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Carl Fry
From: Great Bend, Barton County
Impact of Budget Cuts: Lowered Protected Income Level
LOC Score: 38
Senator: Ruth Teichman (33rd)
Representative: John Edmonds (112th)
I am a disabled individual who lives in his own apartment in Great Bend, Kansas. I receive approximately $770 per month from Social Security Disability, and I receive services under the Home and Community Based Services Physical Disability waiver.
I am most concerned about SRS's change in policy concerning
the protected income level from the current amount of $715
down to $645 per month. This will have me sending in
approximately $125 per month in order to keep my Medicaid
and HCBS! Maybe $125 does not sound like a lot
to many people, but to me it could mean the difference
between having important medicines and treatments or having
enough groceries for the entire month. I need these
medicines and treatments, which Medicaid does not pay, for
my arthritis and thus be able to get out of bed each
morning. Seriously, $125 will currently buy
me enough groceries to last approximately 10-14 days - take
that away in the form of having to pay back to SRS for
services, and I'm not sure what will happen. To be
fair, yes I am currently paying back approx. $55 per month
in the form of a spend-down/client obligation amount and
that in itself hurts enough - but, add another $70 to the
amount I have to pay back each month and I am worried!
I just do not understand why I cannot have some of the same rights and privileges as other citizens in our State. I certainly am not and will not be getting "rich" on my current SSDI income, and with this proposal of an increased spend-down, I will not be able to have or enjoy many of the other simple pleasures that other citizens enjoy. Instead, I have to worry about being able to pay my rent, utilities, groceries, unpaid medicine, and other expenses each month. Why do we always have to try and balance our government budgets on the backs of the most needy citizens of our State and Nation - the elderly and the disabled? I did not ask to be disabled, and would gladly change places with any politician who thinks I do not have the right to exist, live in my own home/apartment of my own choosing, and to be able to live with dignity and pride in the greatest Nation in the world. Spend one week with me, and then maybe you will understand our (disabled) concerns and even fears of living, and of life on a daily basis/struggle. Please do not add to my burdens - leave the protected income level where it is/has been, at $715 per month, or maybe even raise it to $750 per month!
Janice Blalack l Contents l John Jump/Roger Carter
Statewide Independent Living Council of
Kansas
www.silck.org
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