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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: AoA Press Office Grants Help Seniors Maintain Independence HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced an $8.8 million investment to help states provide more affordable choices to individuals struggling to remain in their homes and communities as they age. “These grants support the President’s New Freedom Initiative and complement the Administration’s “Money Follows the Person Initiative” by strengthening the capacity of states to provide more choices for high-risk individuals before they enter a nursing home,” Secretary Leavitt said. “This is a prevention strategy that will provide the states with an additional tool to modernize their long-term care systems and conserve stretched Medicaid dollars.” Congress included authority for these nursing home diversion grants in the most recent reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA) signed into law by President Bush in October 2006. These new provisions in the OAA complement the changes occurring in Medicare and Medicaid, including the provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 reflecting seniors’ desire to receive and direct their personal care at home. “We know that the vast majority of older people as well as younger people with disabilities want to remain in their homes and communities,” said Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell. “We want to help them spend their own resources more wisely. By giving people affordable choices and greater control over the services they receive, we know they will select options that will better respond to their particular needs, and they will be able to stay at home longer. This is a win-win for everyone – consumers, their families, and the public.” A total of $5.7 million in federal funding was awarded to 12 states for grants that will improve state efforts to assist individuals avoid unnecessary nursing home placement, impoverishment and spend-down to Medicaid. The states will contribute more than $3 million to support the effort. The Nursing Home Diversion Modernization Grants Program will help enable states to use existing OAA and state revenue funds in a more flexible manner so that a greater range of support options can be made available to individuals who are at high risk of nursing home placement. These grants will also enable states to give consumers a greater role in determining the types of services and the manner in which they receive them. Funding for the grants program for 2007 is as follows:
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