UPDATE ON CBAS/ADHC FUNDING
Well done, Alzheimer’s Orange County Advocates!
We celebrate an enormous WIN! Please contact your representatives to say “Thank You!”
Thanks to the efforts of so many warrior advocates, we have successfully beat back budget cuts to the programs so important to the older adults and families we serve.
Governor Newsom and the California Legislature announced on June 22 that a final budget agreement was reached that will preserve the vital programs many older adults rely on for safety and well-being. We thank the Governor and the Legislature for the wisdom of preserving community-based programs that play a critical role in keeping frail, at-risk older adults in their homes, and out of institutional care in Skilled Nursing Facilities.
The programs impacted include:
- Home and Community-Based Services This budget preserves Adult Day Health Care/Community Based Adult Services (CBAS), the Multi-Purpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). Maintaining these programs reduces the need for older adults to seek care in nursing homes or other congregate settings.
- Medi-Cal Coverage This budget preserves essential Medi-Cal coverage for seniors and people with disabilities with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.
- Other Important Senior Programs This budget preserves senior nutrition (Meals on Wheels), Caregiver Resource Centers, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and aging and disability resource centers.
While this budget agreement preserves existing programs older Californians need, without increased revenues, these critically important programs are still vulnerable to budget cuts in January 2021. Our advocacy and education of elected officials must continue. But for now, we can rightfully celebrate California’s preservation of existing support for older adults. Thank you for the role YOU played in convincing our Governor and Legislature to do the RIGHT THING for our most vulnerable older adults!
Please CALL or e-mail your State representatives today and thank them for supporting these programs.
What is ADHC?
Adult Day Health Care or ADHC provides critical services to older adults and individuals who face challenges of serious health problems such as dementia, chronic medical diagnoses, mental illness or brain injury.
Why Saving it Matters
Eliminating CBAS/ADHC will leave over 37,000 people—mostly older adults—in grave danger across the state including nearly 3,000 frail seniors served by these centers in Orange County.
This funding represents more than 80% of the income to the day centers owned by Alzheimer’s Orange County and if these cuts prevail our programs will NOT survive.
Learn more in this OC Register article.
How To Help
CALL your CA State Senator and CA Assemblymember today to voice your support of the budget deal the Legislature has sent to the Governor and thank them for their support of Adult Day Health Care/CBAS and MSSP. View elected officials’ contact info here.
Contact the Governor:
Go to https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/ Enter your name, email, and choose option “Budget Proposal 2020-21” You will then be able to send a message to the Governor. Here is a suggested message:
“I support the Legislature’s budget proposal which PRESERVES funding for Adult Day Health Care/CBAS, MSSP, and the Caregiver Resource Centers. These effective and cost-effective programs must be part of the California Plan for addressing the current and future needs of our aging population.”
Click here to view proposed budget post COVID by the Governor. CBAS starts on page 61 of the Budget Summary.
Share your experience with Adult Day Centers and how you’re family depends on them in the form below.
Fill out and send to aaron.gutierrez@alzoc.org to submit testimonials in Spanish, Vietnamese or Korean.
Điền vào và gửi đến aaron.gutierrez@alzoc.org để gửi lời chứng thực bằng tiếng Tây Ban Nha, tiếng Việt hoặc tiếng Hàn.
스페인어, 베트남어 또는 한국어로 증명서를 제출하려면 aaron.gutierrez@alzoc.org를 작성하여 보내십시오.
