Our Vision Statement: Disability Rights California will create individual and family supports, chosen and directed by the person with a disability

Disability Rights California

November 12, 2008

Call to action

The Governor’s proposed budget cuts are bad for people with disabilities.  He proposes to make deep cuts to vital health and human services programs.  Low-income Californians with disabilities in these difficult economic times can not afford to lose vital services and have programs cut. If enacted, the multiple and drastic cuts will make it more difficult if not impossible for people with disabilities to live independent and productive lives in their communities.

Please call or write your legislator and the Governor today and let them know what you think about the proposed cuts. 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160 (new number)
email: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact

Locate your state representative’s telephone number and address: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

Find out more about the cuts: http://www.disabilityrightsca.org/news/Disability_Rights_California-2008-11-06.htm

Of particular concern are:

Developmental Disability Services

  • Lower payments to regional center service providers by 3 percent meaning some service providers may go out of business leaving regional center clients with fewer or no options for needed services.
  • Allow larger regional center client to service coordinator ratios meaning less attention to clients and higher turnover in staff due to increased work loads.

SSI/SSP

  • Cut SSI/SSP payments by approximately $77 per month, leaving people who are already very low income with even less income per month.

Medi-Cal

  • Elimination of some Medi-Cal services: such as dental services for adults, acupuncture, chiropractic services, speech and audiology services, optometry services, optician/optical laboratory services, podiatry services, psychology services, incontinence creams and washes. People will have to go without or go to emergency rooms – at great cost to the state – when they are in a medical crisis.
  • Elimination of the Medi-Cal Aged & Disabled Federal Poverty Level (FPL) program is planned, which allows people with income up to 127% of FPL to qualify for Medi-Cal.
  • Undocumented immigrants who currently get restricted scope Medi-Cal will only be able to get emergency room services, time-limited breast and cervical cancer treatment, pregnancy-related and postpartum care, and nursing facility care. They will have to reapply for services every month.
  • Cut full scope Medi-Cal benefits to some categories of newly “qualified” immigrants, including immigrants who are PRUCOL (Permanently Residing in the U.S. Under Color of Law). During the first five years of being qualified, they would receive only restricted scope Medi-Cal, similar to that received by immigrants who are undocumented.
  • Roll back the income eligibility for "1931(b)" Medi-Cal—the eligibility category for low-income families; the income ceiling for applicants would be reduced from the current level of 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 72 percent of the federal poverty level.
  • Reinstate the "100-hour rule", which bars Medi-Cal coverage for people working more than 100 hours per month.

CAPI

  • Cut the Cash Assistance Program (CAPI) for Immigrants which provides cash assistance to immigrant seniors and persons with disabilities who do not qualify for federal SSI. CAPI serves as a lifeline for people who rely on the grant to secure housing, food and other basic needs.

IHSS

  • For some people, take away IHSS domestic and related services such as meal preparation, laundry, food shopping, and cleaning. Losing these services will mean that some people will not be safe in their homes and others will be forced into nursing homes or other institutions.
  • Decrease state participation for IHSS wages and benefits to $8.00 per hour + up to 60 cents/hour for benefits, so fewer providers may be available to provide needed services so a person can remain safely at home.
  • Eliminate the IHSS share of cost buy-out for some people resulting in a share of cost for them of several hundred dollars.

Education

  • Cuts to general education are large and will have an impact on general education teachers and services that special education students also need, such as access to regular education programs.

CalWORKS

  • Reduce the CalWORKS grant by 10%.  This means that the maximum grant for family of 3 would go from $723 to $651 a month, less than the grant amount in 1989.

Food Assistance

  • Eliminate state funded Food Stamps for legal immigrants.