RE: Oppose Elimination of MSSP Program
January 24, 2011
Honorable Holly J. Mitchell
Chair, Assembly Budget on Health and Human Services Subcommittee
Capitol Building, Room 6026
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assemblywoman Mitchell:
Disability Rights California, a non-profit advocacy organization mandated to advance the human and legal rights of people with disabilities, opposes the governor’s proposed elimination of the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, all of whose clients are seniors with disabilities. The MSSP program, along with In-Home Supportive Services and Adult Day Health Centers, is a cost-effective program which helps give these seniors what we all want: the choice to live in our own homes, integrated into our communities, rather than in an institution, segregated from all that we hold dear. These programs also give the taxpayers what they want: the best use of public funds. Further, these home and community based services are what the US Supreme Court ordered states to provide in the 1999 case known as Olmstead, in which the Court affirmed that unnecessary institutionalization violates the “integration mandate” of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To say that MSSP is modestly funded is an understatement. Its benefit as virtually the only case-management resource for seniors on Medi-Cal outweighs its cost to the general fund. If MSSP disappears, and even a small portion of its users go instead to nursing homes as a result of that cut and other cuts, the resulting cost to the general fund will make home and community based services look like the relative bargain they are.
We strongly recommend that every alternative to these cuts be explored, including the adoption of a unified long term care budget, with a mandated preference for the home and community based services, which are preferred by seniors and others with disabilities and are cost-effective. California is spending an enormous amount of money on nursing home care for people who could live more cheaply and happily in their communities; this is not just speculation, it is demonstrated by credible research and by the successful transitions of nursing home residents from institution to home, with low-cost help from projects around the state.
We urge the Committee to reject the elimination of MSSP, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss alternatives. Thank you for considering this request.
Sincerely,
Deborah Doctor
Legislative Advocate
Disability Rights California
CC: Honorable Members of the Assembly Budget on Health and Human Services Subcommittee
CC: Nicole Vazquez, Consultant, Assembly Budget on Health and Human Services Subcommittee
CC: Andrea Margolis, Consultant, Assembly Budget on Health and Human Services Subcommittee