BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Thousands of New Yorkers living with disabilities say their independence is at stake if the state moves forward with budget cuts to home health care programs.
Right now, these programs allow people to live on their own, and hire a trusted friend or family member as their caretaker and then they are reimbursed by Medicaid. Advocates say the governor's proposed budget would cut $600 million in home healthcare funding.
Michael May and Jennifer Moretto hope funding is not cut. Home health care provider Paul Woolston has been coming to their home for 25 years to help care for them. May says they are happy to be living in their home and don't want anything to disrupt their life.
"Help them get dressed. Help them get cleaned up. Help them eat. Help them get on with their day. Just basic stuff that a person like us takes for granted that they do every day," explains Woolston.
He says they need 75 hours of at-home care every week and says he's worried the proposal to cut millions in home-care funding would take that away.
"This is something that is helpful to people it benefits people. I don't know why they would want to cut it," says Woolston.
"We fought for many years to be independent and that's what we want to do and if you cut the hours of aid service or aid service altogether we would probably end up in a group home or nursing home," says Moretto.
They are pleading with the governor to make sure this funding is not cut.
"Put yourself in my shoes! Would you like the government doing to you what you're proposing?" says May. "Without Paul I don't even know if I'd be alive."
The governor's office sent the following statement to 7 News:
"Governor Hochul's Executive Budget makes record-setting investments in New York's future while ensuring the state remains on a stable long-term fiscal trajectory, and she is working with the Legislature to craft a final budget that achieves these goals."
