A 2007 provision from the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services thought to be solution for suffering families appears now to have been false hope.
For hundreds of families dealing with severely disabled children over 21 years of age, there are two options—home health, or a state institution. Though home health is more costly, many families argue that their disabled loved-ones could not survive in a state institution. Therein lies the problem—should the state provide basic care to more people, or exceptional care to a few?
Up until the time that a child with cerebral palsy, brain damage, or quadriplegia turns 21, the state will pay whatever it takes to keep the child at home. Home health care can be expensive when one is dealing with a child who requires constant monitoring and assistance.
Once that child turns 21, everything changes. The state will only fund home health care if parents can show that the cost of keeping their child at home is less than twice as much as it would cost to have them institutionalized. This is a difficult thing to do when a family has to keep a nurse on hand all day every day.
Though the cost of a state institution is much cheaper, many of these severely handicapped children are too fragile to survive outside their home. If the costs of keeping their child at home exceed the specified amount, parents must either make cuts from their home health care, or relinquish their son or daughter.
Two years ago, a measure passed the Texas Legislature that was supposed to alleviate this burden for Texas families. It would provide additional funds to families who, for the sake of their child’s life, must keep them at home.
Unfortunately, only 5 of the 23 families the agency considered for this funding received it—and those 5 had to sue first. Sadly, the hope that hundreds of Texans felt in 2007 has been all but extinguished.
