The Governor’s budget proposal for state fiscal year 2012 included two severe cuts to the Medicaid Choices for Care (CFC) Program:
- A 56% reduction in the maximum weekly hours allowed for assistance with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (from 4.5 hours to 2 hours)
- A 50% reduction in the maximum yearly hours for Respite/Companionship (from 720 hours to 360 hours)
The administration’s position was that family members, neighbors, churches and others needed to “step up to the plate” to help out more, to fill the gap in services that these cuts would have caused. They also testified that they did not believe the cuts would cause anyone affected by them to have to move into a nursing home or other, more expensive care.
COVE knew that family, friend, neighbors and churches were already providing a tremendous amount of assistance, and that these cuts would indeed force some CFC recipients into institutions. We fought the cuts in the Legislature, and in the end, all of the money was restored.
One of our strategies was to collect stories about the very frail and vulnerable people who would have been affected by the cuts. We worked with the Area Agencies on Aging and the Vermont Association of Home Health Agencies, and their case managers sent us the stories collected here. We found them very compelling, and we trust that you will, too.
