Tennessee Voices, Episode 252: Dawne Bunn, Maegan Martin and Martin Penny on serving aging and disabled citizens
Tennessee's version of Medicaid, TennCare, pays for support and care at home for aging residents 65 or older and people with disabilities who are 21 or older.
The purpose of the CHOICES program is to give citizens the option not to move to an institutional setting, such as a nursing home.
Since it began in 2010, the program has saved the state money, but it has been placed at risk because of the low reimbursement rate and rising costs.
That led leaders from Tennessee Alzheimer's Association, Tennessee Association for Home Care and AARP Tennessee to write a guest essay for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee, advocating for protecting the CHOICES program.
On this episode of the Tennessee Voices podcast, top representatives from each group, Dawne Bunn, Maegan Carr and Martin Penny, respectively, spoke about where the CHOICES program is now and how their organizations are working to make life better for elderly citizens and people with disabilities.
One in three Tennesseans lives with a disability, which is greater than the national average of 26%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The population of residents ages 65 and older is 16.7%, which is nearly the same as the U.S. as a whole (16.5%), according to the U.S. Census.
Related Op-Ed: How Tennessee can protect CHOICES program and continue support for older adults, people with disabilities
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About Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.
Please email your ideas for future guests to me at [email protected]. Thank you for watching.
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Watch past episodes: Tennessee Voices videocast
David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Voices: Advocating for aging and disabled citizens
