To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Jerry Brown's budget will doom the disabilty community
Every year, we have to go to Sacramento to fight these cuts. This year the struggle is even more important; IHSS recipients will be shoved into managed care without understanding that they may lose their freedom to hire, train and fire our own workers. We may lose the ability to be active in the communities where we live. Many of us have complex medical issues that we have worked with our own doctors for 20 or 30 years. Imagine going to a doctor who has no idea how to help you. That is what managed care will bring. And people will die. I ask you to stop this madness. Furthermore I really do not see how adding more bueaucracy will save money.
Why is this important?
Governor Jerry Brown is racing his plan to put all Medicare AND Medicaid recipients into managed care. This means that we could lose the ability to choose our own workers We may have to live according to a schedule of the managed care plan. There is even language in the plans that mentions the words "in home institutionalization"! We are not sick. We have physical or cognitive limitations, why should our own homes become mini nursing homes?