Two weeks after Gov. Ted Strickland shifted additional state funds to home care and assisted living for low-income seniors, waiting lists for the services have been cut by half.

The state Controlling Board unanimously approved the transfer of $4.3million more yesterday, which will allow waiting lists to be eliminated entirely within a few weeks.

The money, along with the nearly $500,000 the governor authorized earlier, had been earmarked for nursing-home care but was not needed. The transfer does not jeopardize the availability of nursing-home care to those who need it. .

Sen. John A. Carey Jr., a Republican from Wellston who sits on the Controlling Board, said ensuring that Medicaid-eligible Ohioans have access to the lower-cost care will save tax dollars. That's because those who can't get home care or can't reside in an assisted-living facility can end up in nursing homes at a much higher cost.

The state's per-person cost of the popular PASSPORT home-care program is $560 a month, and assisted living is $842, while nursing-home care runs about $1,700, Carey said.

Budget cuts in July led to waiting lists for home care and assisted living for the first time in 21/2years. Since then, nearly 5,000 Ohioans have been forced to wait for services as the state Department of Aging was allowing about 500 slots to be filled each month.

As of Friday, the waiting list was 289, down from nearly 600 a few weeks ago.

Separately, lawmakers also are considering legislation to expand Ohio's Home First program, which allows Medicaid-eligible nursing-home residents to bypass waiting lists for home- and community-based services.

Despite yesterday's Controlling Board action, Senate Bill 214 by Carey and Sen. Dale Miller, D-Cleveland, to provide immediate access to PASSPORT and similar programs, is still needed, said Barbara E. Riley, the Department of Aging's director.

"Expanding Home First provides an additional tool to help the Ohio Department of Aging avoid unnecessary movement by consumers most at risk of going into a nursing home if funding was again limited in the future," Riley said.

In the past year, about 1,200 Medicaid-eligible Ohioans were able to access immediate home-care services through the initial Home First legislation approved in 2005.

ccandisky@dispatch.com