Massachusetts Governor Decides Not To Cut Funding for Senior Home Health Services

Massachusetts' senior home health care program, which helps about 35,000 low-income elderly residents with daily tasks and transportation to medical appointments, will not lose state funding as part of outgoing Gov. Jane Swift's (R) budget cuts, the Boston Globe reports. The program has twice before been recommended as an area to cut. In October, Swift rejected the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs' recommendation to cut $6.5 million from the health care service program to pare down services to a bare minimum. Senior home health advocates lauded the decision, and said an "intense" lobbying effort "successfully convey[ed] the message" that "cutting home care would drive more low-income seniors to nursing homes." Maintaining the home services program, which has a $130 million annual budget, is a priority for the governor, Jim Borghesani, the governor's press secretary, said. He added, "It was not on the table because the governor wanted to protect every direct service program that she could. She ultimately decided that this was a program she would not cut" (Helman, Boston Globe, 12/11). Over the last two years, Swift's administration has eliminated health care services as a result of more than $500 million in budget reductions for the state's human services programs. Swift made the cuts to offset a $3 billion deficit, and when Gov.-elect Mitt Romney (R) takes office, he will likely face a deficit of $1.5 billion, which would necessitate more cuts (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 11/4).