For Mainers on one state plan, few home care coordination options remain [Video]

Two of the three agencies in the state that pair people with in-home nursing care are no longer accepting new clients who are approved for services under the Section 96 MaineCare program.

SeniorsPlus stopped accepting new Section 96 referrals more than a year ago because the state’s method for calculating reimbursement is “not workable” and cost the agency about $600,000 last year, said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, president and CEO of the nonprofit.

“We just can’t continue to subsidize the cost of doing business,” Sawyer-Manter said. “(And) because of the limitations in what we get reimbursed, it limits what we can pay staff, which has an impact on our ability to attract staff to do the work. So it’s sort of this vicious cycle.”

SeniorsPlus has 29 care coordinators with six more positions currently open. They pay about $22 or $23 an hour, Sawyer-Manter said.

Alpha One, another care coordination agency, has …