay individuals enter a nursing home,” said Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell. “The program will also offer consumers more control over their long-term care, including the ability to determine the types of services they receive and the manner in which they receive them, including the option of hiring their own care workers.”Funding for the Nursing Home Diversion grants program in Massachusetts for 2008 includes a federal share of $885,165 and the state share of $1,280,832, for a project total of $2.1 million.