From Military.com:
“Anticipating Boom of Aging
Veterans, VA to Expand Care, Services for the Elderly”
(Senior Master Sgt. Paul Tangen
visits with Marine veteran Marvin Schiermeister at the North Dakota Veteran's
Nursing Home in Lisbon, N.D.)
The Department of Veterans
Affairs is planning to expand several programs that allow senior veterans to
age in their homes or live in home-like settings as alternatives to elder care
facilities. VA officials announced Monday they will expand the Home-Based
Primary Care and Veteran-Directed Care programs, which provide medical care and
caregiver services to housebound older veterans, and its Medical Foster Home
program, which provides housing and services to veterans who otherwise would be
in nursing homes. The expansion is needed, said officials with the VA's Office
of Geriatrics and Extended Care, to ensure that the department can support a
growing number of veterans eligible for nursing home care. By 2039, the number
of elderly veterans is expected to double from 2 million to 4 million. "These
evidence-based programs allow veterans to age-in-place, avoid or delay nursing
home placement and choose the care environment that aligns most with their care
needs, preferences and goals," said Dr. Scotte Hartronft, the office's
executive director, in a press release.
Since 1999, the Department of
Veterans Affairs has been required to provide nursing home services to veterans
who qualify for VA health care and have a service-connected disability rating
of 70% or higher, or are considered unemployable and have a disability rating
of 60% or higher. This care is provided through short- or long-term nursing
home facilities, respite care, VA community living centers, private assisted
living facilities, state veterans homes and the Medical Foster Home program. Medical
foster homes are places where veterans live full time in a home setting with a
caregiver licensed to provide 24-hour support, meals, housing, help with daily
living and companionship. The program places veterans in houses belonging to or
managed by caregivers that are licensed by their states as assisted-living
facilities. To be eligible for the program, veterans must be enrolled in VA
health care and have a complex disabling medical condition that requires
coordination of care across VA services and is severe enough to need a nursing
home level of care. Because medical foster homes are not considered
institutional care, the VA cannot pay the cost directly. The veterans can use
their VA disability compensation, Social Security income and savings to pay the
cost, which covers room and board and support.
The VA has faced challenges
increasing the number of Medical Foster Homes because of the rigorous
regulations and requirements of the facilities and caregivers. The process for
becoming a home provider is rigorous: They must pass a federal background check,
complete 80 hours of initial training and 20 hours of additional training each
year, and maintain certifications in first aid, CPR and administering
medications. Home caregivers must live on-site, are required to provide
around-the-clock supervision and care for their veterans, and have relief staff
for when they go on vacation or need to conduct other business. Veterans in the
Medical Foster Care program must also use the VA's Home-Based Primary Care
program, which provides a team of health professionals to treat veterans in
their homes. A VA study found that this type of home-based care yielded a 31%
reduction in hospital admissions for veterans in the program and 59% drop in VA
in-patient hospitalization days.
VA officials said that more
veterans have elected to use the in-home medical care and caregiver programs
during the pandemic, as well as the Medical Foster Care program, to reduce
their risk of contracting COVID-19 and to have more flexibility in medical
treatment. "Veterans using these programs have experienced fewer
hospitalizations and emergency department visits, reduced hospital and nursing
home days and fewer nursing home readmissions and inpatient
complications," Hartronft said.
^ Veterans deserve to get the
benefits and care they earned whether they are in a VA Hospital, a Group Home
or their own home. The VA needs to work fast and hard to expand their services
to meet the current needs as well as the future needs of Veterans. ^
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