A public meeting to introduce a new program for persons needing home and community-based services, Living Independence for Everyone (LIFE), is scheduled for Wednesday, September 11, in Hays.

The meeting, which will provide information on the program's implementation, will be held in the Blue Room of the Senior Center, 907 North 10th. The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. and will last until 3:30 p.m.

The LIFE program is being implemented by the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS). Its aim is to increase the number of eligible Kansans, both the frail elderly and persons with physical disabilities, receiving needed services in their homes and communities.

SRS Secretary Rochelle Chronister said it is of vital importance that consumers or potential consumers of home and community based services take the opportunity to learn about changes in the state program. She also urged that providers of services attend the information meeting.

Under LIFE, the medical threshold for acceptance into the Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Services program for the Frail Elderly (HCBS/FE) is lowered, allowing elderly persons to receive needed

home services at an earlier point in their lives. HCBS/FE is for persons age 65 or over.

HCBS/FE will also allow persons now living in nursing homes to receive services through Medicaid in a less intensive care setting if appropriate. As nursing facilities expand services to include those provided in Assisted Living or Residential Care, residents will remain in their chosen housing and have their needed services paid for by Medicaid.

The other part of LIFE, Home and Community-Based Services for persons with Physical Disabilities (HCBS/PD), will involve eligible people ages 16 to 64. With HCBS/PD, counselors in the 11 Independent Living Centers in Kansas will work with consumers to develop a service plan and find the best service providers. Services will be implemented to assist individuals with physical disabilities to live as independently as possible while reducing overall costs to taxpayers.

Over many months, SRS has been working with consumers, advocates and provider companies to redesign home and community-based service programs in Kansas. With HCBS/FE, SRS is working with the Kansas Department on Aging, which is expected to take over long term care programs for consumers age 65 and over in July, 1997.

Representatives from SRS and Aging will be at the meeting to explain program changes.

For more information about the public meeting, contact, Marjorie Pagan, SRS Regional Coordinator, Adult and Medical Services, at (913) 625-6568.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001