Submitted for use on: Jan. 22, 2024
Word Count: 323
By State Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso), chair of the
Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services
The Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) recently announced their updated initiatives to help ensure Medicaid can continue providing Hoosiers with quality health care access.
Concerns were raised regarding the new Aged & Disabled waiver strategies, particularly the dissolution of Legally Responsible Individuals (LRIs). LRIs are parents of minor children or spouses. The changes reflect how an LRI can be paid to care for their loved ones, moving from attendant care to structure family caregiving. To help ease some of these concerns, I spoke with FSSA to clarify how these new strategies will be implemented.
While no new LRIs are allowed to begin providing attendant care services, families currently utilizing LRI-provided attendant care will have until July 1 to transition to the service of structured family caregiving or to plan for a non-LRI to provide attendant care.
Families looking to transition have several options. For those who would like to continue receiving attendant care after July 1, the care must be provided by a person who is not an LRI, such as an aunt or cousin. It can also be an unrelated person who is employed by the provider agency.
Those who would like to continue having their paid care provided by an LRI can use a different model called Structured Family Caregiving, which emphasizes maximizing the member's abilities while also supporting the caregiver through training and growth opportunities. This service is reimbursed by a daily amount instead of an hourly wage and allows for more movement between daily life and care needs.
The General Assembly has helped Medicaid programs support more than two million Hoosiers by providing access to quality health care services, and I intend to keep supporting programs that benefit all communities in Indiana.
To view the updated Medicaid strategies, click here. Questions, comments and suggestions regarding additional solutions can be directed to medicaid@fssa.in.gov.
To contact me with questions or comments, email me at Senator.Charbonneau@iga.in.gov or call me at 317-232-9400.
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State Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso) represents Senate District 5,
which includes Pulaski and White counties and portions of Jasper and Porter counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
