Published in Pawtucket Times on December 2, 2002

Now that the dust has settled after the Nov. 5 gubernatorial elections. East Greenwich businessman and Governor-elect Don Carcieri has assembled his transition team.

The pencils have been sharpened and the evaluation begins as Carcieri starts his work to whittle down the state budget deficit for the next fiscal year, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The incoming Republican governor has his work cut out for him as he begins his efforts to determine where hie will funnel state dollars.

At press time, special-interest groups and aging advocates are sitting on the sidelines wondering what programs will be the winners and losers in Carcieri’s efforts to battle a state budget gap.

It is obvious to this columnist how Carcieri can add a slice to the budgetary pie. That is, the $ 13.5 million revenue from the Lincoln Park video slot machines given by the state to greyhound dog owners could go a long way in helping the frail elderly throughout Rhode Island.

Here’s a wish list from senior advocates and long-term care providers of programs and services for Ocean State seniors that could benefit from an infusion of $13.5 million.

The state must find $ 15 million to overhaul the existing Medicaid payment system, which would greatly improve the quality of care and services provided to the 10,000-plus nursing home residents. The federal government would pick up another $ 15 million, for a total increase of $ 30 million. The $ 13.5 million subsidy to greyhound dog owners could pay a large chunk of the state’s share.

Also, this $ 13.5 million could fund 180 assisted-living units already approved by the federal government but not funded in the state budget. That would allow 180 or more frail and low-income seniors to live in an assisted-living residence who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

With drug costs skyrocketing, $ 13.5 million could provide more than twice as much increased pharmaceutical assistance to low-and moderate-income seniors so they can afford the medicines that the need. It could also reimburse health care and nursing home costs for frail, sick, seniors with no health coverage so they can get the care they so desperately need.

State agencies are not staffed up enough to oversee the regulation of nursing homes, assisted living and home care. Re-targeted monies from the greyhound subsidies could be used to adequately fund state and private agencies, such as the Alliance for Better Long-Term Care, to perform that mandated oversight of these long-term care providers.

But that’s not all. By redirecting a portion of the $ 13.5 million to increase funding for Meals on Wheels, a program that provides meals to homebound seniors, 200 people on the waiting list can be served.

Additionally, increased funding could also provide reimbursement to health care workers to at least be on the same levels as neighboring states so the severe shortage of experienced health care workers can be effectively addressed.

With a growing ethnic and minority population, additional state dollars- reallocated from the $ 13.5 million subsidy to greyhound owners – could adequately fund a system of services for elders of different cultural backgrounds.

Services might include meal sites, home-delivered services, programming, information and referral and other needed services that are already provided to the majority of seniors.

We must fund organizations struggling to perform these services for older minority populations.

The Carcieri administration can keep seniors independent by redirecting some of the $ 13.5 million to adequately fund home care and community-based services to provide assistance to keep seniors in their own homes. It could also be used to establish a dental care program for seniors. Most seniors have no dental coverage and many suffer from dental-related problems.

With Carcieri beginning his “Big Audit,” we hope that he will place the needs of the state’s frail elderly above the subsidy to owners of greyhound kennels. To many Rhode Islanders, that is the right thing to do.