Aging & Long Term Care updates Spokane County commissioners on 2024 services and WA Cares pilot enrollment

Lynn Kimball, representing Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington (the regional Area Agency on Aging), gave a data‑driven briefing on 2024 services and on upcoming WA Cares implementation tasks. Kimball said AAA serves older adults and people with disabilities across five counties plus the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley, and explained that the agency’s goal is to keep people at home by coordinating services.

Key 2024 figures presented for Spokane County: AAA served a little over 9,000 county clients; options counselors logged nearly 3,000 hours of counseling work including about 500 hours specifically on dementia care; about 4,800 county residents received Medicaid‑funded home care services; and the county served roughly 3,000 seniors through senior nutrition programs delivering about 200,000 meals. Kimball noted senior‑nutrition funding had declined as American Rescue Plan Act resources expired, though state funding increases were expected to help.

On WA Cares (the state long‑term services benefit), Kimball said area agencies will play a role in outreach, provider contracting and beneficiary navigation. Spokane County is included in a state pilot with Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties to test systems with up to 400 individuals across the pilot areas. Kimball said the county will begin provider registration work when the state posts outreach and contracting materials; beneficiary navigation and local contracting work will follow, with contracting and provider registration anticipated in October.

Why it matters: WA Cares and local AAA services affect long‑term services, in‑home care capacity and supports for dementia and family caregivers; the pilot is intended to identify workflow and IT issues before statewide launch.