May 13th, 2009

Reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

A proposed consolidation of long-term living services under the umbrella of one Pennsylvania agency will improve services to senior citizens, as well as younger residents with disabilities, a state official said Tuesday.

Ray Prushnok, the state’s deputy secretary of Aging, said that a consolidated Department of Aging and Long-Term Living will allow more older Pennsylvanians to stay at home rather than go into nursing homes.

…

Prushnok said the plan, part of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed budget, would bring the Office of Long-Term Living, a joint office of the departments of Aging and Public Welfare, under the Aging department umbrella.

The Department of Aging was always the gateway for consumers — the place where seniors’ needs and wants for long-term care were assessed — but the funds for those programs came from the Department of Public Welfare.

Since 2000, the state has seen a 25 percent increase in the number of residents age 85 and older. The state has paid for 1 million fewer days in a nursing home in the same time period.

“That’s been in large part due to the growth of the home- and community-based programs,” Prushnok said.

Two years ago, 28 percent of the nursing home-eligible population received services at home. That rate is 34 percent today, Prushnok said. Numerous surveys indicate about 90 to 95 percent of people would prefer to receive care at home rather than in a nursing home, he said.

Read more about the proposal at the Tribune-Review.