Sponsor says revolving fund for senior services could save state millions; committee advances bill

Representative Blancet told the committee House Bill 4,407 would create a revolving fund aimed at preventing a senior-services waiting list by improving information and management of home- and community-based services, PACE and long-term care options.

Blancet cited demographic projections, noting Oklahoma may have more older adults than children in coming years, and described three service tiers: home- and community-based services (HCB), the federal PACE program for more complex needs, and long-term care facilities. She said nearly 8,000 seniors were approved for long-term care in 2025 and gave illustrative per-person cost figures, stating long-term care costs were about $51,000 per individual and PACE about $35,000 per individual. A numerical figure for home- and community-based services in the transcript was garbled and is reported here as not specified.

Blancet presented an illustrative fiscal scenario: she said that if 15% of decision-makers chose PACE or HCB instead of long-term care, the state could save in the order of tens of millions and offered $41,300,000 as a one-year savings estimate. That estimate was presented by the sponsor as a scenario, not as a forecast with supporting documentation in the hearing.

A do-pass motion was moved, seconded and adopted. The committee recorded 4 ayes and 0 nays and the chair declared House Bill 4,407 passed out of committee.

The bill's sponsor said the revolving fund would permit better tracking of dollars to HCB services and PACE and enable public–private partnerships; the committee approved the measure to move forward.