Massachusetts doesn’t have a budget problem — it has a priority problem.
On the heels of catching heat for her plans to shutter the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children and the Pocasset Mental Health Center, Gov. Maura Healey is doubling down on bad decisions. This time she wants to limit spending on a home care program for seniors.
As State House News reported, the program that provides personal care assistants (PCAs) for seniors and people with disabilities is expensive. It’s seen costs jump from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2020, to an estimated $2 billion by fiscal 2027.
But it’s not a frivolous perk for elders: PCAs help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, meal preparation, and grocery shopping. This allows seniors to “age in place” and remain in their own homes, instead of moving into nursing facilities.
Anyone who has an elderly parent, or is a senior themselves, knows the importance of being able to remain as independent as possible. Quality of life, the ability to stay in the neighborhood they’ve known for years and enjoy the company of friends and familiar activities is crucial.
Program costs have risen by 67% over the past seven years, the Healey administration says, with state health officials projecting it could become the highest per capita cost for home care services in the nation by 2027.
Healey’s annual budget proposes tying PCA spending to health care spending benchmarks from the Health Policy Commission to “ensure the program can sustainably serve its most complex consumers,” according to administration budget materials.
This would result in a significant reduction in growth for the home care program.
One problem: the aging population is growing. In 2020, 14% of Massachusetts residents were aged 65 or older, and projections from the UMass Donahue Institute predict that number will reach 27% by 2050.
So the senior population grows while spending on a program to help elders doesn’t keep up. This is a recipe for disaster.
“All I can see is the need for the program to grow,” said Maura Sullivan, CEO of The Arc of Massachusetts, a nonprofit that advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Sullivan argued that with the state’s aging population and a growing number of adults with disabilities, there’s more need than ever for the state to invest in independent living programs.
“People with disabilities need this investment, and ultimately, we’ll all need this investment, because we’re all aging,” she said.
Investments cost money, and the state is in a tight spot. Or so one would think if it weren’t for news Healey’s administration has spent nearly $500 million on the state-run shelter system in fiscal year 2025, according to state data.
There’s money to shelter and care for illegal immigrants, there’s money to pay lofty salaries to administrators at state colleges, there’s money to pad the payroll of quasi-public agencies and send fat pension checks to retired pols. There’s money to make sure those living on the taxpayer’s dime get raises and perks.
But taking care of vulnerable senior citizens? Take out the red pen.
Healey is reportedly rethinking her plan to close the Pappas Hospital. Let’s hope the governor takes another look at the importance of the PCA program for seniors and takes it off the budget chopping block.
