Thousands of Hoosiers stuck on Medicaid waitlist RICHMOND, Ind. (WISH) — James Hobgood lives just yards away from the senior apartment he wants, but it might as well be miles. Hobgood rents space above an office that belongs to a family friend. He’s in his early 70s and struggles to get up and down the two flights of stairs leading to his apartment. He says his mobility problems mean he doesn’t leave his apartment unless he has to, such as to buy groceries. Barely a block away stands The Leland Legacy, a senior care community housed in a historic hotel. Hobgood has signed up for an apartment there. The apartment is vacant and ready for him to move in. There is just one problem: Hobgood relies on Social Security income and can’t afford the apartment without a PathWays to Aging Medicaid waiver. He’s been on the waitlist since the end of May. “I don’t even think about it anymore,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s going to happen.” Hobgood is one of nearly 9,000 people Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) officials said are on the waitlist for waivers for the PathWays to Aging program, a program that allows low-income elderly people to use Medicaid to help cover the costs of assistive care. Another 4,600 are waiting for Health and Wellness waivers, a related program for people 59 and younger. Amanda Marquis, The Leland Legacy’s executive director, said her facility has 20 people, including Hobgood, on the waiting list for 15 apartments. Until this year, she says, Hobgood would have needed about 4 to 6 weeks to get approved for Medicaid and move into the apartment. In May, the FSSA imposed a waitlist for the waivers as part of an effort to fix a nearly $1 billion funding shortfall. Marquis says prospective residents now likely will wait a year or two. She said two people already have died waiting for their waivers to get approved so they could afford to move into her facility. Marquis said her facility is licensed to care for 109 people. There are currently 89 living there, the fewest in the 16 years in which she has worked there, a statistic she said is entirely due to the Medicaid waitlist. She says the facility is currently breaking even. Another six months of this could jeopardize its operations. “If we dip much lower than 89, it goes into the red,” she said. Hobgood says the FSSA has not given him any updates on his case, even when he asks for them in person. “Just try to be a little more comforting to the people that need this service,” he said, adding he would like a little more communication about the status of his application. FSSA officials have previously told News 8 it’s impossible for them to track when an individual’s waiver application might get approved because so many variables are at work. When the program began, FSSA officials could approve about 700 people per month for the Health and Wellness and PathWays to Aging programs. Early this month, they announced they had increased that number to 1,700 per month. Hobgood says he plans to continue renting space until his waiver gets approved. He says his son and the family friend he is renting from both check in on him regularly. “I just don’t think that the state, at least in my case, who I’m working with, is doing much of anything to help me,” he said. “I’m just waiting still, and I’ll stay here until something happens.” Families, lawmakers urge faster action for thousands on Medicaid waitlist