Please Sign the Petition to Protect Funding for Alzheimer’s Care & Research in Illinois

Please Sign the Petition to Protect Funding for Alzheimer’s Care & Research in Illinois

Gov. Rauner has proposed a major cut, and in some cases total elimination of funding for programs that benefit individuals with Alzheimer’s, their families, and caregivers. We need to let Governor Rauner and our elected officials in Springfield know that this funding is important to us. After you sign the petition, please send it to friends and family to ask for their support as well. You can sign the petition by clicking below.

Governor Bruce Rauner has proposed a budget for Fiscal Year 2016 that would decimate, and in some cases completely eliminate funding for services that individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s depend on. While we need a responsible budget that is fair to all residents of Illinois, we cannot balance it on the backs of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

Sign this petition asking Governor Rauner to keep funding intact for vital Alzheimer’s care and support programs.

There are 210,000 people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in Illinois. Many of them depend on these services, daily. The nearly 600,000 caregivers count on access to these services for their patients and loved ones. The countless families that will be affected by these cuts will have no where to turn.

Gov. Rauner, the short term and long term implications are destructive to household budgets and the Illinois healthcare system – please restore funding for these programs.

Community Care Program (CCP)

-Elimination of $140 million in funding. Coupled with other changes, nearly 40% of those enrolled in CCP would be affected.

-Raising the DON (determination of need) score from 29 to 37, which would affect thousands of Illinoisans and require them to become sicker before qualifying for medical care.

-Implementing an income cap of $17,500, which equates to less than $1,500 a month. This may kick 21,000 individuals out of the program and result in them not receiving the care they need.

Increased Costs to Medicaid

-By changing the DON score of CCP, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease may not qualify for care and will then be forced to enter a nursing home which costs 3 times as much.

-According to the Illinois Comptroller, in fiscal year 2015 the average monthly cost for the Community Care program was $860 but that same care was priced at $2,874 in a nursing home.

Complete and Total Elimination of Funding for Alzheimer’s Disease Assistance Centers

-The Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine’s Center for Alzheimer’s Disease would see a complete elimination of funding, totaling $1.5 million resulting in 93 Illinois counties losing access to vital care networks of doctors, social workers, nurses, and support services.

-The Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Northwestern School of Medicine would see a slash of $330,000 in funding.

-Rush’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center’s funding of $1.5 million is also completely removed from Governor Rauner’s budget proposal.

-The bottom line: less care and support programs will exist in the short term, however the long term implications are even more alarming. The three locations conduct vital research and clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease – currently the costliest disease in America and the 6th leading cause of death in Illinois.

http://www.optimumseniorcare.com/services/alzheimerscare.php

http://optimumseniorcare.com/blog/

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