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Posted on 02/27/2004 9:49:55 AM PST by qam1

HELENA - Money raised through a statewide soda pop tax is needed to stave off an "extreme crisis" in health care facing Montana's growing elderly population, said Charles Aagenes, director of Helena's Rocky Mountain Development Council.

The state Department of Public Health and Human Services needs to come up with millions of dollars to cover the impending health care needs of aging baby boomers, said Aagenes and other officials participating in a statewide video conference on senior health care policy Thursday.

Over the next 25 years, Montana's population of residents over age 60 is expected to swell from 158,000 people to more than 300,000, health officials said.

"A lot of senior centers are struggling to meet current demands, like rising wage rates and rising utility costs," Aagenes said. "A soft drink fee could easily generate the revenue needed."

Kelly Williams, administrator of the state's Senior and Long Term Care Division, urged those participating in the video conference to call their local legislators with the tax proposal. It's unlikely the department will propose the tax itself, she said.

Pop taxes have been proposed but rejected in legislative sessions over the past decade or so.

But without a new source of revenue, it's unlikely the division will have more money to fund more services, Williams added. She and her staff were soliciting senior citizen health care funding priorities from residents of Bozeman, Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Butte, Glendive, Miles City, Havre and Helena.

Over and over again, residents and health care workers said they need more money for in-home and community services, staff pay raises and the Meals on Wheels program.

The 2003 Legislature reduced Meals on Wheels funding by $257,000 over the biennium. While Gov. Judy Martz gave the Meals on Wheels money back after the state received a $73 million windfall last year, that money will not last beyond 2005, state officials said.

"Unless the next legislature gives us the $257,000 back, we're going to have reduce our budget again by $257,000," said Charlie Rehbein, bureau chief for aging services.

Representatives of AARP Montana also urged the department to work on containing prescription drug costs.

"We have many senior citizens not going to the doctor because they know they'll get a prescription and they can't afford it," said Howard Lawson, representing Butte's branch of AARP Montana.

The division needs to raise $11 million in new money to fund a proposal Aagenes brought forth Thursday.

His plan is to plug $4 million into the aging services budget, $3 million into in-home and community services, distribute $700,000 among the state's senior centers and invest $3.3 million in a trust fund that will mature 10 years from now, just when baby boomers are stressing the health care system.

While Aagenes said he doesn't care how the state raises the money, he did say he thought a pop tax would be the most palatable solution.

Williams said her staff will take all suggestions into consideration when preparing the division's budget for fiscal 2006 and 2007. The budget must be submitted to the governor's office by April 30.

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