There have been some sleepless nights lately for leaders of the Region IV Area Agency on Aging while Michigan lawmakers hammered out the final state budget.
Area Agency Director Christine Vanlandingham tells us she was watching events in Lansing day and night and also talking with Southwest Michigan’s members of Congress as the federal spending stalemate continues. She says there’s some good news on the state side of things.
“There is support for continuing the $3.40 an hour wage increase for direct care workers, not another wage increase, that just supports what the legislature has put in the past,” Vanlandingham said. “That’s really critical because those workers are the backbone of home-based care.”
Vanlandingham says the state budget also left a few things for older adults out.
“There was some additional funding, $1.3 million proposed for home-delivered meals, so additional nutrition support for older adults that did not make the budget. So not everything got in there, but there’s some really important things that did.”
Vanlandingham says the Region IV Area Agency on Aging has been hearing from seniors concerned that programs they use will be cut, and she’s stressing to them that no local services have been affected. State lawmakers have made moves to blunt the effects of federal cuts to Medicaid, helping to avoid issues that otherwise would have been caused.
Vanlandingham does say the federal situation represents a sort of “double jeopardy” for non-profits because a lot of federal dollars filter through the states. But for now, the Area Agency on Aging isn’t heavily affected.
Vanlandingham thanks the area’s state lawmakers for listening and working to protect services that help adults age gracefully.
