Iowa will receive resources made available by the Affordable Care Act - the health care law - to help seniors and people with disabilities live in their communities, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today. These resources will help ensure Iowa residents can choose to live at home rather than in a nursing home or other facility.

The Iowa award, projected at $61.8 million, is a vital component of a broad State-based approach to expand community-based care provided by the Affordable Care Act's Balancing Incentive Program.

"The health care law is giving many seniors and people with disabilities the freedom to continue to live in their homes and communities, rather than in a nursing home," said Marilyn Tavenner, CMS acting administrator.  "We are pleased that Iowa is one of many States working to expand community services and supports."

While federal Medicaid law requires States to pay for institutional care for the elderly or persons with disabilities who may need assistance with their activities of daily living, Medicaid coverage for home or community-based services is optional.  And while all States have opted to provide such coverage, consumer demand frequently exceeds the State's available resources.

The health care law offers States additional resources through an increase in their federal Medicaid matching rates for home and community-based services, if a State commits to increasing access to these services.  A total of $3 billion is available to States under the Affordable Care Act's Balancing Incentive Program.

The Administration strongly supports ensuring that people with Medicaid can get the support they need to continue to live in their communities. While most Medicaid dollars for long-term services and supports still go to institutions, the national percentage of Medicaid spending on home and community-based services has more than doubled from 20 percent in 1995 to 43 percent in 2009.

States are eligible for the Balancing Incentive Program if less than 50 percent of their total long-term care spending goes toward home and community-based services.  The enhanced Medicaid payments must be spent increasing the availability of home and community-based services for Medicaid beneficiaries with long-term needs.  The Iowa Department of Human Services Balancing Incentive Program, in partnership with community organizations throughout the State, plans to further develop the systems of community-based care that serve seniors and individuals with behavioral health needs, physical disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.

For more information on the Balancing Incentive Program please visit: http://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/Long-Term-Services-and-Support/Balancing/Balancing-Incentive-Program.html

 

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Soy Checkoff Conveys U.S. Soybean Farmers' Commitment to Stewardship

ST. LOUIS (June 13, 2012) - Most U.S. soybean farmers know they employ sustainable farming methods, such as conservation tillage, cover crops and tactics that help minimize nutrient runoff. Now a group of representatives from global food companies know it, too.

The United Soybean Board (USB) and soy checkoff's Sustainability Initiative recently organized an educational series of U.S. farm tours through three states that showed five food-industry employees firsthand what U.S. soybean farmers do to keep improving their farm's sustainability performance. The companies represented included Kellogg's, Kraft, Sodexo and Unilever, which together use a total of about 3.5 billion pounds of soybean oil annually.

"As a food company, we're dependent upon the sustainability of farmers and want to promote their efforts," says Sherilyn Brodersen, Kraft Foods' sustainable agriculture lead for the Americas. "There are so many progressive measures farmers have taken, and I'll take that information back to my company, share those stories and help increase consumers' awareness."

The food industry remains by far the biggest user of U.S. soy oil, consuming more than 80 percent of it every year. And the importance the food industry and consumers place on using sustainably sourced ingredients continues to grow.

The program took participants to farms in three large and diverse soybean-producing states - Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska - and showed them a large array of farm-management practices used today. Participants learned about strip tilling, how technology can improve efficiency, methods to remove nutrients from runoff water and more.

"Many people don't realize how high of a priority U.S. farmers place on being good stewards of our resources," says Nebraska soybean farmer Mike Thede, team lead for the checkoff's Sustainability Initiative. "I think it's important to show people how common these practices are among farmers and how we're always looking to improve even more."

The 69 farmer-directors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy's customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org
Visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnitedSoybeanBoard
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unitedsoy
View our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/UnitedSoybeanBoard

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Last week, a dozen area middle schoolers participated in the first annual JET Summer Camp at Jordan Catholic School. JET (Jordan Engineering Team) is an extra-curricular program led by veteran coaches Victor Cincola and Carlo Milani, in cooperation with FIRST LEGO League (FLL.) FIRST introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface and then participate in team competitions. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society. Coach Cincola began the program in 2009 with one team of ten students. This year, the program expanded to two teams and in the fall will grow to three.

During the JET Summer Camp, kids spent the first two days building rockets and using math to calculate altitude, based on engine size and rocket weight. On launch day, each member was able to launch their rocket twice with two different engine sizes. They also built devices to measure what peak altitude the rocket reached and compared that to the value calculated in the classroom. "I was surprised at how engaged and excited the kids were during the 3-day camp. They were very involved and really enjoyed the hands-
on building of their own rocket with the anticipation of the launch on the last day," explained Coach Cincola.

One of the original team members is Mr. Cincola's daughter, Sabrina, who moves on to Alleman High School in the fall. "I'm really going to miss JET." Sabrina says. "I'll miss the competitions the most- us being together as a team. Our team started out as ten people
but by the end of the first season, we were all a family."

For more information about JET and Jordan Catholic School, please call 309-793-7350.