Edrie Fortin, with nurse Ellen DeStefano, was able to age at home in Manchester thanks to in-home care she received from Waypoint of New Hampshire through the Medicaid-funded Choices for Independence program. Fortin died in 2022 at age 95. (Courtesy | Waypoint of New Hampshire)
Instead of living in nursing facilities, nearly 3,800 Granite Staters are in their own homes and communities thanks to the help they receive with basic needs like bathing, transferring from a wheelchair to bed, managing medications, making meals, and getting to medical appointments.
Approximately 600 of them risk losing that care in July if the state doesn’t increase what it’s paying providers through the Medicaid-funded Choices for Independence (CFI) program, which covers the cost of housekeeping and personal care services for people who want to age at home and qualify for Medicaid.
The heads of Ascentria Care Alliance and Waypoint of New Hampshire, who have 600 CFI clients between them, said they will leave the program in July if lawmakers do not increase their Medicaid payments. They said they’ve stayed in the program this long only by fundraising to cover their losses.
It’s still early in state budget negotiations, but their rate requests far exceed the 3.1 percent increase Gov. Chris Sununu has proposed in his two-year budget. Their departure would leave their clients few options; the state has a massive shortage of direct care workers, and long-term care nursing facilities are full.
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