Information from the Family Care Councils of florida

Question: What does it mean, the money follows the person?

Julie Shaw, ADA Working Group:

Answer: There have been, for the last five years, vacant nursing home beds in every state in the country. For advocates fighting for community-based services and particularly for advocates that are urging their State to use a "Money Follow the Individual" program, the nursing home vacancy rates are important to understand. HHS Secretary Thompson suggested the "Money Follow the Individual" was an innovative model to increase community services. Texas is successfully using it. Simply stated, the "Money follows the individual" means that when an individual in a nursing home or other institution chooses to leave that facility, the funds necessary to support the individual's service needs in the community are transferred from the budget of the institution to the community. In the federal budget for FY 2004 that will be announced next week, there will be a "Money Follows the Individual" Rebalancing Demonstration -- $1.75 billion over five years, with $350 million proposed for FY 2004. This five-year demonstration would assist states in developing and implementing a strategy to "re-balance" their long term care systems so that there are more cost-effective choices between institutional and community options, including financing Medicaid services for individuals who transition from institutions to the community. Federal grant funds would pay the full cost of home and community-based waiver services for one year, after which the participating states would agree to continue care at the regular Medicaid matching rate. This significant demonstration would build upon existing state success stories and also provides incentives to states for increased use of home and community-based services and would help provide information on costs of different approaches.
The exact percentage is not even critical. Given vacancy rates of any size, as well as the national uproar about increasing Medicaid costs, tell your States to save money, do the right thing, give people a REAL CHOICE, and let the nursing home "money follow the person" into the community so they can live in their own homes.