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Contributed commentary by Steve Fleming, CEO, Silver Angels Home Care of TN in Clarksville.
My name is Steve Fleming and I serve as the CEO for Silver Angels Home Care, a statewide TennCare CHOICES provider. My company serves approximately 1,900 enrollees and employs approximately 800 Tennesseans, from Memphis to Mountain City.
TennCare’s CHOICES program helps Tennessee seniors and people with disabilities receive the non-medical care they need to remain in their own homes, where they need and desire to be. Fully funding and supporting the CHOICES program will save the State of Tennessee hundreds of millions of dollars each year because home care is by far the most cost-effective way to support our seniors compared to any alternative long-term care services.
Everyone knows that labor and administrative costs have jumped dramatically, but the state has not increased the reimbursement rate for CHOICES providers since the program began over 10 years ago. While my industry appreciates the state’s efforts to use one-time federal funds to help with this problem, without additional, recurring funding in this year’s state budget, Tennessee’s CHOICES program is at great risk. CHOICES providers, like me, cannot recruit or retain caregivers for the program when our employees can make higher pay in the fast food industry, doing less demanding work.
If this path continues, we will be forced to reconsider our business model and remove ourselves from the CHOICES program in all 10 of our locations. We are already finding it necessary to decline new CHOICES referrals at the rate of approximately 150 per month. These folks are already compromised and will continue to decline without these much-needed services at home, facing a huge risk of having to leave their home to go to a much more costly setting for long-term care services. The health, happiness and well-being of Tennessee seniors is being threatened by lack of investment that will save the state budget in the long run.
Tennessee’s seniors have sacrificed so much for future generations. Today, they are counting on us. Please honor their wishes and allow them to spend their final years where they are most comfortable, at home.
If you agree that the CHOICES program should be a priority for the state, please contact Gov. Bill Lee’s office today to urge him to provide sustainable funding increases to the CHOICES program in this year’s state budget.
Steve Fleming