Opinion: Alaska Pioneer Homes continue to provide a home and community to Alaska’s elders

More elders are coming to Pioneer Homes with higher levels of need requiring greater assistance.

  • By Adam Crum
  • Monday, September 2, 2019 8:32pm
  • Opinion

Alaska Pioneer Homes have a long history of offering Alaska’s elders caring, engaging places to age in place as their living and health care needs increase. Today, the average resident in a Pioneer Home is 87 years old and lives in one of the six homes for about two years. More elders are coming to Pioneer Homes with higher levels of need requiring greater assistance. This is in part due to elders who require less intensive care staying in their own homes longer thanks to a rise in community-based supports.

With elders entering our homes with more serious needs and the growing numbers of seniors in Alaska’s population, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is faced with the challenge of maintaining the high level of care for each and every Pioneer Home resident as costs continue to rise. That brings us to our current situation and the recent increases to the Alaska Pioneer Homes rates.

Understandably, these changes have resulted in a lot of talk and some anxiety about the future of Alaska Pioneer Homes and how older Alaskans will be served. Unfortunately, some of those concerns are based on inaccurate information or misunderstandings that need addressing so Alaskans can be assured they will continue to have options in our state as they age.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The increased rates reflect the actual amount it costs to provide services at each of the five designated levels of care. The previous rates did not cover the full cost of services, which meant the State of Alaska was subsidizing care for every resident, even those who were able to pay more towards their cost of service. DHSS paid more than $34.5 million to subsidize the Alaska Pioneer Home system in fiscal year 2019. The additional funds brought in through these increased rates will support only the actual care for that resident, and will not be used to provide for services outside of the Pioneer Homes or to subsidize the costs of other residents.

For those who are concerned that the increased rates will make the Pioneer Homes unaffordable to many older Alaskans, a person’s income or assets are not an eligibility requirement for entrance into a Pioneer Home. Regardless of income, Alaskans 65 years and older who have lived in the state for at least one year are eligible to live at a Pioneer Home. There is a waitlist for the homes, but applicants are chosen on a first-come, first-served basis on their original application date. The same is true for all current residents of the Pioneer Homes — under Alaska state law, no one can be evicted if their income and assets are insufficient to pay the monthly rate.

Help is available in many forms to Pioneer Home residents who need assistance in paying for their care. Many low-income elders with significant physical limitations and medical needs receive financial assistance through a Medicaid waiver and veterans at our Alaska Veteran and Pioneer Home in Palmer receive a per diem from Veterans Affairs.

Additionally, residents who can’t afford to pay the full amount of their rate can get help through the Alaska Pioneer Homes’ own Payment Assistance Program. Also mandated by state law, this program essentially creates a sliding fee scale. Residents pay the amount they can afford and payment assistance covers the remaining amount. There are built-in protections for residents who have spouses that live in the community so their spouse continues to have sufficient income to provide for their living expenses. This program will continue to help bridge the gap for our seniors in need.

Providing excellent care, to every resident, every day, every time, is one the core values of the Alaska Pioneer Home system. Being financially stable is an important part of being able to live up to that core value as it allows us to sustain operations of the Pioneer Homes into the future. Everyone at the Alaska Pioneer Homes and the Department of Health and Social Services — myself included — is proud to continue the tradition of caring for those who helped build our great state.

Adam Crum, M.S.P.H., is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.


Adam Crum, M.S.P.H., is commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.


More in Opinion

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building at the University of Alaskas Anchorage. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: UAA’s College of Health — Empowering Alaska’s future, one nurse at a time

At the University of Alaska Anchorage, we understand the health of our… Continue reading

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: A noncongressman for Alaska?

It’s right to ask whether Nick Begich is a noncongressman for Alaska.… Continue reading

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in