Across-the-board cuts put greater burdens on the elderly and vulnerable

SENIORS, people with disabilities and many more of the state's most vulnerable citizens will be harmed due to the massive budget crisis here in the state of Washington. That much is assured, given the governor's order to cut 6.3 percent of state expenditures in this biennium, which runs through June 30. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) faced many tough choices in meeting this request; virtually nothing was spared a devastating cut.

One cut in particular, however, threatens both the safety of 6,000 elderly and disabled residents of our state, and the vital community safety net that Washington state has proudly built over three decades.

DSHS was forced to propose moving 6,000 current clients of home-care agencies to the "independent provider" program, where those same individuals would be forced to hire, supervise, schedule, substitute for, discipline and fire their own care provider.

Imagine your housebound grandmother, aunt or neighbor having to perform these tasks, not based on her ability or desire to supervise someone that she relies on for hands-on personal care, but on her "cognition" score. Now multiply this by 6,000 people across the state. Now factor in that more than half of agency home-care clients have multiple caregivers. That is a lot of hiring, supervision, scheduling and substitution burden to place on society's most vulnerable.

The Washington Home Care Coalition is a collection of home-care agencies serving every corner of the state. Many of our members are small, nonprofit agencies that have been providing home-care services for more than 30 years. For many years, most of these agencies have supplemented the cost of providing this care through the use of other grants and fundraising. With these cuts, the boards of each of these agencies will be making tough decisions of whether to close these safety-net programs and businesses.

Historically, home-care agencies were called upon by the state to save millions of dollars in nursing-home costs, and they have done just that. Now those same agencies are being cast aside, with undue burden being placed on clients who are largely at a nursing-home level of care.

Those agencies that remain in business, providing essential care for those not deemed "cognitive" enough to assume the burden of employer tasks, will have to lay off up to half of their staff and somehow cover their rent and other expenses on under half their current revenue. The result will be the loss of a vital part of the long-term care system in Washington state; in some smaller communities there may be absolutely no agency services available to our most vulnerable citizens.

In the face of the explosion in the elderly population that is steaming toward us, and the increase in complexity and needs of those with disabilities, we implore Gov. Chris Gregoire to reject this shortsighted proposal. Save this valued community option, which has saved the state of Washington millions of dollars over the past three decades.

Eric Erickson is president of the Washington Home Care Coalition; Jerry Reilly is chair of the Washington Eldercare Alliance.