POST FALLS - A Medicaid program that pays for meals for qualified seniors and offers them a choice of providers has caught the Post Falls Senior Center director by surprise.

Director Alison McArthur said she found out on Wednesday through a senior recipient about a Kimberly, Idaho-based program called Homestyle Direct that delivers frozen meals to the recipients' doorstep and other provider options.

Qualified seniors in Post Falls have traditionally picked up their frozen meals at the center and have been given bread, milk, cookies and other items to complement the meals.

"We were given no notification (about Homestyle Direct or other options)," McArthur said. "This came as a surprise to us. We've had people cancel on us, and my concern is that the seniors are not getting the additional staples we've given them."

McArthur said that communication to the center on its Medicaid inquiries needs improved.

Tom Shanahan, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman, said he doesn't know why the center was never notified that seniors have provider choices with Medicaid-funded meals. But the choices have been available for several years and all providers are paid a set rate of $5.23 per meal.

"If you're eligible, you are given a list of approved providers," Shanahan said. "They can pick whoever they want. It's their choice, not ours. It's not for the state to tell them where they'll get their meals from."

Barbara Forgacs, who qualifies for the Medicaid program, said she recently went with the Homestyle Direct option because she likes having more choices for meals. While she misses the items that complemented the meals through the senior center, having the choices outweighs those benefits.

"When the state worker came out, they gave us a choice," Forgacs said. "With (Homestyle Direct), they send you a menu, you can pick what you want and they send it to you. It's nice to be able to pick what you want to eat."

Forgacs said she also likes having the meals sent to her door rather than having to have someone pick them up at the center.

Leanne Carney, Meals on Wheels coordinator at the Lake City Senior Center, said that facility has known about the multiple options for several years.

She said many seniors don't have room to store a bunch of meals at once, so they go with the option through their local center.

Pearl Bouchard, director of the Area Agency on Aging of North Idaho, gave local senior centers a vote of confidence when it comes to senior meals.

"You get a good nutritious meal when it comes through a senior center," she said.

Roughly 300 seniors throughout Kootenai County qualify for the Medicaid-funded meal program.

Seniors also can receive hot meals for a suggested donation at the centers each week or through Meals on Wheels, which delivers meals to homes. Center leaders said seniors are given the meals even if they can't make a donation. Those programs are different than the Medicaid program that features frozen meals.