By Ginnie Graham, Staff Writer, Tulsa World, January 23, 2006
TULSA - - Findings from a yearlong review of Oklahoma's long-term care system will be the focus of a community forum scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown, 616 W. Seventh St.
Three nationally recognized experts in long-term care will give an overview of three reports. The reports are on the Oklahoma system, recommendations for change and cost analysis of each recommendation.
The report on the status of Oklahoma's system was released in September. The report detailing the cost benefits will be released at the forum. The last report on implementation is expected in the next few months.
With the rising national debt and aging baby boomer population, Oklahoma is expected to pay about $1 billion for long-term care by 2020, which is a growth of about 74 percent, according to state long-term care advocates.
"We will be looking at the cost analysis to rebalance long-term care in Oklahoma," said Donna Rhodes, the director of programs for the Long Term Care Authority-Oklahoma. "It will look at what the state will save over specific periods of time."
The forum is being sponsored by the Metropolitan Human Services Commission in Tulsa and the Long Term Care Authority-Oklahoma.
The authors of the report are Robert Mollica, a senior program director and manager of the National Academy for State Health Policy; Susan Reinhard, the co-director of the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy; and Maureen Booth, the director of the Muskie School of Public Service Quality Improvement Program Area at the University of Southern Maine.
State Rep. Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, will give an update on the Medicaid Reform Task Force. Steele is the chairman of the task force.
State Sen. Bernest Cain, D-Oklahoma City, will speak about possible legislative action to address long-term care. Cain is the chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
"It is focused on the Legislature because they are the ones dealing with the growing cost of Medicaid," Rhodes said. "The people who did the study will be here to explain the reports, what they found, recommendations, ways of implementation and costs."
In the September report, researchers found that Oklahoma has more nursing home beds than it needs. The supply of beds per 1,000 people older than 65 is 69.3; the national average is 46.3 beds.
It found that 35 percent of Oklahoma's nursing home residents need assistance with fewer than three daily tasks. Some residents need no assistance.
Reform efforts are not meant to diminish nursing home care but to expand home- and community-based care, advocates said.
At present, 85 percent of Oklahoma's Medicaid is spent on nursing home care and 15 percent is for home- and community-based services.
The yearlong study was funded by a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received by the Aging Services Division of the state Department of Human Services.
For more information or to reserve a seat at the forum, call the Long Term Care Authority at 583-3336.
BACK
