AARP Michigan Applauds Legislative Momentum to Fix State’s Long Term Care System

As frontline advocates for improving Michigan’s long term care system, AARP Michigan today heralded the enactment of HB 5523, a bipartisan supplemental appropriations bill that will enable more people to age at home longer while also funding a new pilot to test single bed occupancy in nursing homes.

This bill appropriates a portion of the one-time funding made available to the state pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to make key improvements to Michigan’s long term care system in response to some of the system-wide deficiencies that COVID-19 brought to light.

We especially appreciate the leadership of Representative Thomas Albert, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, who first invited AARP to testify before the committee about key recommendations from AARP Michigan’s 2021 whitepaper, Home At Last, which we ultimately included in HB 5523.

We also appreciate the leadership of Senator Jim Stamas, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, for shepherding this important legislation in the Senate, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer, for signing it into law last week.

The newly enacted spending bill promises to change this narrative with the expansion of presumptive eligibility for Medicaid home and community-based services. As the primary funder of these programs, Medicaid has a lengthy process, sometimes up to 90 days, for establishing eligibility, which inadvertently funnels many families who would prefer home-based care towards nursing homes. Under presumptive eligibility, this process will be fast-tracked, meaning more Michiganders can age in place.

AARP’s most recent Long-Term Services and Supports State Scorecard ranks Michigan 30^th among all 50 states largely because Michigan continues to spend most of its taxpayer dollars for long-term care on nursing homes – about 2/3 of it – rather than investing in and allowing greater access to home and community-based long-term care, compared to other states.

Medicaid dollars can support nearly three older adults or people with disabilities through home and community-based services for every one person in a nursing home. This rebalancing effort makes a fiscal shift that benefits taxpayers and increases care options for individuals and families. The recently signed supplemental appropriations bill also earmarks funding to pilot a transformation to single room occupancy as the norm for nursing home care.

AARP has long advocated for improving the quality and safety of care at nursing homes and points to Green Houses or ‘small house nursing homes’ as a care model to emulate. With just 10-12 residents, Green Houses feature private rooms and bathrooms and during the coronavirus pandemic fared significantly better than residents of traditional nursing homes with fewer resident cases of COVID-19 and fewer deaths.

AARP is committed to pushing the ball down the field and will continue to work with legislators to get it done in further legislation to come, including the upcoming FY 2023 state budget bill for Health & Human Services.

For inquiries: Lisa Dedden Cooper, lcooper@aarp.org or 517-267-8923.