Local groups weigh-in on proposed Department of Aging budget Submitted by Alex Rusciano on Mon, 05/21/2012 - 1:53pm Senior care groups in Peoria weighed-in on the upcoming spending plan for the Illinois Department of Aging at a public hearing Monday.  The proposed plan is for fiscal year 2013 through 2015 and includes a hike in the scoring system that determines if seniors qualify for in-home service.  Karen Freda is executive director of the Illinois Council of Case Coordination Units.  She says raising the assessment score would burden both patients and service providers: “The older person wouldn’t be eligible for the service to stay in the community,” Freda says.   “Then they would have to seek out other supports in the community. If they don’t have enough they could fall at home or their health status could go down because they aren’t getting the support they need and therefore they’ll end up needing a nursing home anyway.” Freda says the Department on Aging Plan also proposes using income guidelines to determine who qualifies for community care.  She says anyone not meeting the guidelines would be forced to either pay for the services or go without the care. Others at the public hearing also voiced opposition to Governor Quinn’s proposed elimination of a program that helps seniors pay for prescriptions.  They urged the Department of Aging to have an emergency plan in place if the program is eliminated.  People can submit written or e-mail comments to the Department of Aging Web site by June 15th.