Long-Term Care in Florida Has Seen Some Improvement, Remains Deficient in Many Areas, St. Petersburg Times Reports

The St. Petersburg Times on Oct. 7 examined the state of long-term care in Florida under Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and the proposals of Bill McBride (D), his opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial election. The Times says that many long-term care programs have improved under Bush's tenure, but others remain deficient and will continue to perform poorly under increasing demand. Payments to nursing homes have risen about 41% over the past four years, spending on home-health programs increased 21% and each year Bush and the state Legislature have boosted funding for Medicaid-funded programs, the Times reports. Sally Gronda, Area Agency on Aging director for Pinellas and Pasco counties, said, "We're really pleased. We had heard candidates promise things (about home-based programs) before, but [Bush] really did it." However, advocates note that state spending on non-Medicaid programs such as Community Care for the Elderly has not been as high as spending on Medicaid programs, the Times reports. During his gubernatorial campaign four years ago, Bush promised to eliminate a waiting list for the CCE program, and the Times notes that the 11,000 people who had been waiting for services either received them through the program or left the list "for other reasons." However, the program has a current waiting list of 14,000 new people. Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan (R) said that the Bush administration believes home-based programs "are essential services to people" who do not qualify for Medicaid benefits and questioned how McBride if elected would pay for home-based programs when he has said he also intends to increase funding for schools. A McBride spokesperson said the home-based health care programs would have more money now if Bush had not cut taxes, adding, "We think substantial increases actually have gone to price increases to providers in private agencies rather than to provide services. Bill McBride is going to take a good hard look at that" (Nohlgren, St. Petersburg Times, 10/7).