UDW Says IHSS is a Budget Solution, Not a Budget Problem

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued by Doug Moore, executive director of the 65,000-member UDW Homecare Providers Union/AFSCME Local 3930, in response to Gov. Brown's proposed budget cuts in the In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program:

"We are disheartened by Gov. Brown's proposed cuts in IHSS. Californians value services for the elderly and disabled. That's why California has been the leader nationally in home and community based care through the IHSS program. We had hoped that the governor would lead a critical discussion of what California's long-term care system should look like in the 21st century.

"Unfortunately, the governor has proposed instead more of the same program cuts that have destabilized IHSS under the previous administration. At a time when Democrats in Washington, D.C. are trying to save health care reform and provide more opportunities for home and community based care, California is being pushed in the opposite direction.

"While we understand the severity of our state's budget crisis, the fact is that IHSS is a budget solution, not a budget problem.  IHSS saves California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year by keeping people out of nursing homes (nursing home care costs at least five times more than IHSS home care).  It also brings billions of dollars in Federal matching funds. And by keeping people in their communities and out of institutions, IHSS recipients and those who care for them contribute significantly to the local economy.

"Cuts in IHSS are penny wise and pound-foolish. We hope that legislators will stand up and protect the elderly and disabled of our state from this ill-conceived proposal."

Contact: Steve Mehlman, Communications Director

916-583-7002, 916-804-2569 (cell)

SOURCE UDW Homecare Providers Union