There could be changes coming to the program that allows older Ohioans who need medical help and support to stay in their homes rather than go to nursing homes. The director of the state’s department of aging says she wants people in the passport program to be able to choose the providers who help them with bathing, grooming, eating and using the bathroom. Bonnie Kantor-Burman says people who pick their personal care providers go to the hospital less often and are less likely to need nursing home care. And she says 41 other states are doing something similar.
Kantor-Burman on personal care providers: “And the data that we have now from these states is able to support the financial implications for our state and the savings to our taxpayers and the ultimate reduction in nursing home utilization.”
If the changes are adopted by a state panel on Monday, Kantor-Burman says passport participants will have more choice in who provides their personal care and when. But these changes won’t cover medical care providers.