Seniors, Advocates Urge Lawmakers Not To Cut Adult Day Health Care
Health care advocates and California's elderly are urging state lawmakers to hold off on proposed budget cuts that could end publicly funded adult day health care services for about 37,000 residents, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Â
Proposed Cuts
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has proposed reducing state spending by $500 million by limiting Medi-Cal benefits and implementing cuts to services for low-income elderly residents and individuals with disabilities. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.
Advocates Weigh In
Critics have said losing state funding would negatively affect seniors in the adult day health care program and their families.
Adrian Sutrisno, administrator for Golden Acres Adult Day Health Care Center, said if the funding dries up, "most of these people will likely be institutionalized at an even greater expense to the taxpayers."
Advocates are appealing to legislators to reject the proposed cuts as they have in recent years, when former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) made similar proposals (Castro, Los Angeles Daily News, 2/15).
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