Long-Term Care - Illinois General Assembly

EXPAND AND ENHANCE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO SENIORS IN THE COMMUNITY.
• Establish comprehensive case coordination to cover all long-term care options for all elderly
throughout the state.
• Provide services that enhance family caregiving.
Research identifies the following as key comprehensive support services aimed at serving
highly impaired seniors in their communities:
≡ Home delivered meals;
≡ 24-hour emergency alert systems that include temperature monitoring, preventive
health and medication reminders;
≡ Respite care and counseling that flexibly serves caregivers’ needs;
≡ Transportation, including assisted and mass transit where feasible;
≡ Caregiver advocacy and counseling; and
≡ Home modifications.
• Increase the array of services and the maximum amount of care for which frail elderly are
entitled.
This is necessary to assure that clients have a choice in how best to meet their needs and to
assure that care is available early mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays as needed to
maintain independent living.
• Adjust payment rates to providers of services to assure adequate supply of quality home
and community based services.
Current payment rates and methodologies contribute to the lack of critical services in inner
city and rural areas.
• Provide consumer-directed service options.
Over the last 10 years, states have experimented with programs that increase the control
clients have over their home and community based care. The closer relationship between
the clients, their informal caregivers, and paid workers lead to better client outcomes and
improved job satisfaction.
ASSIST NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WHO EXPRESS A DESIRE TO LEAVE THE HOME TO MOVE TO MORE
INDEPENDENT HOUSING.
• The keystone to the financial feasibility of reforming long term care at this time is the ability
to apply the funding now targeted to those in nursing homes to serve those who prefer to
return to the community.
• Studies document that up to 25%t of nursing home residents do not need and prefer to live
in community-based settings. Thousands of Illinois nursing home residents report to their
nursing homes their desire to return to the community.
• Aggressive programs in other states have succeeded in transitioning residents back to
community settings who would otherwise have lived the rest of their lives in an institution.
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