Senior issues newsletter, 2019 October

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GCOA's Senior Issues Newsletter

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Senior Issues Newsletter Octob er 2019

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Atlanta Journal Constitution reporters spent nearly a year looking into the quality of care provided by some of Georgia's assisted living communities and personal care homes. What they discovered helps to shed light on the importance of GCOA's 2020 priority to strengthen personal care homes and assisted living communities requirements in Georgia.
Click HERE to go to our w ebsite w ith links to stories, responses, and new f acility database.

FUNDING CUTS ANNOUNCED
The DHS board meeting, held on September 4th, 2019, to address Governor Kemp's mandatory budget cuts, resulted in the f ollow ing proposed reductions:
Am e nde d FY 2020 4% cut HCBS reduction $786,799

In this Issue:
Funding Cuts House Committee Meeting Congratulations Maureen ADHA Annual Conf erence Work Groups Welcome Natasha Distinguished Older Georgian Call f or Sponsors Transportation Alert Personal Stories October CO-AGE

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FY 2021 6% cut HCBS reduction $1,142,699 Meals program reduction $714,739
For more inf o on the Governor's instructions, click
here.

2020 Priorities News You Can Use Melba's Corner

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House Study Committee on Senior Living Options (HR 533) holds first meeting

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The House Study Committee on Innovative Financial Options f or Senior Living (HR 533) held its f irst meeting on September 17, 2019. Rep. John LaHood opened the meeting saying that he hopes to gain some good recommendations f rom this committee, and he acknow ledged the hard w ork that GCOA put into having the committee created. He stated, "It is the responsible thing to do to get out in f ront of the issue of Georgia's grow ing older adult population."
Terry Barcrof t, President and CEO of Welsey Woods Senior Living, spoke to the committee about how Wesley Woods has been able to of f er services to its residents through their f oundation Charity Care. Terry told a story about a resident living in their independent living care w ho had 11 f alls in one year. Her income level w as over the CCSP limit by a little over $1000 w hich w ouldn't qualif y her f or Medicaid. With the Charity Care program, this resident w as able to move into personal care and she has had no more f alls.
Darryl Jones, the Senior VP of Integral Development, gave testimony at the meeting addressing how his company has been able to develop af f ordable housing in other states f or older adults by combining the Medicaid w aiver program w ith the low -income housing tax credit. Unf ortunately, his company has not been successf ul w ith this strategy in Georgia due to state Medicaid restrictions. Darryl
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also mentioned that the most ideal size to run a community f unded w ith tax credits

has been f ound to be betw een 115-125 beds in order to be ef f icient w ith the

services provided.

GCOA is excited to see w hat other recommendations come out of these meetings .

Click Here to watch the video from the 9-17-19 meeting

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Council Member Spotlight
Congratulations to GCOA's very ow n Maureen Kelly! She w as aw arded the Jane Kennedy Excellence in Aging Aw ard by the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging. This honor is aw arded to leaders in the aging netw ork w ho make outstanding contributions that promote saf ety, w elf are, and w ell-being of older adults. Since 2003 Maureen's organization, "Thanks Mom & Dad Fund", has been w orking to address the increasing gap in f unding f or older adult services across Georgia. They have raised and donated over $1.5 million tow ards programs and initiatives dedicated to serving Georgia's older adult population. We are so proud of her continued advocacy w ork and her commitment to improving the quality of lif e f or older adults.
GCOA Chair, Vicki Johnson, Speaks at GDHA
Our GCOA chair, Vicki Johnson, spoke at the Georgia Dental Hygienists' Association's Annual Conf erence on September 20th. She discussed the 2020 CO-A GE priorities and the importance of access to services f or older adults. Rep. Sharon Cooper gave comments and celebrated the success of GCOA's 2017 Oral Health Care Priority and the passing of HB 154, w hich authorizes licensed dental hygienists to perf orm dental screenings and cleanings to older adults in saf ety-net settings such as nursing homes. We w ere excited to hear that new ideas are being discussed
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access to dental care f or older adults living in Assisted Living Facilities.

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CO-AGE Issue Work Groups
CO-AGE Issue w ork groups are critical to the success of our advocacy ef f orts. Work groups help clarif y the issue and determine the best strategies f or advocacy. Easy to join and held by conf erence call, CO-AGE w ork groups need you! Email Eric Ryan at eric.ryan@gcoa.ga.gov to join.
Conf erence calls in October:
Georgia Older Adult Transportation - October 3rd @ 2 pm Behavioral Health and Housing - October 10th @ 10 am HCBS/End the Wait - October 17th @ 2 pm Senior Living - October 21st @ 2 pm

Welcome Natasha Taylor to GCOA
GCOA w ould like to w elcome Natasha Taylor as our new Social Services Coordinator. She has experience w ith event planning, accounting, communication, and training. Natasha is a graduate f rom the Georgia State University Gerontology Masters Program. She has a strong passion f or advocacy in the f ield of aging and w e are excited to have her as a part of the team!

Distinguished Older Georgian
The Distinguished Older Georgian Aw ard is announced by GCOA at Senior Week at the Capitol each year as a role model f or positive aging. Nominees must be at least 70 years young and have rendered service on a community, state or f ederal level. Please click here if you need a nomination f orm.

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Transportation Alert
One of our CO-AGE priorities is Older Adult Transportation. On September 18th GCOA issued an alert to have CO-AGE members contact their senators regarding the transportation issue. These alerts are one of the many benef its to being a CO-AGE member. With just 3 clicks you are able to contact your legislator about important issues af f ecting Georgia's older adult population.
Click the link below to join today!
JOIN CO-AGE
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Subscribe Past IssPuees rsonal Stories Needed

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(HCBS): "Adult Day Care for my husb and was a lifesaver!" (Transportation): "I'm a diab etic and I have the hardest time getting to my doctor appointments twenty miles away."

Budget funding and legislation are greatly influenced by personal experiences of older Georgians . GCOA can't s ucceed without YOUR help!

Please refer to the document here for instructions on how to submit good personal stories.

Join Us for the October CO-AGE Meeting
The October CO-AGE meeting will be held at the Lanier Charter Career Academy on Thursday, October 24th in Gainesville, Georgia, on the outskirts of Lake Lanier. Registration is now open on our website here.

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2020 CO-AGE Priorities
Learn more about our 2020 CO-AGE Priorities:
BUDGET: Home and Community Based Services BUDGET: *NEW* Behavioral Health and Housing LEGISLATIVE: Options for Senior Living LEGISLATIVE: Personal Care Home Requirements LEGISLATIVE: *NEW* Georgia Older Adult Transportation
You can click here for the 2020 issue summaries and check above for information on work group meetings.

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News you can use
Below are some interesting news articles: AJC Series: UNPROTECTED As sisted Living Facility s ued for burn m arks on resident's body Eleven in cus tody for door-to-door medical scam Advocates push for more Medicaid support for Assisted Living

Melba's Corner
A m an is talk ing to the fam ily doctor. "Doc, I think m y w ife 's going de af." The doctor ans w e rs , "We ll, he re 's s om e thing you can try on he r to te s t he r he aring. Stand s om e dis tance aw ay from he r and as k he r a que s tion. If s he doe s n't ans w e r, m ove a little clos e r and as k again. Ke e p re pe ating this until s he ans w e rs . The n you'll be able to te ll jus t how hard of he aring s he re ally is ." The m an goe s hom e and trie s it out. He w alk s in the door and s ays , "Hone y, w hat's for dinne r?" He doe s n't he ar an ans w e r, s o he m ove s clos e r to he r. "Hone y, w hat's for dinne r?" Still no ans w e r. He re pe ats this s e ve ral tim e s , until he 's s tanding jus t a fe w fe e t aw ay from he r. Finally, s he ans w e rs , "For the e le ve nth tim e , I s aid w e 're having M EATLOAF!"

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