What Are The Major Issues Facing The
Seniors In Western Illinois?

WIAAA looks forward to addressing the changing needs of the next generation of seniors as we continue each day to provide the best quality of service possible for our older and more frail elderly.

At the Federal Level: WIAAA will focus on several issues at the federal level in FY 2005.

• Budgetary issues.  We support the advocacy efforts of many aging network organizations in requesting a 10% increase in allocations for Older American Act services. 1-2% is all that has been included in the currently proposed budget.

• Census Decline.  The 60+ population in our planning and service area has declined by about 3000 persons. There has been a decrease in the percentage of the 60+ population who are below the poverty level. One of our ten counties previously classified as rural has now been designated urban. These factors will continue to result in a reduction in our share of federal and state funding.

• Medicare Reform.  The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 has been passed. Although it has some new prescription drug and preventive benefits, the general perception is that many seniors will not benefit much from it. The cost to some will be greater than it has been in the past. The “doughnut hole”, premiums and higher deductibles will create considerable expense for many seniors. There are some advantages for low income beneficiaries. The new law promotes private health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) while greatly increasing premiums for those in fee- for-service plans. This is a disadvantage for those in all but one of the ten counties in our Planning and Service Area (PSA) because there are no plans available except fee- for-service. CMS is providing incentives to providers to expand coverage, but one HMO in our PSA left after one year because it was not profitable in a rural area, so future potential may not be great

At the State Level: We are assuming the status quo.

• State Budget Level funding does not cover the increased costs currently experienced 
  
• A Reshaping Long Term Care in Illinois.  Legislation has been introduced to create the Comprehensive Housing, Health and Supportive Services for Older Adults Act with a long-term care planning committee. The purpose is to achieve a broad awareness and use of options other than nursing homes to serve the increased number of people needing long-term care. It will recommend changes in State funding and administrative policies that are necessary to maximize the use of home and community-based care and that promote the use of the least costly alternative without sacrificing quality of care. The committee will recommend a single point of access for persons seeking information on long-term care services.
  
• Prescription Coverage. The addition of the Illinois Rx Buying Club to the Senior Health Assistance Program (SHAP) has provided welcome assistance to seniors with high prescription costs who are slightly above the low- income guidelines of the SeniorCare and Circuit Breaker/Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs.

At the Local Level: WIAAA is making only minor changes at the local level.

• Living Wage and Benefits. Our service providers' employees need a living wage and benefits. Services funded directly by the state, such as the Community Care Program, have seen several Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) increases during the past decade, while Older American Act services have not.
  
• Minimum Wage Increase. The minimum wage increase from what was $5.15 in 2003 to $5.50 in 2004, and now to $6.50 in 2005 has an adverse effect on personne l costs of our providers because salary increases for those at minimum wage requires proportionate increases for those slightly above minimum wage. One of our Community Focal Points has 20 of its 30 employees who earn under $6.50, many of whom are part-time. They will have to increase hourly rates for a total of approximately 155 hours per week for home delivered meal drivers, transportation drivers and meal site managers. While the wage increases are badly needed, implementation may well result in less service available to the seniors in need.
  
• Home Delivered Meals. Our providers have made great strides with the increased funding received during the past years. They have increased the number of persons who receive meals and the geographic area covered. The need continues for additional funding to provide for equipment and staff to expand the program even further. Providers tell us that they will need more paid drivers and delivery vehicles to expand any further. Some providers are able to deliver an additional sack meal or frozen meals to supplement needs for evening or weekend meals. In the majority of our counties frozen meals are also available on an ongoing basis when meal recipients are located in a remote area. In Rock Island, our largest county, we help fund a program to provide meals on many holidays to those most in need. The demand for home delivered meals has increased over the years as the clients originally served congregate meals age and become homebound. Choices for Care means we can expect more frail elderly to opt more often for in- home and community-based services to replace the institutional care of the past. Providers are predicting that the Medicaid cuts to health care providers will impact the senior service providers as earlier hospital discharges and longer delays in entering nursing homes result, including an increase in the need for home delivered meals.
• Caregiver Support Program.  This successful program and its services continues to involve our Community Focal Point/Family Resource Centers, the Case Coordination Unit, a WIAAA staff coordinator, enhanced working relationships between providers, and linkages with other community organizations.
  Go to top