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Commission backs resolution urging state funding for My Choice Waiver program
Summary
The board approved a resolution supporting continued and adequate state funding for Michigan’s My Choice Waiver program after a presentation on risks to the program and its cost-saving potential for state and federal Medicaid spending.
Christine Landingham, representing the Area Agency on Aging, asked the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners to endorse a resolution supporting the My Choice Waiver program, which pays for home- and community-based services that allow eligible adults to remain at home instead of entering institutional long-term care.
Landingham said the waiver serves people 18 and older and helps them remain in their homes and communities. She told commissioners the program is less expensive than nursing-home care and that, in fiscal 2024, “over 800 individuals in the Tri-County area were able to live at home successfully through the My Choice Waiver program,” a figure she linked to substantial state and federal savings.
Landingham warned commissioners that the program’s financial sustainability is at risk because state reimbursement rates have not kept pace with inflation and higher labor costs, including recent minimum-wage increases and earned-sick-time costs. She said the state’s actuarial firm, Milliman, estimated increased costs related to wage changes and other factors and that the state had not fully funded those increases. Landingham said the consequence could be reduced slot availability, inadequate rates for providers (many of them small businesses) and erosion of the vendor network that delivers home-based care.
Commissioners asked whether the program is separately budgeted; Landingham said the waiver is budgeted as a distinct program but warned that Michigan allocates “slots” in ways that can limit access even when individuals meet clinical eligibility. She urged support while state budget decisions are under consideration.
A commissioner moved to approve the resolution; the motion received support and carried by voice vote. Individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the meeting transcript.
