Submitted by Laura Ness, Director, PA Government Affairs (GAO)

Recently, Community Liaison and 2016 BAYADA Ambassador of the Year Mike Sokoloski hosted a roundtable with PA Representative Aaron Kaufer.  BAYADA started building a relationship with Representative Kaufer before he was elected to the General Assembly.  As a result of our relationship, Representative Kaufer took an interest in our issues early on and learned more about the state’s human services programs.

During the roundtable, we spoke about our need for increased reimbursement rates for personal assistant services under the Office of Long-Term Living and the need to equalize access to home and community based service by allowing presumptive eligibility*.  Equalizing access was an issue of great interest to Representative Kaufer, and since the roundtable, the Government Affairs Office (GAO) has been in touch with the Representative multiple times to determine next steps in the process.

GAO looks forward to working with Representative Kaufer and others to ensure presumptive eligibility is allowed for home health care in the state.

*Presumptive eligibility: Individuals can be presumed eligible for Medicaid services while their full application is being processed.  Presumptive eligibility grants greater access to care and allows the individual to receive medically necessary treatment.