PUBLICATIONS

Community - Based Long Term Care in Southern
West Virginia 

Much attention has recently been directed to the impact the managed care movement will have on the aging network in the United States. This network consists of the Administration on Aging on the federal level, 57 state-based units on aging, some 655 Area Agencies on Aging, and 3600 senior centers across the country. This project takes its cue from this national issue.

The report which follows consists of two parts, 1) needs assessment profiles of elderly long-term care (Medicaid) clients and, 2) a management capacity analysis of senior centers and Area Agencies on Aging who serve as providers to these clients. The study focus is on eight counties in Southern West Virginia extending from Mingo in the west to Monroe in the east and including Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming. Two Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) are also included, Metro AAA at Institute, WV, and Appalachian AAA in Princeton. Demographically, this region of southern West Virginia is populated by almost 58,000 senior citizens age 60 or older. The area is predominately rural with two counties, Monroe and Wyoming, classified as 100 percent rural by the U.S. Census Bureau.

There are almost 5000 minority elderly in the are, 24 percent of whom are classified as poor. There are over 2,800 elderly SSI recipients in the region and almost 43,800 people are receiving OASDI retirement and disability benefits. According tot he Social Security Administration, in 1994 retirement benefits reached nearly $142 million, SSI payments totaled over $24 million and more than $147.5 million was paid to disability recipients in the eight county areas.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary	2
Long-Term Care Needs Assessment Profiles	4
(Charts 1-9)	5
Managed Care: Introduction	10
Socio-Demographic Profile of Study Area	15
Findings and Recommendations	18