SPRINGFIELD – Following is the statement of Save IL Home Care for Seniors, a coalition constituted of Caring Across Generations; AARP Illinois; the Alzheimer’s Association, Illinois Chapter; the Illinois Alliance for Retired Americans; and SEIU Healthcare Illinois upon the House override of Gov. Rauner’s budget veto:

“The administration of Bruce Rauner made dismantling the vastly successful Community Care Program (CCP) for seniors a top priority of the budget talks. Thankfully, negotiators stood firm and held the line against the $120 million cut to care that put 36,000 seniors at risk of forced institutionalization. The compromise, creating a task force to review care of seniors ineligible for Medicaid funds, creates a new opportunity to iterate just how CCP saves taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and allows Illinoisans in their golden years to stay in their homes and community with dignity, instead of costlier nursing homes where, research shows, the outcomes are bleaker.

“Still, the seniors of Illinois have much to be concerned about and need to ask hard questions of their governor. Will he abandon his plan to replace CCP with rationing senior care via a patchwork, unproven program using rideshare programs, cleaning services and food coupons? Does he believe that seniors cycling in and out of poverty should be denied care from the outset?

“Illinois seniors dodged a bullet in the budget crisis. But clearly, the danger still lurks.”

##