Kansas thaws freeze on home health care, new applicants being accepted

From The Wichita Eagle:

A system to provide home- and community-based services to disabled people, frozen since December, thawed some on March 2 when the state announced that it will once more begin accepting applicants into the program.

The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services lifted the three-month freeze it had placed on the physical disability waiver program.

The Medicaid-funded program provides assistance to disabled people who want to stay in their own homes rather than moving into nursing homes.

The hard freeze will be replaced with a "rolling waiting list," allowing one new person to enter the system for every two who leave it.

"That's good, that helps," said Sen. Dick Kelsey, R-Goddard, who supports home and community services for the disabled. "These people really need that help."

SRS Secretary Don Jordan said he lifted the freeze to comply with the will of the Legislature, which recently added $2 million to the budget to fund a rolling waiting list.

But Jordan also cautioned that the money may not be enough to keep it going.

"Without additional funds, we will have to reinstate a freeze on this program at a later date," Jordan said in a statement. "While we would like to lift this freeze permanently, there simply is not enough money."

SRS is facing about a $4 million shortfall for 2010, the agency reported.

The freeze had been expected to continue for at least another month while the state grapples with a projected deficit of about $800 million for 2010 and awaits details on what relief to expect from the recently approved federal economic stimulus package.

SRS instituted the freeze on Dec. 1 after an unexpected jump in applications raised the program's enrollment from about 6,500 to 7,300.

Getting the freeze lifted had emerged as the No. 1 issue among advocates for the disabled, who hailed Monday's announcement.

David Calvert, a board member of the Wichita-based Independent Living Resource Center of Kansas, called the lifting of the freeze "great news."

"Talk about a win-win situation," he said. "It's great for the people with disabilities who need these services. It's great for the taxpayers, who want to save money."

Under current state and federal law, nursing home care is considered an entitlement, while home- and community-based care is optional.

Advocates for disabled people say that doesn't make much sense because it usually costs less to serve people in their own homes than to pay for them to live in nursing homes.

On Sunday, The Eagle reported on how the state of Vermont has been able to serve more people without busting its budget. Vermont did that by eliminating the bias toward institutional care and giving disabled residents more choice in how they get assistance.

Kelsey said he thinks the Kansas Legislature will take corrective action before the freeze has to be reinstated.

"I'm optimistic we're going to address the whole issue," Kelsey said. "I think basically we're getting the message out that this is an area that needs some attention."