Pennsylvania’s governor is pushing to privatize the state’s lottery management through a contract he says will provide additional money to expand and fund at-home care for seniors, reports the Post-Gazette.
Gaining an estimated $50 million of additional revenue would be timely, as demand for home services grows. The state’s senior population—one of the highest in the country—will continue to expand, and with it the need for home modifications and personal at-home care aides.
Funding for home services hasn’t been adequate to date, according to the Post-Gazette, but the governor’s $50 million in proposed new funding under a private lottery management contract would be used for a variety of programs.
A top objective is to reduce the waiting list of thousands of people who qualify for subsidized visits form home aides, home-delivered meals, and similar services by adding $20 million to the Options budget, which has been given little or no increases from lottery proceeds for the last few years, says the article.
The additional funds would also contribute $21 million to add more than 1,500 people to the Aging Waiver program which provides even more extensive home services than the Options program and increase funding to the state’s 52 Area Agencies on Aging by $5 million, following years without an increase.
Senior center modernization projects and services for people with disabilities who are turning 60 and shifting into aging programs would be allotted $2 million each.
However, it’s unknown if the $50 million will actually appear in the 2013-2014 budget, says the article, especially as the attorney general opposes the privatization with a British firm on the grounds that it would be illegal.
Read more at the Post-Gazette.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
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