New Funding Proposed for Adult Day Centers - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com

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By PAULA SPAN

I wrote recently about the way adult day centers can provide health monitoring, social contact, meals and activities for older people who don’t thrive alone at home, while allowing participants to return to familiar surroundings at the end of the day.

Families whose relatives use these centers often become staunch fans. “The program is key to her social life and well-being, and key to helping me keep my job,” commented Eleanor, a reader from Silver Spring, Md., whose mother attends an adult day center. “Don’t let them wither away!” agreed John from Brooklyn.

I wouldn’t say the centers — close to 4,000 operate around the country — are withering away, but they’re definitely short of cash as states hack away at Medicaid budgets and other financing even as private donations shrink. Some centers have had to cut hours or days or enrollment; a few have closed altogether.

So federal legislation that would permit Medicare funds now designated for home visits or rehab centers also to be used for adult day programs seems a sensible move. Yet it’s been stalled in Congress, despite having attracted 80 co-sponsors from 30 states in the House of Representatives, for nearly a year.

Here’s how the Medicare Adult Day Services Act would work:

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