U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) (R)

A bipartisan group of lawmakers this week introduced legislation to extend two programs aimed at steering seniors away from nursing homes and toward home-based care settings.

On Monday, Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Fred Upton (R-MI) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY)  proposed legislation that would reauthorize the Money Follows the Person demonstration for five years. That program allows some Medicaid recipients, including seniors, to transition from nursing facilities back to their homes. Since its creation a decade ago, the program has helped more than 88,000 individuals receive care at home, according to an announcement.

President Donald Trump and lawmakers had passed a shorter three-month extension in January. In addition, the lawmakers also introduced legislation that would extend financial protections for seniors who receive long-term care in their home or a community-based setting, called the “Protecting Married Seniors from Impoverishment Act.”

“The long-term care system in this country is broken. Seniors, families, and caregivers are often desperate, stressed, and don’t know where to turn,” Dingell said. “The Money Follows the Person program and spousal impoverishment protections have shown they can create better outcomes for people receiving long-term care in the home or in the community.”

LeadingAge said it supports Money Follows the Person, with CEO Katie Smith Sloan noting it “helps states to use federal monies to pay for the providers identified as best-suited to care for an individual, based on need.”

While the American Health Care Association said it supported seniors’ desire to live at home as long as possible, it has balked at a suggestion that there are troves of older adults ready to exit SNFs. 

“The view that there are thousands of people who live in nursing facilities that are able to live at home is a myth,” President and CEO Mark Parkinson told McKnight’s earlier this month. “We take care of a very frail population. The average nursing home resident is 82 years old and needs assistance with five activities of daily life. We encourage the all members of Congress to visit a facility and observe both the terrific care that we provide and observe the extremely frail condition of our residents.”