In a column in the Oakland [CA] Tribune, Washington insiders Cokie and Steven V. Roberts call for approval of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act. The measure, part of the health care bill, would allow workers to pay into a fund that would then pay a stipend if they become disabled.

CLASS, they say, could “make all the difference” for families facing the economic and emotional stress of long-term disability. It could allow an elderly person to pay for care at home instead of being forced to go into a nursing facility, or for a family caregiver to get help at home that would allow them to keep their day job. Presently, the Roberts’ say, many elderly and disabled people must impoverish themselves in order to qualify for government assistance. An excerpt:

How can pushing people into nursing homes be better than letting them stay in their houses? As a caller to a public radio program on the CLASS plan asked, “Why not try something where I can exercise my own responsibility for my future?”

Why not, indeed?

Cokie Roberts is a political commentator for ABC News and a senior news analyst for National Public Radio. Steven V. Roberts appears regularly on CNN, PBS and the ABC radio network, and hosts Voice of America’s “The Roberts Report.”

Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times, Oakland Tribune, and elsewhere:

A federal judge on Monday halted a California budget plan to cut or reduce caregiver services for 130,000 seniors and people with disabilities.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken sided with plaintiffs in a class action suit who had argued that the state had not developed a fair method for determining whose services were to be cut.  She issued a temporary injunction against the plan, which was intended to cut $82.1 million from in-home support services, and ordered the state to send out notices reassuring people that their services will not be cut on Nov. 1.

Under the judge’s order, the cuts are halted pending future hearings on the lawsuit filed by groups representing senior citizens, people with disabilities, and members of caregivers’ union. The decision is seen as a victory for disability advocates and unions that represent in-home workers.

Earlier posts here.

From the Boston Globe:

A Massachusetts program overseeing home health aides for seniors and people with disabilities is marked by fraud and crime, according to a report from the state’s auditor. Some home health workers were found to have committed felonies, including manslaughter, assault, and threatening to commit murder.

Auditors also found that Massachusetts’ Medicaid program is one of only 4 in the country that has no job requirements for personal care attendants.

State Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci said the findings should prompt the program to establish job requirements, including training and criminal background checks, like virtually every similar program in the nation.

State health officials claimed bias in the data sample, which was based on 30 patients whose cases had previously been reviewed for fraud by the federal government. Among those 30 patients, the report found $207,283 in overpayments to attendants over a four-year period. Fourteen of the 30 patients had hired attendants with criminal records, including 12 attendants involved with violent crimes and ten who had committed robbery.

From the Los Angeles Times’ LA Now blog:

Advocates filed suit in federal court in San Francisco today to block more than $53 million in impending California budget cuts that would eliminate or drastically reduce the in-home services received by more than 130,000 disabled and elderly people. Among services to be cut are help with cooking, food shopping, cleaning and assistance to medical appointments.

The lawsuit is the latest coordinated effort designed to delay tens of millions of dollars in expected budget cuts to health and human services.

Joining in the suit are Disability Rights California, Disability Rights Legal Center, National Senior Citizens Law Center and the National Health Law Program. A similar lawsuit last summer held off pay cuts for about 400,000 in-home support service workers.

Rebecca L. Taylor, an Ohio direct care worker, writes in the Chillicothe [OH] Gazette that her clients with developmental disabilities face discrimination and dismissive neglect when seeking help from medical professionals and emergency room staff.

She says she expects doctors and nurses to “treat these persons with the same dignity and respect you and I command from such professionals.”

… After speaking with many colleagues, I have found this not only is a deep frustration of mine, but also many other caregivers. This type of health care is obsolete and should not be stood for. A health care professional should be exactly that, professional. They should view each new patient as equally as important as the next, despite individual differences and uniqueness.

By Emily Ramshaw in the Dallas Morning News, AP/Houston Chronicle:

Disability advocates say medically fragile Texas children are being forced into institutions when they reach adulthood rather than continuing to receive home care, despite a state provision that was designed to keep them in their homes.

Advocates say state officials are interpreting the provision so narrowly that almost no one can qualify. Since the measure went into effect two years ago, the only people who have qualified are those who sued to get funding.

In one case, a young man died within a day of moving to a nursing home. His longtime doctor had warned the state that he was too fragile to live in an institution. The cause of death is still under investigation.

(more…)

From the New York Times:

A national survey finds that the economic crisis has dealt a heavy blow to the estimated 44 million Americans who care for an aging or disabled relative or spouse.

One in six caregivers surveyed by the National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare, a division of the UnitedHealth Group,  said they had lost a job during the downturn. Some 21 percent said they had to share housing with family members to save money. At the same time, government and non-profit organizations that usually provide relief are being cut in the downturn.

Teresa Denk, 59, who provides constant care for her 92-year-old father in Rainbow City, AL, said she is unable to work fulltime while caring for her father. The money she could make working part-time would not be enough to pay for home care. Ms. Denk said, “Agencies charge a minimum of $15 an hour … I might be able to earn $8 to $10 an hour.”

See also:

Most carers ‘hit breaking point’ — BBC News

Earlier post here.