Sunday, April 18, 2004

Photo courtesy of Carole Pearl Carole Pearl of Clinton Township turned to Medicaid to help pay for nursing home care for her mom, Helen Anderson, who died March 14 at age 88.

Woman pushes long-term care

Clinton Township family, seniors rely on nursing home funds

By Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

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CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Carole Pearl sold her mother’s house, car and other assets to help foot the bill at the Lake Pointe Villa nursing care facility close to her Clinton Township home.

She also signed over her mom’s Social Security checks to the nursing home. But the money ran out quickly at the rate of $5,000 to $6,000 a month.

Like thousands of other Michiganians, Pearl then turned to the state Medicaid program for help. The state spends $1.7 billion a year in the Medicaid program for long-term care for the elderly. Medicaid pays 70 percent of all nursing home care in Michigan.

Pearl’s mother passed away at age 88 on March 14. But Pearl was thankful for the level of care her mom received during her year and a half at Lake Pointe.

“Thanks to Medicaid, our seniors get a fairly high standard of care,” Pearl said. “These people have been productive members of society, and they deserve that. We have a commitment to them.”

Pearl has become an outspoken advocate for maintaining Medicaid funding of long-term care. She recently appeared before a Senate panel to make her case.

“I don’t see where they could cut,” Pearl said. “These people must have continual care, 24-7. They must be given medications, bathed, brushed and fed. Most are in wheelchairs; many are on feeding tubes. You can’t put them there and just let them sit and die.”

Michigan is the only state that does not have a plan in place to recover some of the Medicaid outlays for long-term care from seniors’ estates after they die, according to Janet Olszewski, director of the state Department of Community Health. Legislation is pending that would recover an estimated $17 million a year.

“People are concerned about their ability to pass their assets on to family members,” Olszewski said. “But we have to do this (implement an estate recovery law) or we’ll lose federal funding.”

Pearl said she has no problem with an estate recovery law.

“We used everything she had to make sure she had the best care possible,” she said. “I can’t imagine sitting in her home, waiting for her to die, then selling the house and keeping the money. That’s not right.”