Why is IHSS a target?
The Administration targets IHSS every year because the cost of the program is growing. The cost is growing for two reasons: people are living longer and the wages for home care workers have risen because of increases in the minimum wage and in legally negotiated labor contracts. With one hand, the Administration points with pride to the relatively low number of nursing home beds in California and credits it to the existence of the IHSS program. With the other hand, the Administration is threatening the IHSS program – and the 408,000 Californians who depend on it. Like virtually all other states, California is facing a situation in which the need for longterm care over the next several decades will grow at a much faster pace than it has in the last 30 years, almost entirely because of the aging of the baby boom generation.
