Dora Vaughan’s granddaughter is paid by the state to care for her grandfather every week, getting an hourly wage as a personal care attendant, or PCA. But under a budget proposal from Gov. Maura Healey, Vaughan — who is also disabled — will have to care for her husband by herself.
“How am I going to do this on my own?” Vaughan said. “Why don’t I get any help anymore?”
Vaughan joined at least 100 advocates, PCAs and disabled people Wednesday afternoon to rally outside the Massachusetts State House, and inside Healey’s office.
Their message was summed up with a chant: “More care, no cuts.”
Healey’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal has several areas of belt-tightening, including keeping spending flat for MassHealth’s PCA program. This service provides health professionals who physically assist disabled people with daily tasks — such as dressing, showering and preparing meals — with the goal of continuing to live at home.
The governor proposed changing PCA eligibility to eliminate payments to those who work fewer than 10 hours per week and capping the number of hours authorized for meal preparation.
According to 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a union representing many PCAs, proposed budget cuts will mean 6,000 residents lose access to PCA services — or, 12% of the 50,000 Massachusetts residents who currently work with PCAs.
Vaughan’s granddaughter works fewer than 10 hours per week, meaning, under Healey’s budget proposal, she would no longer be eligible for PCA status. She will have to find another job to afford her bills, and Vaughan will have to find another solution for care for herself and her husband.
Vaughan says she relies on her granddaughter for everything from help with her husband’s Alzheimer’s care to making meals and completing household chores.
Isaias Ruiz, a PCA who is also a certified nursing assistant, trains other PCAs through their new hire orientation that includes informing them of their rights to employment.
“This is an attack. This is an economical attack. This is a racial justice issue — look at the color of our skin!” Ruiz said into a megaphone at the rally. “It’s minorities doing this job. It’s women doing this job. ... It’s immigrants doing this job.”
Ruiz told GBH News that this budget cut is “an attack on disability rights, as well.”
Rosa Bentley, the president of Mass Senior Action Council, attended the rally in a blue T-shirt that matched Vaughan’s.
Funding the PCA program now will save money for Massachusetts in the long run, Bentley argued, because the people who are left without PCA care may end up in the hospital, costing the state more in hospital bills.
She also worried about those who will be forced to take on a caregiving role without proper training, including Vaughan.
“If Dora continued to take care of her husband without help,” Bentley said, “she could end up needing more help for herself.”
At the rally, Ruiz emphasized that over 58,000 PCAs are employed in Massachusetts. Still, there are not enough PCAs to support everyone who qualifies for their care.
Part of PCAs’ frustration with the proposed cuts comes in the wake of a win last fall. In September, Healey’s office reached a deal with 1199SEIU that would increase pay and benefits.
In addition to a pay raise for all PCAs, the contract allows PCAs who work for people with higher needs to make higher pay. It also allows for the set up of retirement accounts, pays for professional development and training, and increases the number of holidays and holiday pay.
According to Ruiz, although the September contract represented positive progress, it does not justify wage and hour cuts for PCAs.
“I think it is a slap to our face. ... We are essential. Our grandmother, our loved ones ... our patients — they depend on us to make them more independent,” Ruiz said.
The State House and Senate still need to pass their own versions of the budget and settle on a compromise, a process that typically wraps up in July.
