Can Montana elder care survive the 2023 Legislature?

Montana lost nearly a dozen nursing homes in 2022. The reality is that dozens more assisted living and long-term care facilities are hanging by a thread. They are waiting to see if our governor and state Legislature will take the critical steps necessary to keep essential elder services available across this vast state. Now is the time to make your voice heard on this essential concern.

While the governor says Montanans would prefer to age in their homes, and no one would disagree, the reality is that a beloved father or uncle or husband, weighing 200-plus pounds, incontinent, becoming combative in his dementia, may be more than his 85-year-old, 100-pound spouse can handle. As facilities with skilled nursing, medications management, physical therapy, balanced nutrition and 24-7 care-givers shut their doors, families are seeing their loved ones shipped hundreds of miles away, only to see that facility close a few months later, just about the time their loved one begins to become comfortable with staff and furniture.

This does not need to happen. The governor and lawmakers need to adjust their budget to implement the recommendations of the $2 million provider rate study they commissioned last year. The governor’s budget does not come close to achieving this.

Also, the governor and lawmakers need to put the money where their mouth is when it comes to funding for home and community based services, which at this point does not come close to meeting the needs of our elders. Many could get along in their homes with just a little help: Balanced nutrition support, home care and case management to assist with household chores, meds, adaptive structures and equipment to help accommodate independence.

In contrast, the state of Montana is sitting on a $2 billion surplus, and this week the Senate will take up a bill (SB 121) that gives $6,000/year to Montanans making over $1 million/year, like our governor, and a $50 annual tax cut on average to Montanans making $43,000-$67,000 a year. That kind of largess to the wealthy could instead go to fund the necessary budget help needed to support the generation that raised us, built our schools and roads, and taught us the difference between right and wrong, so they might age with dignity, close to loved ones in the communities they supported for so many years.

If you want to help, you can reach out to your representative or senator leave a message with the Capital Switchboard at 406-444-2511 and Gov. Greg Gianforte at 406-444-3111 and ask them to fully fund elder services, both long-term care and home and community based services. For more information about contacting your elected officials, go to https://leg.mt.gov/session/have-your-say .

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Margie MacDonald is board member and lobbyist for Big Sky 55+, a non-profit group organizing seniors. She represented Billings in the Montana state House and Senate for 12 years between 2009-2020.