States expanding Medicare waiver programs to include assisted living

The recession has greatly affected the elderly and those who provide for them. A new AARP report shines some much needed light on how states are changing elder care in response to the recession. Many states are using the economic downturn to restructure funding into lower cost services such as assisted living.

AARP compiled data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in a new report on the recession’s affect on demand and funding for state programs catering to older individuals. The report found that states, in an attempt to balance the budget, have largely cut services relating to seniors, but at the same time demand for these services has grown. The demand for assisted living was one of the fasted growing, increasing in 17 states.

Recognizing the problems at hand, many states are using the economic downturn as an opportunity to restructure funding, such as expanding the assisted living waiver program, allowing more seniors on state aid to take advantage of assisted living communities.