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The Ohio Department of Aging has been awarded grants that will target Medicare fraud, explore effective ways to divert individuals in need of nursing home care into community-based care options, and develop interventions for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers.
The Senior Medicare Patrol Integration Project will work with the Regional Long-term Care Ombudsman programs based in Dover, Rio Grande and Marietta to educate Medicare recipients on how to recognize healthcare fraud, error and abuse and report it appropriately. More than $50 million in savings to Medicare, Medicaid and other entities have been related to the efforts of similar projects across the country. This project expands the Senior Medicare Patrol program to previously underserved parts of the state.
Ohio's Nursing Home Diversion Modernization Project will link non-Medicaid individuals who are at imminent risk of nursing home admission and Medicaid spend-down with community-based care alternatives. The project will be based at the area agency on aging in Rio Grande, serving ten south-central Ohio counties. Through this grant, the agency will develop tools to identify at-risk consumers and provide them with self-directed, community-based care options. The model program developed will guide development of similar programs throughout the state.
In the Reducing Disability in Alzheimer's Disease (RDAD) program, trained professionals work in the homes of individuals with Alzheimer's disease to emphasize to them and their caregivers physical conditioning, improving physical health and reducing depression. The project will be implemented through the Alzheimer's Association - Northwest Ohio chapter, in collaboration with the area agencies on aging in Toledo, Lima and Mansfield. The goal of this initiative is to explore how the program can be replicated, statewide.
Empowering Elders by Enhancing Cognitive Health Outcomes: The ECHO Project, also targets individuals with Alzheimer's disease, but as a research project that helps individuals in the early stages of dementia build cognitive reserve, reduce late-life depression and enhance the quality of life for themselves and their caregivers. The ECHO project is being implemented by Benjamin Rose Institute in Cleveland, in cooperation with service providers in the greater Cleveland area.
The $2.55 million in grant awards are part of more than $36 million awarded to states by U.S. Administration on Aging for the new federal fiscal year.
Combating Medicare fraud serves all Medicare beneficiaries by keeping health care costs low. Ohio's health care system also benefits when we provide those with Alzheimer's more healthy years and offer lower-cost, community-based options to those seeking nursing home care.