AARP Supports Increased Funding for Home- and Community-Based Services
AARP offers these views on HB1, in today’s public budget hearing.
AARP New Hampshire supports the HB1 proposal to increase spending for home- and community-based services. This is a good first step in rebalancing the long-term care system in New Hampshire, which is currently heavily dependent on nursing home care.
According to the AARP Public Policy Institute report Across the States, New Hampshire ranks #50 in the amount of Medicaid spending for older people and adults with physical disabilities. In fact, the data showed New Hampshire is become MORE unbalanced instead of moving in the other direction.
Highlights of the report shows:
- New Hampshire’s Medicaid long-term services and supports spending going towards home- and community-based services decreased from 2011 to 2016 for older adults and people with physical disabilities
- Forty states became more balanced for these populations over the same time period
- In New Hampshire, home- and community-bases services spending decreased by 22% while spending for nursing facilities increased by 10%
The proposal currently in HB1 provides for increased spending in the Choices for Independence Program which is a step in the right direction. But we still need to do more.
