This summer in Sacramento, the multibillion dollar budget crisis will come to a head, placing many of our Jewish elderly in a very vulnerable position. The starting point for budget reductions is services to the poor.
At the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services, which serves the largest numbers of vulnerable Jewish children, families and elderly in our area, we are focusing on the largest cut, a proposed reduction of 15 percent to the Medi-Cal program.
There are more members of the Jewish community who depend on Medi-Cal for help than most people are aware of, including an estimated 15,000 in the Greater Bay Area. Many are disabled and elderly. A recent demographic study shows that the Jewish community has one of the highest percentages of elderly of any group, and the percentage is growing.
In San Francisco, L’Chaim Adult Day Health Center, operated by JFCS, serves more than 400 of the oldest, poorest and frailest among us. The average age of participants is 85, and their monthly income averages $750 each.
While 90 percent of our funding comes from private sources, especially donations, 10 percent is essential Medi-Cal funding. In addition, thousands of our clients depend on Medi-Cal for their health care. JFCS receives approximately $2.7 million from Medi-Cal to fund the medical and social services offered at L’Chaim every day. Half of this money comes from federal dollars, so the cost to the state is $1.3 million.
Both the federal and state governments support programs like L’Chaim because research demonstrates that it is better to keep frail elderly in the community than to put them in costly nursing homes. Skilled nursing, which is essential for some elders, costs up to four times more than in-home care.
Another JFCS program at risk for cuts is our Multi Service Senior Program, which also keeps the frail elderly at home and out of nursing homes. These clients are so sick that every single one of them would have to be placed in skilled nursing facilities if the program were discontinued.
The Medi-Cal reimbursement that many of our community institutions receive does not cover the full cost of care. Private contributions from many generous donors makes up the difference, and this exemplary partnership between government and the private sector is what has made possible the outstanding system of care that our community depends on.
Aside from the humanitarian concerns, the proposed cuts do not make economic sense. In addition to costing the state more by forcing people into more expensive levels of care like nursing homes, California will lose federal matching funds at close to a dollar for dollar rate.
On Tuesday, May 11, a large statewide delegation organized by the Jewish Public Affairs Committee will be going to Sacramento to lobby our state legislators. JPAC is composed of Jewish federations, Jewish Community Relations Councils, Jewish Vocational Services and Jewish family service organizations from around the state. We will advocate on the full range of Jewish community concerns.
We can all help. So much more needs to be done to give voice to those who are not in a position to speak for themselves — children, the old, the poor, immigrants and refugees. There are many ways you can stand up and be counted. You can come to Sacramento on Monday and Tuesday, May 10 and 11, or write letters to your legislators, or join your synagogue social action committees, or call your local Jewish Community Relations Council or Jewish Family and Children’s Service.
This is an important moment for our community. Judaism, properly understood, is a vocation. It is working in the pursuit of our highest ideals of communal responsibility and care for the dependent. Now is the time to turn our attention to the work of putting our Jewish values into social action.
Nancy Goldberg, a resident of Tiburon, chairs the public issues committee of the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services.
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