LIFE Butler County asks Kelly for help
Officials at LIFE Butler County met Monday with U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, asking for help in addressing issues impacting LIFE’s mission to provide medical and support services to older people while they live independently at home.
Kelly and his district director, Melanie Brewer, met with David Fenoglietto, president and CEO of Lutheran SeniorLife, which operates LIFE programs in Butler, Armstrong, Beaver and Lawrence counties; community liaison Tyler Nuzzo and other staff to discuss issues including enrollment, eligibility and health care choice options for senior citizens.
Kelly said no country takes better care of its senior citizens than the United States. Brewer exchanged contact information with LIFE staff so she could update them on efforts to address the issues.
LIFE Butler County uses 12 vans to pick up older people from their homes and take them to LIFE’s facility on Diamond Street in Butler for support and medical services and then takes them home. LIFE also takes them to and from medical appointments.
LIFE is seeking a revision of the process used to determine if people are eligible for LIFE’s services.
The county Area Agency on Aging performs an assessment of people who request LIFE as their health care provider. People are asked if they can dress, bathe and feed themselves, and other questions to determine eligibility, Nuzzo said.
Many answer yes to some or all of those questions because they are reluctant to admit they need help and don’t want to be considered dependent, he said.
“Our denial rate is high,” Fenoglietto said.
Nuzzo said the questions and how they are being asked should be revised so agency staff can get a better understanding of the services people need. He said LIFE’s goal is to keep people living as independently as possible and to treat them with dignity while providing support and health care.
“You’ve lived your life helping others. Now let us help you,” Kelly said “They don’t like to think they need help.”
Fenoglietto also said LIFE wants to be included on the list of Medicaid providers that people receive when they turn 65 through the Community HealthChoices program.
Several providers are listed in the letter people receive when they become eligible for Medicaid, but LIFE is not among them, Nuzzo said. He said LIFE can’t afford to advertise to get seniors to sign up like larger providers such as UPMC and AHN.
“We want to be on the list,” Fenoglietto.
Nuzzo said LIFE can administer medication, takes clients to medical appointments and has nurses and aides on staff. The cost is $3,000 a month, which is thousands less than other providers and nursing homes charge Medicaid.
In addition, people who select LIFE as their health care provider are enrolled on the first day of each month and it takes four to six weeks for the enrollment to be processed. Nuzzo asked if it is possible to eliminate the first day of the month rule so applications can be processed when they are received.
