"If you can do 150, why not one more?" Evans quipped. "I do 151."

Evans, his eyesight failing, also averages listening to a book a day on disc as he sits in an oversized recliner at his apartment in the BrookHaven Retirement Community near Dayton.

But the comfortable routine of Evans' days is about to be disrupted. His savings nearly depleted after two years in an assisted-living apartment, Evans will put his furniture and other belongings into storage Friday to move into the nursing home at BrookHaven, where he's being forced to live at double the cost to taxpayers.

Chalk it up to a shortage of slots in the state's assisted-living program and looming budget cuts to Medicaid.

Mary Wampler knows all about it. At 106, Wampler is BrookHaven's oldest and longest resident. She outlived three husbands and lived at the assisted-living building for 11 years before being forced to abandon her apartment and furnishings a few weeks ago to move into a room in the nursing home portion of the community.

"It's just a shame," said her longtime friend, Elizabeth David. "We miss her."

Geri Ginter, director of assisted living at BrookHaven, said Wampler is capable of living on her own without nursing-home care. Now, her children fear the move from familiar surroundings may bring on a decline.

After living alone in assisting living, she now has a roommate with whom she shares a bathroom in a spartan room.

Most seniors prefer to live in the least-restrictive setting, but advocates for the elderly report similar circumstances being forced upon residents across the state.

"I'm still mentally and physically capable of being in assisted living," Evans said. "I'm sure they will treat me fine in the rest home, but I like this set-up.

"Why not take the less-expensive route that people want?" Evans asked, answering the question in his next breath. "That's not how government works."

Taxpayers lose because the state will pay $1,700 a month for Evans to live in a nursing-home set-up; such care costs the state more than twice what care in assisted living does. While lawmakers are poised to cut funding for in-home care and assisted living, they have been loath to reduce aid to nursing homes, which have been generous campaign contributors.

The state began limiting enrollment in the assisted-living program last spring as it neared its 1,800-slot limit.

Enrollment re-opened July 1 as Gov. Ted Strickland and legislative leaders failed to meet the deadline for approving a new two-year budget, leaving government programs in limbo.

But that window is expected to close when a budget agreement is reached. Leaders reportedly have agreed to slash $40 million in long-term-care spending, part of the $2.4 billion which will be cut.

As a result, assisted-living and home-care programs such as PASSPORT will be scaled back, creating waiting lists for services.

Advocates for Ohio's elderly project that proposed budget cuts will cause waiting lists of nearly 10,000 over the next two years for assisted living, along with home and community programs such as PASSPORT.

Barbara Riley, director of the Ohio Department of Aging, said the budget will consolidate funding for long-term care, with the exception of nursing homes, into a single pot that will allow flexibility to direct money to programs in demand.

"We've got all the money in one pot, but there won't be enough money in the pot to avoid wait lists," she said.

Riley said it would be a "travesty" for Evans to move into a nursing home, even temporarily. After learning of his plight yesterday, the state agency contacted BrookHaven and the local area agency on aging to learn more about the situation.

In recent months, Ginter said she's had five residents, including Evans and Wampler, go on Medicaid, the tax-funded health-insurance program for low-income and disabled Ohioans, after exhausting their savings. None has been accepted into the assisted-living program. Wampler and another person were moved into nursing-home units, and three others, including Evans, will go soon.

"It's heartbreaking," Ginter said. "The politicians need to know the devastation this is causing families."

ccandisky@dispatch.com