Leaders on aging prepare for funding cuts for senior services

Jan. 18--A top advocacy organization on aging is rallying supporters to lobby the state Legislature for $12.4 million more in funding to organizations around the state that provide community care services for elders.

Officials with the Florida Council on Aging and the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida hosted a summit Tuesday in Naples with local social service agencies to establish a unified voice on the needs of seniors in the coming year.

The 60-day regular session of the Florida Legislature got underway Jan. 9 in Tallahassee and is scheduled to wrap up in March.

The additional funding would mean 1,788 more seniors at risk of being placed in nursing homes could instead receive services in their home, said Margaret Lynn Duggar, executive director of the aging council.

The council represents a cross section of organizations that serve 5.2 million seniors statewide.

In-home care covers a gamut of services, from assistance with daily living activities to home health care, which costs a fraction of care in nursing homes, she said.

The current year budget for the state Department of Elder Affairs is $91.4 million for home and community care programs statewide, according to Robert Beck, the aging council's lobbyist in Tallahassee.

Duggar told the estimated 40 representatives gathered at Avow Hospice that the Elder Affairs Department is planning to change the format for how seniors are put on waiting lists, which could result in fewer seniors getting help.

The National Center for Health Statistics, an agency in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported roughly 20 percent of adults 85 and older in 2017 needed assistance with daily living, she said.

Duggar called on audience members to reach out to their local lawmakers about the ongoing and growing needs of seniors. She provided contacts for members of the Southwest Florida delegation and how many voters 60 and older live in various lawmakers' districts.

State Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, has 144,000 voters 60 and older, and state Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has 149,000 voters in that age group, Duggar said.

Nancy Green-Irwin, executive director of Friendship Centers, which serves adults 50 and older in six counties from Sarasota to Collier, spoke about the group's focus since its founding in 1973 to promote the heath, dignity and quality of life of seniors.

The Collier affiliate is Senior Friendship Health Center, which in 2016 joined forces with the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida at a centralized center at 2355 Stanford Court in East Naples.

The organization served 2,370 seniors at risk of nursing home placement, but the need goes much deeper, Green-Irwin said.

"Our waiting list is close to 4,000 in our counties," she said.

Autumn Rosa, director of client services with the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida, said the agency is client-focused with its helpline and counselors to help seniors with Medicare options each year. The counseling often results in seniors saving money on insurance and prescription medications.

In 2017 the helpline responded to 68,000 calls, Rosa said.

"That just shows there is so much out there we could be doing," she said.

The counseling program, called SHINE, which stands for "Serving Health Insurance Needs of Seniors," is at risk of cuts, Rosa said.

For more information the Area Agency on Aging can be reached at 239-652-6900, and the helpline is 866-413-5337. The website is www.aaaswfl.org. The Florida Council on Aging can be reached at 850-222-8877 or at www.fcoa.org.

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