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Area Seniors Fight Back Against Proposed Cuts to Home Care For the Elderly

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Seniors in southern Illinois are calling on Illinois legislators to halt Governor Bruce Rauner's plan to change senior care.

Rauner's proposal will change the Community Care Program, slashing a possible 120 million dollars and calling it the Community Reinvestment Program.
While Illinois is in financial crisis, advocates for seniors say this budget cut won't help.
Marsha Nelson is President of Illinois Council of Case Coordination Units.
 
"We feel that 120 million will be fourfold with the fact that it will be absorbed into the nursing home cost that our seniors will be forced in to."
 
Some 36,000 seniors who are *not* on Medicaid will be effected by this. Many, could be forced to move into nursing homes because they won't be able to afford home health care.

Ruby Popejoy is one of them.
 
"Without home healthcare to come in, I'd be by myself all the time. And, I'm not very good by myself. So I sure do appreciate the help I get from my daughter and others that work for the home care, and I appreciate all they do."
 
Advocates say this cut will be about 31 percent across the board but on a case by case basis.

A committee will take up the proposal as soon as next month.
 

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