State Selected As Kickoff Site for New Federal Plan Serving Older Persons

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL--- A national plan proposing to add $10 billion dollars to the Older Americans Act to provide more community options for seniors will be presented in Oklahoma City on Oct. 13, at the Montgomery Event Center.
Older Oklahomans, their advocates, state, local and community leaders are invited to participate from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in the kickoff of Project 2020: Building on the Promise of Home and Community-Based Services.

“It is no secret that people are living longer and that the older population is the fasting growing segment of the population in our nation,” said Lance Robertson, OKDHS director of Aging Services Division and host of the event. “What may not be as well understood is that little or no new funding has been found in recent years to fund services and to create new and more desirable services. Project 2020, when funded, will offer unlimited opportunities to provide services that are consumer-centered and cost-effective. It will allow for new long-term care strategies as it fulfills those laid out in the 2006 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.”

Martha Roherty, executive director, National Association of State Units on Aging, and Sandy Markwood, chief executive, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, will join leaders from OKDHS in launching Project 2020.

Robertson said Project 2020 utilizes home and community-based services and allows older adults to live safely in their own homes, stay healthy, live with dignity and avoid unnecessary and more costly institutional care.

“Project 2020 has the potential to reach more than 40 million Americans and still reduce federal Medicaid and Medicare costs by approximately $2.7 billion over the first 5 years of the program, resulting in a net savings to the federal government of more than $300 million,” Robertson said.

The Montgomery Center is located in the Montgomery Building at 500 W. Main St. in Oklahoma City. Complementary parking is available in the Walker parking garage, just south of the Montgomery.

To register for the event or for more information, call the OKDHS Aging Services Division at (405) 521-2281.

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