The in-home health care crisis

As the Senior Advocate for Missouri, I am appalled at the utter failure of Gov. Nixon and the Department of Health and Senior Services to adequately address the in-home health care crisis for Missouri's seniors and disabled population. I continue to hear story after story of seniors who have been waiting months for the department to do a simple assessment for health care services. As a result many seniors are being forced into nursing homes where the health care service comes at a much higher cost to taxpayers.

It has been more than three weeks since I brought this issue to the public, and the department and the Nixon administration obstinately refuse to change their insufficient assessment process.

Instead, Health and Senior Services' only response has been a statement to the press that it is processing assessments "with faster services and shorter wait times than under the former private contractor."

It is shocking the Nixon administration would use the failed former contractor as a benchmark for its success. Public outrage and legislative pressure forced the department to terminate the contract with that company. The standard instead should be Missouri statute, which requires assessments be completed within 15 days of the date they are requested. Why does the Nixon administration think its department can ignore this legal standard?

Further, the department's statement that its performance is superior to the private contractor has been refuted by seniors and the provider community. It rated poorly in a survey taken in mid-October of 25 Missouri provider agencies. The most common complaint was a slow response or no response. Each aspect of service was broken down into specific categories, and in all but one of the categories, a majority of providers said there either was no difference in service or that service was a negative experience.

It has been more than two months since Health and Senior Services began doing the assessments, and the backlog of high-priority cases still remains. As of Nov. 7, a Kansas City provider had seven high-priority clients who have not been assessed. One of the referrals has waited more than 130 days. This provider also has 50 medium-priority referrals waiting. Some of the patients have been waiting in the system since June.

Providers across the state that have senior citizens as patients have called my office the past three weeks with similar stories regarding the department's continued poor performance. Health and Senior Services should allow providers who performed assessments in the past to perform them again until the backlog is eliminated.

It's time to stop making excuses. It's time for the Nixon administration to work with providers and elected officials so we can fix this mess and ensure Missouri's most vulnerable citizens get the care they need.

Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau is the lieutenant governor of Missouri.