The cost of long-term care can bankrupt a person. Many Arizonans turn to ALTCS, Arizona's long-term care program. But qualifying is tough. Now some advocates are calling on Gov. Katie Hobbs to address this issue.
"So what we're doing is we're asking the governor to make this a priority, one of her priorities, this year," said Tory Roberg, director of government affairs for the Alzheimer's Association in Phoenix.
That's because many people living with dementia who meet the financial requirement of ALTCS are still being denied coverage, according to Roberg.
"Maybe because they didn't answer the phone when the assessor called. Maybe because when the assessor called, they asked the person questions and the person answered the questions in such a way that the assessor said, ‘oh, they don't need help,’" Roberg said.
ALTCS moved to a phone assessment during the pandemic. But it can be difficult to gauge a person’s cognitive impairment issues on the phone.
So, Roberg wants ALTCS to do is to adjust their functional eligibility criteria to show these invisible symptoms.
"The person may look physically fine, but they are completely unable to take care of themselves and need supervision or prompting or monitoring," Roberg said.
Roberg wants a return to in-person interviews, as well as an increase in the state budget for more ALTCS staff.
