After Ayotte, Stephen Push Back, Easterseals Reverses Senior Care Cuts

By NH Journal

Eight days after telling hundreds of elderly and disabled Granite Staters that its adult day centers in Manchester and Rochester were closing due to lack of funding, Easterseals New Hampshire suddenly reversed course Thursday, voting to keep them open.

The finances didn’t change. But the politics did.

“Since announcing plans last week concerning the future of Adult Day Programs and Homemaker and Personal Care Services, Easterseals NH has heard from many people about the importance of Adult Day services to older adults, caregivers, and families,” the organization said in a statement.

“Easterseals NH Board of Directors and staff leadership have also had candid and helpful conversations with Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s administration, Executive Councilor John Stephen, and other community stakeholders about the importance of these programs and the challenges involved in sustaining them.”

Those “candid” conversations led the board to change direction.

The Easterseals NH Board of Directors voted to continue operating its Adult Day programs in Manchester and Rochester and to keep providing some in-home services in Hillsborough and Strafford counties. About 130 seniors are enrolled at the two centers.

That’s exactly what the state’s Republican leaders wanted to hear.

“I’m pleased Easterseals has reversed its decision to cut these vital services for older adults, caregivers, and families,” Ayotte said Thursday. “I thank Commissioner Weaver and the Department of Health and Human Services, Executive Councilor Stephen, and all of the advocates who voiced their concerns about cutting these services and came to the table to help find a solution.”

On Aug. 19, Easterseals announced it would end Adult Day services at both locations and discontinue Homemaker and Personal Care Services statewide, effective Oct. 17. The organization said approximately 125 adult day clients and 245 in-home clients would be affected.

Easterseals blamed persistent workforce shortages, rising wages and other expenses, inadequate reimbursement rates, and adult day enrollment that never recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement caught Ayotte and members of the Executive Council by surprise.

At an Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire roundtable on economic development Wednesday, a clearly frustrated Stephen told NHJournal that the council had been blindsided and that he was going to fight the decision.

And he expressed surprise that the group would make this announcement just weeks after the Executive Council approved a contract extending state funding for adult day services through June 30, 2027.

“These seniors are counting on Easterseals, and they need to find a way to deliver,” Stephen said.

“I am deeply disappointed,” Ayotte said when the shutdown was announced, noting Easterseals went public before contacting her office or the council. She directed DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver to meet with Easterseals and review the organization’s state contracts.

Easterseals had known for months that the programs were in jeopardy. President and CEO Maureen Beauregard said the organization first raised the possibility of closing them with DHHS on Feb. 4, more than six months before families received the news and three months before an Easterseals contract came before the Executive Council for a one-year extension.

DHHS initially said it was working with Easterseals, case managers, and community partners to move clients to other providers. But in some communities there were few practical alternatives.

Stephen said Easterseals’ action was unacceptable.

“I have constituents in the greater Manchester area who depend on this program every day, seniors who are able to stay in their own homes because of it and family caregivers who could not hold a job without it,” Stephen said. “When I learned these programs were being shut down seven weeks into a contract the council had just renewed, I informed Easterseals leadership directly that the only acceptable outcome was to honor that contract and keep serving these families as we work together toward longer-term solutions.”

Stephen met with Beauregard Aug. 25 and set a condition: Easterseals should honor the contract through June 30, 2027, and not walk away before DHHS conducts a procurement and has a replacement provider ready.

Two days later, the board reversed itself.

“I asked Maureen to get the board to reconsider, and I am grateful they did,” Stephen said.

Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, said he also heard from families who depend on the Rochester center and pressed Easterseals and DHHS to preserve the program.

“The Rochester program serves seniors and family caregivers who have no good alternative in the Seacoast, and closing it would have been felt in every one of those households,” Kenney said.

The underlying financial problem remains unresolved. Easterseals has said the programs lose more than $1.5 million annually. The state controls Medicaid reimbursement rates, and neither Easterseals nor the Ayotte administration announced a rate increase, a contract amendment, or a new appropriation on Thursday.

Stephen said his attention will now turn to reimbursement rates and a long-term plan for maintaining the services.

“This is the right decision,” Kenney added, “and now the work is to keep these programs sustainable for the long term.”

XFacebookLinkedInCopy LinkEmailShare

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.