Wyoming seniors want to live independently, and many aim to help

In Sheridan County, 8.7% of residents earned an income below the poverty line, according to a 2023 Wyoming Healthy Aging report data by the Wyoming Department of Health.

In-home health care, often paid for by Medicaid for eligible seniors, and wraparound services provided by senior centers around the state, are key to keeping seniors in their own homes as long as possible. Those services also save state and federal dollars.

The ‘least expensive option’ is also what people want

The Medicaid cost of a month of nursing home care comes in at just under $5,000 per person per month in Wyoming, said Tom Lacock, associate state director for state advocacy and communications for the Wyoming AARP. The average Medicaid cost to treat someone at home with home healthcare and assistance services, he said, is about $1,500.

“Something we advocate for in a big way is that you can use Medicaid to pay for home and community-based services,” Lacock said. “Home health, when it’s appropriate, can include things like physical therapy, someone to help with rides or getting groceries, someone to do light chores around the house, someone to help shower, as well as someone to come and do blood pressure checks.”

Keeping people in their homes as long as possible is a significant reduction in cost to the state of Wyoming, and it benefits Wyoming seniors, Lacock said.

“All of our polling suggests that between 75-85% of people want to live in their home as long as they can,” Lacock said. “The good news, in this case, is that the least expensive option is also where people want to be.”

There are currently 4,000 enrollees in long-term care programs in Wyoming through Medicaid, amounting to a cost of $135 million per year. On average, Medicaid serves about three people in their homes and communities for the cost of one person in a nursing home, at a 50/50 cost share between the state and the federal governments.

The Hub on Smith: A ‘gold standard’

Many seniors living on a fixed income, however, do not meet income qualifications for Medicaid. For those folks, Lacock recommends services provided by Wyoming’s 36 local senior centers.

“In Sheridan, you really have the gold standard, the Hub,” Lacock said. “Those senior centers are a really great place to start.”

Carmen Rideout, executive director of The Hub on Smith, said that basic but very important services senior centers provide are critical in helping people remain living at home as they get older. The Hub provides information and education on resources and supports available, and offers health and wellness programs from meals, exercise, social engagement, life-long learning and volunteer opportunities to Sheridan County seniors. Community support services include home delivered meals, transportation, help at home, day break services and family caregiver and dementia friendly programming.

“These services and programs help prevent health related challenges, help people live at home with chronic conditions, and are available to provide care, direct services and support when they are needed,” Rideout said.

People want to stay in their homes as long as possible for many reasons: They want to be in control and as independent as possible. They want to be around their friends, neighbors and family. They want to be surrounded by their possessions and belongings.

“Finally, they cannot afford nor do they want to spend the money they have on the high costs of 24-hour skilled nursing home care,” Rideout said, adding she acknowledges the important place 24-hour skilled nursing facilities have in the continuum of long-term care for certain residents.

Most of the services at the Hub are offered on a sliding fee basis or a suggested contribution because of grants, contracts and donations made to the Hub.

“The cost we provide to help people stay at home saves individuals, families and the state of Wyoming millions of dollars in long term care costs,” she said.

Low income independent living: ‘Purpose and a reason to keep going’

Clint Hanes, public information officer with the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said that, while DFS does not run any sort of specific senior housing assistance programs, programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program are open to qualified recipients of all ages.

“(People) can utilize these programs to save on food expenses, which then can be used for housing if desired,” Hanes said.

Kim Deti, spokesperson for the Wyoming Department of Health, pointed toward Medicaid services including home healthcare, that keep people out of assisted living or skilled nursing facilities as long as possible as an indirect support to housing issues.

“Programs through our Aging Division have that overall goal of keeping people in their homes as long as possible. That’s the goal of things like the funding we help provide for senior centers and their services across the state,” Deti said.

James Pecenka, senior director of housing at the Volunteers of America Northern Rockies, said that, across Wyoming and into Montana, his organization works with senior centers that support VOA clients. However, VOA services fill another very unique niche: low income rentals for seniors.

In Wyoming, the VOA has two residential low-rent apartments for people over age 62. There are 14 one-bedroom apartments in Sheridan called Penrose Place, and 39 at the Bell Park Tower in Torrington. Two additional housing facilities with 64 and 84 apartments are located in Billings.

“We normally maintain a full census, and right now we have a wait-list of about three seniors in Sheridan,” Pecenka said.

To qualify to live in the low-rent apartments in Sheridan County, residents must be 62 or over, must make under $36,950 and must be able to live independently. While this helps many seniors, just over a dozen apartments to serve all of Sheridan — and only 53 total in the state — is not enough, Pecenka said.

“We’re always looking for (new opportunities) to create this type of housing,” he said. “There is a bigger need than we are able to satisfy, but we also have a big need for funding.”

As a faith-based organization, the VOA helps connect seniors with a ministry team, Pecenka said, and focuses specifically on services for veterans. Other non-age restricted housing options are also available across the state, he said.

“When someone maintains that independence, that gives them purpose and a reason to keep going. We want to help provide that purpose,” Pecenka said.

Visit VOANR.org and search for “low income senior housing” for more information.

This story was published on April 20, 2024.