No Budget: Seniors Needing Home Care Services Are Put On Waiting Lists
Todays the Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts faces an additonal $600 million midyear budget deficit,after deep cuts in human services were made earlier this year. A recent statewide mandate requires that elders needing home care services would be put on waiting lists, except for those who are in need of medical care.
One non-profit home care agency that provides services to low income elders reports about 125 elders on their waiting list. This is troubling to Al Norman, executive director of Mass Home Care, an umbrella organization for elder-services agencies across the state. “It’s sort of been the year of living dangerously for seniors,’’ Norman said. “We expect that by June of 2010 we can be looking at a list of about 5,000 elders. This could be the worst year since 1974, when the home-care program was created.’’
Norman said that so far this fiscal year, basic home care services were cut by $10.7 million, about 7 percent, Norman estimated, adding that he anticipates more cuts to follow. Seniors who are denied home-care assistance could needlessly end up in institutional facilities, such as rehabilitation, rest, or nursing homes, which would end up costing the taxpayers more money, Norman said.
