Oregon Project Independence Cut Hurts Seniors & State Budget
Posted on 07. Oct, 2010 by Aaron Yeagle in In-Home Care
After 35 years, a program designed to help Oregon seniors stay in their homes is on the brink of elimination. Oregon Project Independence offers help with basic household tasks.
Supporters say it’s a small investment that keeps people out of assisted living facilities, which are far more expensive. It’s also a favorite target of budget cutters since it receives no federal matching dollars.
Eliminating this program would be a tremendous mistake by the state. Unfortunately, it’s a mistake the state likely has to make.
Like almost every budget cut, the overwhelming factor is, well, money. And if the state can’t front the necessary money (which it must do as evidenced below), then there really is no question as to whether the program can be kept. The real mistake? How they spent all that money in the first place.
Just like Mom and Dad teach you – save money for a rainy day. All the medicaid money that Oregon Project Independence has saved the last 35 years has clearly not been saved, at least not saved wisely. More about OPI:
Unlike many other assistance programs, Oregon Project Independence receives no federal matching funds. So when the governor ordered across-the-board cuts to the state’s general fund, programs that receive federal money didn’t exactly escape unscathed.
But, they were less vulnerable overall. Human Services had to trim $158 million from its budget.
Oregon Project Independence makes up a narrow dollar slice of that unsavory pie — $8 million. The argument that a small upfront investment saves money in the long run has been made since the day Oregon Project Independence was created.
The biggest loss is on the senior community. Especially those who do not have many family or friends to help care for them. Whether the need is for 24-hour care, a live-in caregiver, or a caregiver who comes in once or twice a week, many seniors prefer to obtain this kind of help to moving into an assisted living facility.
Seniors who wish to remain at home and don’t have the funds to do so have had a state-funded program to allow them this opportunity – one that saves the state money. If in-fact this cut goes through, we all hope OPI can be re-instated soon. Seniors, senior providers, and caregivers alike.