A legislative proposal to cap the number of hours of home care disabled folks could receive has been withdrawn.
Consumers, home-care attendants and advocates rallied at the Capitol last week to protest the measure, which Missouri Home Care Union spokesman Joe Lawrence says would have put thousands of Missourians in harm’s way.
Opponents of the cap, a proposal of the Nixon administration and a provision in House Bill 1918, they say “would severely limit the amount of assistance available to consumers, who depend on the service so they can remain living independently in their homes rather than face no alternative but going into a nursing facility.”
The recipients of home health care, their providers and advocates of the program say hour allotments are already inadequate, forcing attendants to work without pay in order to safely assist consumers.
“Under the proposal, nearly every recipient’s assistance would have been limited to less than two hours per day, a drastic drop from what thousands now receive.”
Joe Lawrence with the Missouri Home Care Union says, “While the most troubling proposal, the hours cap, has been withdrawn, home care advocates remain concerned about other measures. The groups are also apprehensive that as the measure advances through the legislature, funding cuts and other proposals limiting the quality and amount of assistance may be included.”