Region 7 agency outlines services for Sanilac County seniors, urges lawmakers to protect Medicaid

Monica Fryer, interim executive director of Region 7 Area Agency on Aging, presented to the Sanilac County Board on June 17, describing services that support elderly and disabled adults across a 10-county planning area that includes Sanilac County. She said the county's 2024 dues were $72,911 and that "in return, what your county received was $394,210.82," money that funded transportation, meals, care management, and other services.

Fryer emphasized programs designed to keep people in their homes, including the My Choice waiver and PACE programs, and warned commissioners about the consequences of potential Medicaid cuts. "We're starting to hear better things. We're starting to hear that it is not their intent to cut those services," she said, while noting continued advocacy at state and federal levels. She stressed the higher cost of institutional care, saying in the presentation that the cost to keep someone in their home under the program is roughly $114 a day compared with institutional care costs.

Fryer provided commissioners with an agency brochure and asked that commissioners and staff share the information with constituents who might need services. She also offered the agency's help connecting residents to services and urged local lawmakers to defend Medicaid funding.