Colorado cuts paid caregiving hours for adults with disabilities by 50% starting April 1
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Families across Colorado who care for loved ones with disabilities will soon see major reductions in the number of hours they can be paid for through Medicaid.
Beginning Apr. 1, the state will cut the maximum number of paid caregiver hours per week from 112 hours to 56. This limit will impact Home Health Aide, Personal Care, HMA, and Nursing services. Paid homemaker hours for legally responsible persons, typically parents, will also be reduced by half from ten to five.
The changes were announced by the Polis administration last year as part of the effort to balance the state's overall budget. At least 15 Medicaid-funded programs are affected. However, families say they only learned this month that the changes will take effect in April, leaving them just over two months to prepare.
According to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), the new cap on weekly caregiving hours will save the Department $1.1 million next fiscal year.
State officials say the cuts are intended to control rising costs and protect long-term care services, but families tell KRDO13 the reductions are devastating to an already vulnerable community.
This is a developing story and may be updated as we learn more.
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