I just returned from another Commission on Aging hearing. Today
was a presentation about adult day care and how with a low price of
about $50/day disabled elderly can go to the day care center for food,
companionship, activities and even medical service. Adult day care
centers (about 107 in NC currently) are small businesses. Some are run
by professionals, carefully staffed and marketed to the community
(especially to private paying customers). Others are started by
caregivers and grow and learn, or fail to learn, how to make a
sustainable business of it.
Adult day care centers allow
disabled elderly to stay at home (at night & weekends anyway) or in the home of family, so family
members can also be out earning a living. The day care centers at
$50/day cost about 1/3rd that of home care services and full time
institutional care.
NC Medicaid has allowed $38/day and a small
amount for transportation for eligible disabled elderly. If you were a
Representative would you consider it a good idea to allow Medicaid to
pay $50/day in the hope of promoting use of adult care centers?
If you were a John Locke thinker what would you think? Thanks.