Annabel Palma Joins Coalition of Advocates, Caregivers Against Homecare Cuts

City Council Member Annabel Palma

NY City Council Member Annabel Palma, advocates and caregivers held a press conference on the steps of City Hall on March 8 to oppose a State Executive Budget proposal that would limit the hours of personal care available to seniors and people with disabilities. The proposal would require those receiving more than 12 hours a day of Medicaid-funded personal care to switch to other programs. Because of limitations in the other programs, advocates say the proposed cap would force people into nursing homes, violating the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"I oppose the State's proposed personal care cap because it will hurt seniors and people with disabilities, along with the dedicated home attendants that care for them,” said Palma. “Hundreds of home care workers in my district could lose their jobs and benefits if this policy is instituted. The relatively small projected budgetary savings cannot justify the likely harm to thousands of New York's most vulnerable residents."

Marilyn Saviola is a home care client and advocate. She’s the director of Independence Care Systems and relies on personal care to live and work in her own home.

“If it weren’t for the 24-hour care I receive,” Savola said, “I’d have to live in a nursing home, instead of in the comfort of my own home where I can continue to work and contribute to society. As the population ages and as people with disabilities are living longer, these services are becoming more essential.”

Marilyn Saviola, home care client and advocate

Thousands of New Yorkers depend on the personal care program to provide care for their loved ones. Diane Agranoff’s mother suffers from Parkinson’s and receives continuous 24-hour personal care services through Selfhelp Community Services. “Today is my mother’s 83rd birthday,” said Agranoff. “Like most people, she wished for her autumn years to be a time of relaxing with family after a long life of work.

“Now my mom’s birthday wish is just to be able to stay in her own home, and not be forced into an institution. Let’s make sure Albany grants her wish by not passing a proposal that would balance the budget on the backs of people with disabilities,” said Agranoff.

Valerie Bogart, an attorney with SelfHelp Community Services that represents home care clients seeking services through the personal care program said, “The people that receive these services are the ones that need a lot of care, people with severe disabilities. It’s not easy to get approved for the personal care program and we put a lot of work into helping people get this high level of care, but now the government is proposing to take it away. We need to look at the bigger picture of long term care and protect services that are essential to the wellbeing of so many of our citizens.”

Caregivers will also be negatively impacted if this proposal is implemented, as New York City’s personal care program, called the home attendant program, is covered by a living wage law. Caregivers in other programs are often paid minimum wage.

Carol Buckley Singh, home care worker

“If this proposal passes, I’ll either have to leave my client of almost five years or take a $2 per hour wage cut,” said caregiver Carol Buckley Singh. “After providing the best care I can for my client, it would be very hard for me to leave her. She would lose the quality of care that I provide and five years of day-to-day knowledge that I can share with her health care providers. I’m speaking for thousands of workers when I say this proposal is bad for our clients and for us as caregivers.”

“The state is proposing to take jobs from a program where workers receive a living wage and over 80 percent of Medicaid money is spent on direct care, and send them to a subcontract system where workers make minimum wage and half of Medicaid dollars go to profits and administration,” said 1199SEIU Executive Vice President Aida Garcia. “It won’t save the state very much money, but it will cost our members and their clients dearly.”

Caregivers and advocates will continue to fight to protect home care services for seniors and people with disabilities and to push for positive budget solutions.