Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty Images News)
Michigan has created a new agency and has combined services in an effort to provide more coordinated services to the state’s older adults.
The new Health and Aging Services Administration, created by an executive order that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed last week, merges the former Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ Aging and Adult Services Agency and Medical Services Administration, as well as the state’s Medicaid office.
“Long-term care policy will now come from one coordinated area of MDHHS,” Aging Services Senior Deputy Director Kate Massey, who served in the same role with the state’s former Medical Services Administration, said in a statement. “We expect these changes to allow smoother transitions across the continuum of care — including for older adults who prefer to age in place. Services to our aging population are a critically important part of MDHHS’ work.”
On HASA’s new website, consumers will find links where they can search for licensed adult foster care, adult family homes, adult group homes, “homes for the aged” facilities and other congregate settings for their loved ones, or report concerns about assisted living facilities to the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative, among other information.
The consolidation, according to the governor’s order, will allow for increased coordination between aging services teams in local communities, as well as among employees responsible for developing policies. The state said the new agency also will improve analysis of processes and results and expand capacity access programs and services.
Specifically, the state said, the change will provide additional capacity to serve older adults who prefer to age in place in the setting of their choice, speed up the delivery of services, and align long-term services and supports to community-based services offered through the federal Older Americans Act, Medicaid-covered services offered through the MI Choice Waiver Program — which allows eligible aging adults to receive Medicaid-covered services like those provided by nursing homes in their own homes or other residential settings — and the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE.
The Bureau of Medicaid Long-Term Care Services and Supports now will be responsible for programs under the Older Michiganians Act. The new agency also will now oversee the Michigan Commission on Services to the Aging and Adult Community Placement program.
Marianne Udow-Phillips, a senior adviser for the University of Michigan’s Center for Health Research and Transformation, said the new structure will help MDHHS achieve its goal of “providing a continuum of care and integration of services.”
The state said that streamlining services also will allow Michigan to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve the health and well-being of the state’s older adults; leverage federal, state and private dollars to design interventions and supports that maximize impact; and streamline programs and policies that ease burdens on providers, community organizations and other stakeholders.
Michigan has more than two million adults over age 60; this group represents more than 25% of the state’s population, according to state officials. Those 85 and older remain the fastest-growing age group in the state, they said.
