Legislative Watch less expensive KAFI program, which would have helped only the most needy of seniors, vanished along with the confidence that good faith promises would be kept. Forty years ago, the people of California pioneered a network of daytime support for the state’s most frail seniors as a response to widely-publicized and discouraging stories of nursing home abuse. That network of support is being systematically destroyed. ADHC is a vital benefit for all of us, taxpayers included. Without it, many seniors will be forced into nursing homes — at great personal cost to them and their families and at great economic cost to us all. A Congress of California Seniors study estimates the increased annual cost of premature institutionalization to the state will be $51.6 million. The impact on families will also be significant as children of frail seniors struggle to provide assistance while raising their own children, holding down their own jobs and watching their retirement savings melt away. The ADHC cut will result in collateral damage to retirement savings, college funds and community resources already stretched perilously
thin. How can we fail to consider the costs of more visits to hospital emergency rooms, increases in job and school absenteeism, and the anticipated surge in law enforcement responses as fraud and elder abuse further harm those least able to protect themselves? And there’s the responsibility we share when the frailest among us suffer from isolation, self-neglect, illness, and in some cases, death. This is the latest — and most damaging — blow dealt by our governor to California’s once-reliable and collaborative system of care for the fragile elderly. It is disappearing for the most vulnerable now. If it is destroyed, it will not be there for the huge and aging population of Boomers — and it will not be there for their Gen X children who will find their own futures compromised. Yamada continues to fight for ADHC. Call her. Call the Governor. Call Toby Douglas, Director of the Department of Health Care Services. He has the power to delay the cut until March. If you don’t know how or are unable to make contact, call the Project for Senior Action at 441-0449 or e-mail at psa@a1aa.org for help.
AB 574 (Lowenthal/Chesbro): Increases the number of PACE programs from 10 to 15 programs Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a comprehensive managed care system for nursing home eligible seniors age 55 and over. This program offers a full range of long term care services to recipients and receives payment from Medicare and Medicaid for low-income participants. It is administered through the California Department of Health Services and provides a substantial cost savings to the state and federal government compared to 24-hour skilled nursing care. Humboldt Senior Resource Center is currently preparing an application for a PACE program in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties.
SB 930 (Evans): Deletes the requirements to obtain fingerprints of In-Home Support Services recipients Bill is projected to save $41.6 million – half from the General Fund – in seven years. Proponents believe there is no widespread evidence of fraud, citing Department of Health Care Services’ numbers for fiscal year 2010. Of the 447,635 recipients and 405,328 providers in IHSS, DHCS received 2,548 complaints (.5 percent of recipients), opened 193 criminal investigations, closed 107 of them without action and referred 51 complaints to the Department of Justice. Additionally, a survey of nine counties that include 70 percent of IHSS caseload identified $4.15 million in overpayments (which include fraud and clerical errors) in one year – less than 0.1 percent of the $5.7 billion program.
AB 518 (Wagner) and SB 33 (Simitian) Deletes the statutory sunset (Jan. 1, 2013) of financial abuse reporting requirements.
AB 507 (Hiyashi) Makes technical and conforming changes to existing law related to pain management and controlled substances.
The AIAA Advisory Council recommends support of these proposed bills. If you wish to support, oppose or otherwise comment on legislation impacting seniors and the disabled, contact AIAA’s Project for Senior Action at 441-0449 or psa@a1aa.org. PSA provides contact information or sends your message in your words where you want it to go.
SPECIAL INSERT TO THE NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, OCT. 6, 2011
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