Home Care for Seniors

In listening sessions, families shared their deep concerns for senior and disabled loved ones on Medicaid who were only eligible for the care they needed if they moved to institutionalized nursing home settings. This was true even if families could manage for their loved ones to stay at home, because the Medicaid Waiver Program was so underfunded that only a small group of people in the state could use it.

When PATH started organizing to expand the Medicaid waiver, leaders were told again and again, "good luck, you'll never win." PATH organized dozens of seniors to show up at hearings in Annapolis, and to meet directly with state legislators to expand Medicaid funding. In the first year it was expanded by $11 Million, which then increased over time. This has led to hundreds of low-income seniors and disabled people to receive the care they want in their homes and with their families, and to ultimately save the state money because home care is less expensive than institutionalized nursing home care.

PATH received an award from the AARP of Maryland for our successful work on this campaign.