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U.S. gender wage gap grows for the first time in a decade; Trump has embraced NC's Mark Robinson, calling him 'Martin Luther King on steroids; Volunteers sought as early voting kicks off in MN; Women's political contributions in congressional races fall short of men's.

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Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

WA Adult Day Care Cut: “Penny Wise and Dollar Foolish”

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Wednesday, January 28, 2009   

Seattle, WA – It's no secret that Washington State has a massive budget gap, but eldercare advocates say Governor Chris Gregoire's plan to cut all funding to the Adult Day Health program is "penny wise and dollar foolish." The governor plans on cutting $10 million a year - which is the entire budget for Adult Day Health.

The program gives low-income seniors a safe place to go during the day, where a nurse monitors their medical conditions, according to Sandeep Kaushik with the Adult Day Health Coalition. He says the move will actually cost the state in the long run, because many of those losing the day care program will end up in more expensive nursing home care.

"The program costs the state about $10 million a year — if 10 percent of the affected seniors move into nursing homes because of the loss of this program, the cost to the state is estimated to be about $12.5 million a year."

Governor Gregoire says many of the services provided by Adult Day Health are available through other state programs not impacted by the cuts. Kaushik says when the Portland VA Hospital closed its Adult Day Health program in 2000, half of those affected by the cuts moved into nursing homes - and, he says, 20 percent had died within a year of the shutdown.

The proposed cut in Washington also affects 200,000 caregivers in the state, according to Nancy Dapper, executive director of the Western and Central Washington State Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Dapper says adult day health gives families a break from the stresses of caring for an older person; without that break, she fears, many families won't be able to cope.

"Because if the caregiver completely wears out, the only place you're going to go is into a nursing home in this state, and that's very costly, and most people don't want to do that."

Dapper says it costs about $7,000 per year for adult day health compared to $61,000 to care for an older person for a year in a nursing home.



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