skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Day two of David Pecker testimony wraps in NY Trump trial; Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho's near-total abortion ban; ND sees a flurry of campaigning among Native candidates; and NH lags behind other states in restricting firearms at polling sites.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Senate moves forward with a foreign aid package. A North Carolina judge overturns an aged law penalizing released felons. And child protection groups call a Texas immigration policy traumatic for kids.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Senior Home-Care Cuts Could Expand State Budget Shortfalls

play audio
Play

Tuesday, February 23, 2021   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- When Wyoming lawmakers reconvene in early March, advocates for people age fifty and older are hoping to convince them to preserve a program that provides home health care, meals, transportation, bathing and other assistance to older residents and people with disabilities.

Tom Lacock, associate state director for communications and state advocacy at AARP Wyoming, said without access to in-home care, more people may turn to nursing homes with a price tag of $4,300 per person, per month.

"The Wyoming Home Services program has been shown to serve people who don't yet quite need that nursing-home level of care for about $200 a month," Lacock explained. "So we know that treating someone in the home is a cost saver, and frankly it's where people want to be."

Gov. Mark Gordon's most recent budget would effectively end the program by cutting $2.75 million dollars. The legislature faces a $750 million budget shortfall, largely due to revenue losses during last year's downturns in oil and gas prices and declining demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lacock noted lawmakers could opt to keep the home services program for another year by adding a budget footnote. He added he appreciates the heavy lift facing state legislators, and understands lawmakers can't spend money they don't have.

"It's a monumental task that they've got to deal with, in terms of diminishing revenues, and trying to cut their way out of that without new revenue sources," Lacock acknowledged. "In doing that, you've got to be a little bit careful that you don't cut the programs that are also acting as money savers for you."

When Wyoming residents enter nursing homes and can't afford to pay for care, the state is on the hook for half of those costs.

Currently, taxpayers contribute some $70 million per year to cover the state's share.

Lacock pointed out without access to in-home care options, those costs will only increase in future years. Wyoming is projected to see a 208% increase in residents 85 and older in the next 30 years.

Disclosure: AARP Wyoming contributes to our fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, Health Issues, Housing/Homelessness, and Senior Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Creedon Newell practices teaching construction skills in Wyoming's new career and technical educator bridge course, designed to encourage trades students and professionals to pursue a career in CTE teaching. (Photo by Rob Hill)

Social Issues

play sound

By Lane Wendell Fischer for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service for the Public News …


Environment

play sound

By Naoki Nitta for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public Ne…

Social Issues

play sound

Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is …


Though Connecticut's benefits cliff persists, there are other programs helping people maintain benefits of some kind when their income pushes them over the limit. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action…

Social Issues

play sound

Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has released 57 "interim charges," the topics he wants Senate committees to study in preparation for the 89th …

It is estimated the Wild Springs Solar Project in New Underwood, South Dakota, will offset 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects …

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesota's largest school district is at the center of a budget controversy tied to the recent wave of school board candidates fighting diversity pro…

play sound

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a measure which would force employers to properly classify certain trade union workers and others as employees rat…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021