SEIU members, disability, senior-citizen rights groups filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court Friday to stop 130,000 people from either being dropped or cut from California's In-Home Supportive Services program as of Nov. 1.

Nearly one hundred thousand people would be part of the group only having 'some' of their services cut--which sounds almost positive compared to those that will lose all of their in-home care, right? Except when you consider the actual breakdown of these services to be lost: food shopping, meal preparation, cleaning, and assistance and accompaniment to medical appointments. These may be defined by IHSS standards as "basic services," but being able to receive help with daily living tasks like these is the difference for frail seniors and people with disabilities between being able to stay in their homes....or having to go into nursing homes or other residential institutions.

Schwarzenegger needs remedial math class, it seems
According to Gov. Schwarzenegger, these cuts are all about balancing the budget. But how can potentially forcing 130,000 people to resort to institutional care really be cost-reducing when it's actually estimated to be four times more expensive to the state than in-home care? "A 2006 study showed that the average... public expenditure on home...based (Medicaid) services is $44,000 less than for a person receiving institutional services," stated Mitch LaPlante, leading disability researcher at the UCSF, in court papers.

Four SEIU locals whose members are IHSS caregivers and attendants are participating in the lawsuit, including SEIU UHW, SEIU ULTCW, SEIU Local 521 and CUHW, whose members are IHSS caregivers and attendants. The lawsuit alleges that IHSS cuts will violate the federal constitutional due process protections, the Medicaid Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. View filed complaint here. More at the LA Times.