Elder Care Budget Cuts Bring Uncertainty to Larger Reform

Budget reductions to local adult day health care centers could be undermining state and national efforts to keep elderly individuals out of more costly long-term care facilities. Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, pays an average daily rate of $173.34 for nursing home care, compared with $76.27 per day for adult day health care. According to Gregory Franklin -- deputy director of health care operations at the Department of Health Care Services -- the state could apply for a provision under the federal health reform law that would provide more matching funds for community- and home-based care services. This report was produced by the California HealthCare Foundation's Center for Health Reporting. CHCF publishes California Healthline.

• "Cuts in Day Care for Adults Are Forcing More Into Nursing Homes" (Bazar, San Jose Mercury News, 5/1).