The Area Office on Aging received news from Gov. Ted Strickland that he has called for the elimination of the waiting list for the PASSPORT In-Home Care for Seniors Program and Assisted Living Waiver Program that the Area Office on Aging administers.

Eliminating the waiting list will mean that 64 frail northwest Ohio seniors can expect to get services such as help with bathing, dressing and home-delivered meals through the PASSPORT Program sooner than expected instead of sitting on the waiting list for two months. The Controlling Board has approved the funds and PASSPORT can begin enrollment immediately.

“We should do our best to support older Ohioan who prefer to live independently in their own homes, but need assistance along the way,” Gov. Strickland said. “We have identified existing funds that will allow us to assist all seniors eligible for home and community-based care without a wait.” The longer these frail seniors who want to stay in their own homes sit on a waiting list, the more likely these seniors are to be at risk of going into a nursing home. Instead of these seniors going to a nursing home and having tax-payers pay $60,000 a year for them to be there, each of these seniors prefer to get the same kind of services in their own homes through the PASSPORT Program at a cost to tax-payers that is only one third of the cost of a nursing home.

Statewide, 592 people who need and are eligible for home and community-based services are on a waiting list for these services. The Department of Aging implemented waiting lists for these services in order to balance their budget for fiscal years 2010-2011. Waiting lists generally cause the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to incur increased costs from nursing home use and Home First placements.

Strickland has called for the transfer of resources from ODJFS to the Department of Aging to pay for the elimination of the PASSPORT, Assisted Living and PACE program waiting lists. $490,924 in funds can be transferred immediately to pay for Home First placements. A transfer of $4,809,076 to eliminate the waiting list is subject to Controlling Board approval on March 1. These transfers will eliminate the waiting lists through the end of the current fiscal year (June 30). The Administration plans to seek additional transfers in fiscal year 2011 to ensure no waiting lists for the remainder of the biennium.

Area Office on Aging President/CEO Billie Johnson said, “Gov. Strickland realizes that seniors have made significant contributions to our community and they now need a little assistance to do what they want to do; stay living independently in their own homes. The Area Office on Aging is here to serve seniors by providing them with the services they need to stay living independently in their own homes through the PASSPORT Program.”

PASSPORT (Pre-Admission Screening System Providing Options and Resources Today) is a Medicaid waiver program run through the Ohio Department of Aging and administered locally by the Area Office on Aging that provides medical care to qualifying seniors in home and community settings.

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