{"id":11516,"date":"2012-09-14T10:16:41","date_gmt":"2012-09-14T14:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=11516"},"modified":"2012-09-14T10:16:41","modified_gmt":"2012-09-14T14:16:41","slug":"oped-meals-on-wheels-saves-for-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=11516","title":{"rendered":"Op\/Ed: Meals on Wheels saves for taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Program allows seniors to continue living in their homes, rather than needing full-time care<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Jeani Purcell<\/strong>, Special to The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jean who is a 78 year- old widow lost the use of her right hand after she suffered a stroke.\u00a0 After 45 days in the hospital she returned to her home of 48 years, discovering that she could no longer prepare meals safely.\u00a0 She turned to her local Meals on Wheels (MOW) program for nutritious home-delivered meals so that she could maintain her health.\u00a0 Jean will tell you: \u201cI couldn\u2019t manage by myself.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t get Meals on Wheels, I don\u2019t know where I would be\u2026maybe living in a nursing home.\u201d<\/p>\n

MOW programs provide our home-bound elderly and disabled individuals with nutritious meals that are delivered to their homes by caring volunteers.\u00a0 Without the meals they receive to help them live independently in their homes, these older Americans likely would have to be placed in less desirable and much more costly institutional settings such as nursing homes.\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

How do Meals on Wheels programs save taxpayers money? \u00a0The bottom line is:\u00a0 Providing home-delivered meals is a good investment that actually saves money in the long-run.\u00a0 One year of meals delivered to the home each weekday costs on average $995 in Chester County, that\u2019s just $3.77 per meal.\u00a0 The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) estimate the average cost of one Medicare day in a hospital as $1,156.\u00a0 And a national survey in 2010 showed the average length of stay to be between 5 and 6 days.\u00a0\u00a0 In addition, the Medicaid reimbursement for nursing home care in the state of Pennsylvania averages $51,000 a year versus $20,892 for in-home services for those who are nursing-home eligible (home-delivered meals is one of these services).\u00a0 We all pay for these services through our taxes \u2013 why not choose the less expensive alternative which is the one that most seniors prefer?<\/p>\n

It is estimated that 50 percent of all diseases impacting older Americans are directly connected to a lack of nutritious food.\u00a0 We are spending billions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars annually under federal and state medical and long-term care programs by not adequately providing for our seniors\u2019 nutritional needs.<\/p>\n

A 2009 report entitled \u201cThe Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America\u201d,<\/em> commissioned by the Meals on Wheels Association of America Foundation,\u00a0\u00a0 states that \u201chunger and a lack of proper nutrients significantly increases the risk that seniors will suffer from poor or fair health that not only diminishes their quality of life, but also increases the burden on our long-term care and health insurance systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homebound seniors and adults with disabilities who receive home-delivered meals are assured of getting the healthy diet they need, leading to greater independence and quality of life.\u00a0 Study after study shows that seniors want to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible.\u00a0 In-home services like your local Meals on Wheels programs help them to remain there.<\/p>\n

A modest investment in MOW programs that combat senior hunger and promote good nutrition goes a long way in reducing overall expenditures.\u00a0 Yet, government funding for MOW programs in Pennsylvania (through the Older American Act, federal block grant monies, lottery monies, and aging waiver monies) has remained stagnant or decreased over the last 7 years.\u00a0 Over the same time period, food costs have risen 25%, with a commensurate rise in labor, utilities and other costs of carrying out this program.\u00a0 Luckily, MOW programs have the commitment of thousands of dedicated volunteers who deliver the meals, provide a community connection and keep these programs cost effective.\u00a0 Most MOW programs rely upon the generosity of private funders, some to fill in the government funding gaps, and others to completely fund their programs.<\/p>\n

In a time when over 8 million older Americans are at risk of hunger in our great nation and our economy is still not bouncing back, we need to make every taxpayer dollar and every donated dollar count!\u00a0 Remember the saying:\u00a0 An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?\u00a0\u00a0 On behalf of your local MOW program in Chester County, PA, please consider helping your neighbors by donating funds to provide meals or volunteering to deliver meals to homebound seniors and disabled individuals in your community.\u00a0 They rely on you to care.\u00a0 Please contact the Meals on Wheels of Chester County office at 610-430-8500 or visit the website at www.mowcc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeani Purcell is the Director of Chester County Meals on Wheels.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Program allows seniors to continue living in their homes, rather than needing full-time care By Jeani Purcell, Special to The Times Jean who is a 78 year- old widow lost the use of her right hand after she suffered a stroke.\u00a0 After 45 days in the hospital she returned to her home of 48 years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,7],"tags":[29,213,1909,1429],"class_list":["post-11516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-featured","tag-chester-county","tag-food-service","tag-meals-on-wheels","tag-seniors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}