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Jean Alvarez
Age: 62
From: Arma, Crawford County
Impact of Budget Cuts: Lowered Protected Income
LOC Score: 52
Senator: Jim Barone (13th)
Representative: Robert Grant (2nd)
My name is Jean Alvarez and I am a 62-year-old female with numerous health problems. I receive Home and Community Based Services, which allow me to remain independent in my home rather than being placed in a nursing home. The budget cuts and changes to the Medicaid program have made this option very difficult for me. I now pay a monthly obligation of $142.00. This is due to a change in my accountable income. This change has forced me to decide what is more important; in-home assistance or food. It is very difficult to make an entire new budget each month when you are on a fixed income. These changes are not affecting persons who have the means to care for themselves, but instead have placed the burden on the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. I would like for my voice to be heard regarding these changes, and I ask that theses cuts be looked at very closely before a decision is made. Persons such as myself cannot take another increase in what we have to pay to remain independent. I ask that you not force people with disabilities into nursing homes.
Carol Rhea
From: Baxter Springs, Cherokee County
Impact of Budget Cuts: HCBS Waiver Freezes/Waiting List
LOC Score: 36
Senator: Dwayne Umbarger (14th)
Representative: Doug Gatewood (1st)
I am on oxygen 24 hours a day. I have Congestive
Heart Failure, Diabetes, COPT, lung and breathing problems
and high blood pressure. I cannot do my own shopping
and I need transportation. I cannot clean my
house. I have many medications and I cannot do the
basic living tasks that I need. I need assistance
with all aspects of daily living from cleaning to
cooking. I cannot stand at the stove long enough to
cook 95% of the time. My children have to take
time from their own families, that need them in their own
homes, to provide care to keep me from having to go to a
nursing home. I was assessed for HCBS on
August 13, 2002. I met the criteria for HCBS, but was
put on a waiting list. Since I was put on the waiting
list my conditions have turned worse. I am now
getting close to being forced into a nursing home because
my children are taking more time away from their own
families. I feel that it is discriminating that
the State will provide care for me to live in a nursing
home." The nursing home is very expensive and
I would be left in a wheelchair in the hallway for hours at
a time just to rot away, rather than provide services in my
own home that would allow me choices and be more cost
effective. I used to be a productive citizen
paying employment taxes and sales taxes like everyone
else. I am still a taxpayer and a
citizen. I was put on a waiting list for
HCBS when I should have been able to receive these services
when I met the criteria, the same criteria that the State
will use to put me in and pay for a nursing home. This is
downright discrimination against me. Do the right
thing and let me live in my own home with the minimal
amount of services to meet my needs.
Richard January l Contents l Rhonda Rogers/Ronald Murphy
Statewide Independent Living Council of
Kansas
www.silck.org
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