One of the state’s largest providers of personal care support for homebound elderly and disabled individuals announced Wednesday that it is ending its service in Maine, a decision that could affect about 1,000 clients and 300 part-time workers.

MAS Home Care of Maine, which also operates programs in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, said that as of July 29 it will discontinue the home care services it provides that receive all or part of their funding from MaineCare.

Ken Johnson, chief executive officer and president of MAS Home Care of Maine, said the move was a “business decision,” but two people familiar with the programs, which provide help with personal hygiene, getting dressed and preparing meals, say the change is likely because of low MaineCare reimbursement rates, hourly rates they say are below what is paid to similar agencies in other New England states.

The company’s action could leave some clients scrambling to find new providers, while the personal support specialists who help them could be without work.

Johnson said his staff is working on a transition plan that will move all those workers to other home care agencies. That would allow those workers to potentially remain with the clients they have served, in some cases, for years. Johnson is confident that the clients his agency serves will not be left without services by the time the program ends.

“We’ve been helping these people for years and we care a ton about them,” Johnson said in a telephone interview. “We fully expect that all of our workers will find employment. It will just be a different paycheck with a different company name on it.”

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Johnson said his company began notifying the state and its employees of its intentions on Friday. Clients received a notice of discontinuation of service on Monday.

“Between now and July 29, MAS will be working with EIM (Elder Independence of Maine), the Office of MaineCare Services and the Department of Health and Human Services to transition your care to another agency. Between now and July 29, MAS will continue to provide care, unless you choose to terminate our services, or you are placed with another agency,” the notice states.

When asked why MAS Home Care chose to discontinue its home care service in Maine, Johnson would say only that it was “a business decision” that allows MAS Home Care to focus its resources on its other service programs, including behavioral and mental health services, support for homeless children and adults, and pediatric home health care.

The company’s offices in Westbrook, Bangor, Belfast, Lewiston, Machias and Wilton will remain open.

Johnson said that while personal support specialists provide a valuable service, their clients are not totally dependent on them.

“We certainly have an impact on their quality of life, but it’s not a life-or-death situation,” Johnson said.

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OTHER PROVIDERS MAY PICK UP SLACK

The agency most affected by the decision will be EIM, a division of Seniors Plus in Lewiston. EIM coordinates home care services with agencies across the state, including MAS Home Care, to ensure that clients receive the personal care support they need.

Betsy Sawyer-Manter, executive director of Seniors Plus, found out about MAS Home Care’s decision on Friday. She said several home care providers have approached her and indicated a willingness to hire laid off workers and to take on new clients.

“It’s an amazingly tight deadline,” she said. “We wish we had more time. But, our goal is to create as seamless a transition as possible.”

Sawyer-Manter said MAS Home Care discontinued home care services to the elderly because MaineCare reimbursement rates are too low.

Currently, an agency such as MAS Home Care receives an hourly reimbursement rate of $15, she said. By the time an agency deducts its costs and profit, a personal support specialist could be earning a rate close to the state’s minimum wage of $7.50 an hour or slightly higher, according to Sawyer-Manter and Vickie J. Purgavie, the executive director of the Home Care & Hospice Alliance of Maine.

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The alliance is a trade association that represents and lobbies in the Legislature on behalf of home care agency providers.

Purgavie said MAS Home Care provides a valuable support service that allows individuals to remain in their homes, adding that many would qualify for admission to a nursing home.

“It’s all about keeping them as independent as possible and out of a nursing home,” Purgavie said.

She provided a copy of an email from MAS Home Care that said the company is working with Arcadia, Home Care for Maine, Pine Tree Home Health Care, and Assistance Plus on having them fill the gap in services with workers now employed by MAS.

“I am shocked and saddened to learn that MAS is giving up that service,” Purgavie added. “They are going to have a mess on their hands if these clients aren’t spoken for by the end of the month.”


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