The SCAN Foundation

Special fiscal relief from the federal government has helped state governments avoid cutting back enrollment in programs serving people who need long-term services and supports. Frequency of visits and reimbursement of providers have been trimmed, but enrollment has not. State budgets, which are already strained, are likely to be trimmed further when the federal stimulus money that has been providing additional support to state Medicaid programs expires in 2011. A November 2009 report, The Economic Crisis And Its Impact On State Aging Programs, from the National Association of State Units on Aging gives some grim figures:

“In November, 96 percent of state units on aging located in states with state budget shortfalls reported that their aging budgets have been reduced, and 95 percent reported that similar cuts are occurring within other state agencies, often across the board. Additionally, less than 20 percent of the state units reported that their states have balanced budgets for the current fiscal year, which means that they will be facing decisions about cutting services, cutting or eliminating programs, or raising revenue, in order to attain their statutorily mandated balanced state budget requirement...”

Cuts will continue, the study predicted:

“Perhaps it is not surprising that state budget cuts are continuing beyond FY 2010, with nearly 75 percent of states reporting anticipated cuts for FY 2011. There seems to be little chance of reprieve at the state level from budget cuts… The budget cuts that states are currently making are additive, meaning that this fiscal year cut is in addition to the cut that occurred in the last fiscal year. Thus, the operating budgets of many state units, and agencies throughout the states, represent a series of budget reductions. Since these budget cuts are cumulative, their impact is increasingly devastating...”

In addition, the Family Caregiver Alliance is offering informational tools to help deal with the funding crisis. “States are currently struggling with one of the deepest recessions on record,” the Alliance said in the December 2009 report Making the Case: Saving Your State’s Caregiver Support Programs Talking Points for Advocates, Administrators, Providers and Caregivers.

“As a result, funding for essential services, including family caregiver support programs, has been reduced or, in the worst cases, eliminated. This paper is intended to help advocates, program administrators, service providers and caregivers fight for their state and local caregiver support programs. It includes background information, statistics, talking points and a list of additional resources to help make the case for maintaining public funding for crucial caregiver support services.”