Funding Cut for Nursing Home Ombudsman Program Draws Fire
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) elimination of $3.8 million in state funds for California's long-term care ombudsman program is being criticized by at least one nursing home advocacy group, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
The governor used his line-item veto authority to remove the funds from the state budget that he signed in September. The ombudsman program investigates elder abuse accusations and other cases for California nursing home residents.
Pat McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that the cut is particularly troubling for some ombudsman efforts because the cut is retroactive to July 1. Some programs already had spent money that they expected to recoup from the state, McGinnis said (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 10/15).
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