Cuts and Confusion
State budget cuts weighing heavily on the disabled
(Aug. 20, 2009) Eight protesters spread out along the sidewalk outside of state Sen. Pat Wiggins’ and state Assembleymember Wes Chesbro’s shared Eureka digs on E Street last week, holding signs that stated pretty clear displeasure with the legislators’ recent budget cut votes and the Governor’s subsequent line-item vetoes. Among other things, the lawmakers’ actions cut millions from the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Program and — apparently most repugnant to the protesters — approved of measures to nab suspected fraudsters in the program.
“Our health, our homes, our lives are now budget cuts!” said one sign. “Sacramento to people with disabilities: Drop dead or leave,” said another. And there was this one, about the reforms: “Unannounced home visits are Gestapo tactics!”
The nearly $2 billion IHSS program serves more than 400,000 people statewide and employs close to the same number. The Governor has stated that IHSS loses as much as 25 percent of its money to fraud — a figure that’s been heavily disputed.
The reforms call for fingerprinting of both caregivers and recipients, background checks on caregivers (to be paid for by the caregivers, who often make minimum wage) and unannounced home visits. They also ban the use of post office boxes for receiving IHSS checks, and require hiring ranks of state fraud investigators.
Glenn Reed, with the nonprofit advocacy group Tri-County Independent Living (which helped organize the protest), said the reforms and cuts stink in light of the legislature giving corporations $2 billion in tax breaks.
“If you’re going to fingerprint minimum-wage care providers — members of the community — let’s fingerprint and do criminal background checks and unannounced visits on some elected officials and on recipients of the tax breaks,” he said.
Yet even if the magnitude of the fraud has been exaggerated by the budget-hole motivated Governor, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any.
TR Wilson, who sat in the shade in his wheelchair at the protest, actually didn’t seem opposed to the notion of fraud-busting — despite the big sign someone had propped on his feet that said “Corporations get tax breaks and we get fraud accusations!” (Wilson said he didn’t actually know what his sign said.)
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TWO Comments
Comment / By Good info / Aug. 20, 2009, 10:41 a.m.
It is so nice to see real information on this situation. It’s true that a number of IHSS clients have had the caregivers they hire rip them off. It’s not always so easy to find reliable people and what sounds good may end up being bad- no real way to check before hiring. One of the things you won’t hear from the people who gave comments as honestly concerned individuals, is that there is a small (very small) group of people who receive IHSS money by reported themselves under another ID as a person providing services. Being disabled does not confer sainthood- there are the same percentage of bad apples there as in the general population.
Comment / By Bert Reid / Aug. 21, 2009, 9:10 p.m.
1 above has hit it on the head - there is fraud of similar proportions in any group. The low pay is a big problem for each care worker. Happily, some care workers are paid privately by clients themselves and make greater than minimum wage but there are problems for clients even in that group. We (care workers) need to keep our hands off of our clients possessions and monies but some succumb to the temptations. My client has lost medications, as well as money and possessions due to theft by workers in the past. Low pay is no excuse for any of these actions. AND finger printing with background checks will not weed out the person who finds themselves in a bind and faced with temptation who has no prior record. Records are only for the caught - a sad but hard truth. Ask any policeman, new records are created every day. I do hope that there will be fewer problems by culling the ones with records…and maybe making others think twice about getting a record. My hopes are not high.
I have it easier than many. The hat I was wearing was cut off in the picture but it said “US Navy Retired.” I have a little more freedom than many of my co-workers as I am already drawing a pension, young kid that I am. I also have health care for life to help out with the inevitable illnesses but most of my co-workers are on Medicare and/or Medical just like the people we care for. In times of illness or injury many can only go to the emergency room as having a family doctor and paying for high priced visits plus medications are not in the plans.
And yes there is fraud among the recipients as well. But the recipients are screened by IHSS before getting into the program so I can only believe that the government is saying that their own system of screening is full of fraudulent screeners as well. Where will we find this perfect system of perfect screeners to clean this problem up???????
Oh! That’s right. We have a perfect governor. Never mind – The Problem IS Solved!!!!!!!
Bert