Congressman Yakym visits South Bend assisted living facility, hears concerns

SOUTH BEND,Ind. -- Congressman Rudy Yakym visited Grand Emerald Place, a South Bend assisted living facility, to answer questions and address concerns. Yakym is touring all the counties throughout Indiana's 2nd congressional district as part of what he's calling his 'One Big Beautiful Hoosier Tour.'

"So for us it's hearing what's on people's minds about the one big beautiful bill and making sure they understand what's actually in the bill," said Yakym.
Residents and staff asked him about tariffs, social security, Medicaid, and Inflation.

One of the main concerns in today's meeting was around proposed changes on the state level by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to its integrated healthcare coordination program, as well as concerns about the medicaid waiver program.

Sherri Berghoff, one of the owners at OPS Living, tells ABC57 they requested the congressman visit after changes to the Medicaid waiver waitlist—instituted by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

A staffer with Congressman Yakym explained there was a surge of resources nationwide during COVID, and the state saw increased Medicaid funding. He says this led to the creation of the Pathways program in Indiana.

They mentioned there is a limited number of spots for the Medicaid waiver waitlist and that the Pathways program still exists now, but the state is working to figure out what to do going forward.

Berghoff is concerned about new changes to the integrated healthcare coordination program. She says the language has changed, and now puts managed care entities (MCE's), or insurance companies, in charge of managing services.

"We feel so strongly that this is not appropriate for an insurance company to be managing and getting paid for this program. We're going to be providing the service, and the insurance company is going to be getting paid," said Berghoff.

She says that could look like coordinating doctors' appointments, ordering or requesting a change in medication, ensuring patients get medicine on time, or assessing the needs of patients.

"We can't see someone who's not a nurse, one, controlling those medication orders, and two, someone who isn't physically located in a place where they can see, 'Is she having a reaction to that new medication?'" said Berghoff.

Congressman Yakym says he wants to help connect them with people at the state level to make their opinions heard.

"We maintain great relationships, not only across our federal government, but also with our state government and local elected officials as well. So when someone brings up a state issue or a local issue, my team and I will actually take the time to connect them directly with the people in the state who are making the decisions, or the people locally who can help resolve their issue," said Yakym.

Berghoff says the final say on these changes--happens at the federal level.

"Even though they keep saying it's a state-level issue, the only way Indiana FSSA can make this change is if they send it up to CMS and CMS approves it, and that's [in] Washington," said Berghoff.

Berghoff says providers want to work with the FSSA to find the best solutions that benefit people, providers, and the state budget.

Below is an email message from FSSA regarding public comment on changes to the aforementioned programs, which is now open until August 15th:

Indiana PathWays for Aging Waiver Public Comment Email Update
On July 9, 2025, the Indiana PathWays for Aging 1915(c) Waiver was opened for public comment regarding amendments expected to take effect by December 31, 2025. In the waiver document, the email address [email protected] was listed as the email address for public comments. This is incorrect and should not be used.

The correct email address is [email protected]. The Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning updated the online waiver with the correct information here, and extended the public comment period by one week to August 15, 2025, to give more time for comments sent to the incorrect email to be forwarded to the correct email address [email protected].

The Indiana FSSA released the following statement:

"The changes proposed in the waiver amendments seek to prevent duplication of services. Integrated Health Care Coordination is duplicative of MCE Care coordination which MCEs are required to provide.  The proposed waiver changes can be found here. The public comment period is open through August 15. Comments may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the address below:"

Family and Social Services Administration

Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning

Attention: Holly Cunningham Piggott

402 West Washington Street, W374

Indianapolis, IN 46207-7083