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Area Agency on Aging presents FY24 report; commissioners hear service, funding and program details
Summary
Candy Lannon, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan, presented the FY24 report highlighting an $18 million budget, a funding mix of Medicaid waiver and state/federal funds, nutrition service volumes and Medicare counseling savings; commissioners asked about legal-services contracting and local match requests.
Candy Lannon, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan, delivered the agency's FY24 annual report to the board and answered commissioners' questions about funding and services.
Lannon said the agency operates with an approximate $18 million budget: about 70% of funding flows from Medicaid (My Choice waiver) and roughly 30% comes from state and federal Older Americans Act sources. In fiscal 2024 the agency reported more than 535,000 meals provided regionwide and over 8,500 calls to its information-and-assistance line. Lannon noted the agency used a local match request of about $7,800 to help pull down additional federal and state funds that translated into substantially larger amounts returned to local community providers.
The agency described direct services, the Medicare-assistance counseling program (which Lannon said saved older adults about $2.4 million through benefit optimization), and the addition of a second long-term-care ombudsman in the region after state funding increased ombudsman support. Commissioners asked about contracting for legal services for older adults; Lannon explained the agency receives state-designated funding to provide legal services and has contracted for years with Legal Services of Northern Michigan to assist with Medicaid eligibility and other elder-legal issues.
Commissioners thanked the director, discussed upcoming community strategic-planning sessions and invited board members to attend a public conversation on Oct. 31 that the agency is hosting as part of its strategic-plan input.
