Seniors fear program cuts

The proposed state budget includes drastic funding cuts to programs serving senior citizens and disabled adults, say area service providers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s push for a swift agreement to fill California’s $24 billion budget deficit includes eliminating state funding for a number of programs designed to postpone long-term care placement.  
 

“I can’t describe how devastating it will be for families if Adult Day Health Care is taken away,” said Program Director Terri Haworth. “We help families keep their loved ones at home. If we are gone, they will end up being placed in long-term care, and that will cost a lot more.”
 The charge for Adult Day Health Care is $79 per day per client. Medi-Cal reimburses the program provider $76.26 per day for those who meet low-income requirements. It costs Medi-Cal less than $20,000 per year for a client to stay at the center five days a week, compared to an average of more than $70,000 per year for long-term care placement.

“Ninety-five percent of our health care clients are on Medi-Cal,” Haworth said. “By closing us, the state will cut its own throat. On top of that, the federal government mandates independent living programs to help people stay out of nursing homes. If those programs are closed, the state will also lose federal money. This is all happening way too fast.”

The program, at Tuolumne General Medical Facility in Sonora, serves more than 60 adults from Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties.

Some are health-care clients, and some are there just for the day care.

The center is in the process of being transitioned from a government operation to privately owned Seniority Lifecare, operated by Kathryn Johnson, a former Adult Day Health Care director, and Sonora emergency room physician Bob Uslander. 

Other programs on the chopping block include In-Home Supportive Services and Linkages, overseen by the Area 12 Agency on Aging, which serves Calaveras, Tuolumne, Amador, Alpine and Mariposa counties. The state provides about $600,000 annually for those programs. In Home Supportive Services helps people stay in their homes, and Linkages connects those in need with volunteer services.

A.J. Holmes, of Twain Harte, said those programs are keeping her out of long-term care. Holmes, 68, has severe arthritis and several work-related injuries that have required surgery.

She will travel to Sacramento Wednesday with a group from “Golden Agers for Progress” to attend a hearing and talk to legislators about the importance of maintaining services.

“I want to stay in my own home,” she said, “and those programs make it possible. They have helped me in so many ways. It will cost much more to take care of me in a convalescent hospital than to help me stay independent.”

Susan Julian, of Sonora, said closing Adult Day Health Services would mean she would have to quit her job and stay home to take care of her 70-year-old husband, Bob.

He has been a five-day-a-week client at Adult Day Health Care for about six years, since being diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia.

“I just pray they don’t take the funding away,” she said. “The program exists on what Medi-Cal pays. Very few of us are private-pay clients.”

She said the program offers her husband a safe place to stay while she works. There is also a registered nurse on staff to keep an eye on his medical condition, and he is given daily occupational and physical therapy, as well as a chance for social interaction.

“The staff is so precious,” she said. “They treat all these people with the utmost respect and work hard to keep them involved.”

California Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto, said Saturday there is no easy way out of the budget crisis.

“It’s pretty sad when our government can’t take care of our seniors and disabled,” he said. “Fundamentally, this is one of the things government is responsible for, and I have always been there for the seniors. That’s why I backed those propositions, to give us a chance to get the budget into position for reform. I knew we had this catastrophe coming down the hill. It’s the result of 40 years of mismanagement of budgets, and the chickens have come home to roost.”

California voters rejected a complex slate of ballot propositions in May designed to keep the state from sliding further toward fiscal calamity. The only measure they approved in the statewide special election was Proposition 1F, which will prohibit raises to lawmakers and other state elected officials during deficit years.

State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, whose district includes Tuolumne County, stressed the need for speed last week, talking about closing state parks. His spokeswoman, Sabrina Demayo Lockhart, said Friday what he said then is still valid.

“The longer these difficult decisions are put off,” he said, “the more painful they will become. The Legislature must make priorities and take decisive action on the tough but necessary spending reductions to cushion the blow of the biggest economic meltdown since The Great Depression.”

State Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, whose district includes Calaveras County, stresses that everything has to be on the table.

“I do think the people spoke very clearly on May 19,” he said. “They don’t want any more taxes.”

    Contact Lenore Rutherford at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 588-4585.