I-1163 Saves Taxpayers Millions
Thousands of Medicaid-eligible, low-income seniors and people with disabilities who qualify for expensive nursing home care voluntarily choose to remain in their own homes. It allows them to stay connected to their families and communities, while saving taxpayers millions. But without qualified and trained caregivers, these vulnerable people would be forced into nursing homes—and cost the state millions more.
If a home care client is forced to leave their home and find a nursing home, the cost to the state skyrockets. While the average cost of care through home and community-based services is about $1,600 per month, housing someone at a nursing home is well over double that, at $4,200 per month. If even a fraction of the more than 47,000 people who receive home and community-based services every month in Washington are forced into a nursing home because they can’t find a well-trained caregiver, taxpayers will lose out.
And helping our ailing seniors and people with disabilities to stay in their own homes is absolutely critical to preserving their quality of life. It allows them to maintain their dignity and sense of independence, while avoiding the disruption and loss of emotional stability that institutionalization often causes.
Basic training for long-term care workers is vital to making sure that our seniors get the quality care they deserve. The needs of those who receive home care are expanding and becoming more complex, even while those who care for them receive significantly less training than the barber who cuts your hair.
As a result, while abuse and neglect cases have increased, so have emergency room visits and expensive emergency care that could have been prevented. With just basic training, many of these costly incidents and procedures can be avoided, further aiding in the state’s budget crunch. And again, it helps those receiving care maintain their independence and their dignity.
While the training and protections for home care clients restored in 1163 represent common sense steps to ensure the safety and quality of care for more than 47,000 of Washington most vulnerable, these steps also significantly cut the state’s costs while expanding access to health care.
