NC Senate follows governor with personal care cuts
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Senate is following North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue’s lead to get the attention of providers of personal care services for Medicaid patients by imploding those programs in the chamber’s budget.
The Senate Appropriations Committee debated on Tuesday a $19 billion spending plan that agrees with Perdue’s proposal to eliminate two programs that serve 38,000 residents and replace them with two programs that would serve only a small fraction of those patients.
The services help the disabled and elderly live at home by hiring an aide to help them get dressed, eat and bathed.
Budget-writer Sen. Doug Berger said the Senate had no choice because service providers don’t appear serious about reducing fraud in the program. The Association for Home and Hospice Care of North Carolina disagrees.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Leave a Reply