Advocates for the elderly say they're baffled and angry over Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to eliminate funding for adult day care services. Advocates say these programs are a low-cost way to enable the elderly and the disabled to live at home.
More than 325 facilities in California provide daycare services for chronically ill seniors and adults who are mentally disabled. These centers offer meals, skilled nursing care, and transportation to and from home.
Luba Vaisman is with Casa Pacifica, an adult day healthcare center in Otay Mesa. She doesn't understand why the governor wants to eliminate her program.
"Why? Why people who cannot speak for themselves should suffer," Vaisman wonders. "What they gonna do? Where they gonna be? In a nursing home, that costs much more than we do?"
Governor Schwarzenegger says the cut would save $117 million a year. Critics say more expensive nursing home care for thousands of people would wipe out those savings.
