Photo: Aurelia Ventura / Impremedia / Real America News
Do you or a family member need home health care? Do you think home care could be a better alternative for a loved one who is now in a nursing home?
This is an issue that affects many of us. I recently hosted a town hall phone meeting where I heard from several of our neighbors about their desire to receive home care for their family members or to increase the number of home care hours they already receive. It is an issue that is personal to me, because my mother also receives care at home.
Home and community health services help older people and people with disabilities to live with dignity and independence . They help people avoid placement in a nursing home or other institutional group care facilities. This is especially important now, given the great impact that the Covid- 19 has had in nursing home residents across the country.
In California, the home support services program (IHSS in English) provides home health care to elderly and disabled people. More of 600,000 Californians use this program, funded by Medi-Cal.
If you receive IHSS but still need more hours of home care, there is a federally funded waiver program that provides assistance extra so that patients can stay safely at home. That means that even if you receive the maximum of 238 hours under IHSS, may qualify for more hours under federal program Home and Community Based Alternatives Waiver (HCBA Waiver).
Improving and expanding Medicaid funded home and community based services has been a priority for the Biden Administration, for me and to many of my colleagues in the California Congressional Delegation.
When Congress passed The American Rescue Plan Act, we temporarily increased Federal funding for state home and community-based services programs to enable this expansion in IHSS coverage in California and other states. I am working to ensure that the HCBA waiver program is further expanded in President Biden’s Build Back Better reconciliation legislation.
The state of California has proposed to renew our HCBA waiver program, and I guided my colleagues in the California Congressional Delegation in he sent a letter urging the state to expand it so that more people in our state can benefit.
We recommend that the California Department of Health increase the number of people who can obtain these exemptions, reduce the time it takes to apply and enroll , increase community awareness of the program and make other improvements.
Allowing our elderly and disabled people to receive care at home is more comfortable and is a safer alternative to nursing homes and other institutions.
We must do all we can to allow Californians to take advantage of health care options at home and in the community.
Congresswoman Nanette Díaz Barragán represents since 2017 in Washington to the District 44 California, which includes Carson , Compton , East Compton , East Rancho Dominguez , Lynwood , North Long Beach , San Pedro , South Gate , Watts , Walnut Park , West Rancho Dominguez , Willowbrook , and Wilmington .