Vets oppose Raimondo’s plan for Veterans Home
Groups critical of governor’s budget, which calls for residents of state Veterans Home to contribute more
PROVIDENCE – The state is trying to fix a $2 million budget deficit at its R.I. Veterans Home in Bristol but a retired Rhode Island National Guard veteran of the 1991 Gulf War, John Cianci, doesn’t believe it should take money from the veterans living there to accomplish that goal.
Cianci, who suffered injuries while based in the desert and exposed to a suspected release of chemical agents during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, plans to join other Rhode Island veterans in opposing Gov. Gina Raimondo’s budget changes for the Veterans Home during a gathering outside her office on Jan. 28.
Now a member of the United Veterans Council of R.I. and RI Department commander of Italian American War Veterans, Cianci said a list of Rhode Island veterans organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans, are expected to participate in the Statehouse demonstration seeking a change in the governor’s Veteran Home proposal.
“Our position, the veterans groups, is that the veteran residents should not be burdened to cover the additional cost of the budget deficit,” Cianci said.
The state has already sought to reduce the home’s original sum of almost $3 million in red ink with about $900,000 in cost savings moves and service contract changes but has proposed a change in the income contribution from its 192 veteran residents to help balance the remaining $2 million deficit.
Residents are currently required to contribute 80 percent of their monthly income to the home’s operation while keeping some income for personal spending and spousal support. Under the governor’s proposed budget change, the contribution to the home would go to 100 percent of their income, although also with
an increase in the retained allowance for personal expenses.
The state’s $13,600 per month cost for care for a resident is also supported with per diem contributions by the Veterans Administration, up to 100 percent for a veteran with a 70 percent service related disability, and other revenues such as Medicare, according to Cianci.
In response to questions regarding the veterans’ concerns, Michael Jolin, a spokesperson for the state Office of Veterans Services, explained that the governor “is proposing to raise the maintenance fee from 80% of net income to 100% of net income while doubling the residents’ monthly stipend from $150 per month to $300 per month.
“In addition, the Veterans Home would assume responsibility for any co-payments for the residents’ physical therapy,” Jolin said.
“Finally, the governor is proposing that the entire maintenance fee go to the Veterans Home restricted account to support the home they live in and provide the care they deserve. Under current law, 20% of the maintenance fee goes to the home’s restricted receipt account and the balance goes into the general fund.,” Jolin said.
“Our goal is to ensure we are running the home as effectively and efficiently as possible, which also means adapting to best practices. These changes reflect standard practice in nursing homes, and – specifically – standard practice in similar facilities in Massachusetts. Our residents at the Rhode Island Veterans Home are our highest priority and we continue to review ways to best serve them while adhering to our fiscal responsibilities,” Jolin said.
Brenna McCabe, director of public affairs for the department of administration, also pointed to the changes as allowing for better maintenance of the home with its available resources.
“The governor is proposing that 100 percent of veterans’ income be put into a restricted account to support the home they live in so that we can continue to maintain a place that best meets their health and safety needs,” McCabe said.
“In addition, she is proposing to double the monthly stipend they receive. Our goal is to be able to ensure we are running the Home as effectively and efficiently as possible, which also means adapting to best practices,” McCabe said.
“These changes reflect standard practice in nursing homes, and – specifically – standard practice in similar facilities in Massachusetts. Our residents at the Rhode Island Veterans Home are our highest priority, and we are continuing to review ways in which we can best serve them while adhering to our fiscal responsibility,” McCabe said.
Under the state’s current Veterans Home income provisions, Cianci noted a resident with a monthly income of $3,066 from military pension, Social Security or any other retirement income would keep $150 a month for personal use and up to $822 for spousal support before 80 percent of the remaining amount was taken for the veterans home. That would leave the veteran resident with $418 in addition to the $150 a month for personal spending, Cianci noted.
Currently, over the course of 12 months, the veteran’s retained income would amount to $6,825 based on Cianci’s example.
Under the plan being forwarded by the governor, however, Cianci said the veteran resident would only retain about $3,325 in annual income instead of the of $6,825 currently would be allowed to keep for that example level of income.
The veterans home budget changes are also implementing
co-payments for residents receiving physical and occupational therapy services, services they must now obtain at the VA Hospital in Providence after the prior in-house programs were ended as a cost savings move.
“I think that No. 1, there should be adequate funding in the state budget to care for the veterans,” Cianci said. “And 2, the burden of the deficit shouldn’t be put on the veterans,” he added.
“Ultimately, their family, and most have spouses, will have less money to help pay their expenses,” Cianci said.
——— CIANCI SAID the veterans groups have already heard House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello call for review of the governor’s budget proposal and noted there is hope legislators will also be asking for more information as the General Assembly’s budget review begins.
“We are going to continue calling attention to this, that’s our plan,” he added while noting the plans for the rally on Jan. 28.
The governor’s budget people have indicated that the state’s plan is almost similar to how Massachusetts charges its veterans to live in a veterans home, Cianci noted but he doesn’t agree with that position either.
Photo by Joseph B. Nadeau
“This doesn’t compare, it’s thousands of dollars more,” he said in response.
Rather than look to the veteran home’s residents for additional funding, Cianci suggested the state could direct some of the surplus revenue it reported from its past budget to better fund the home’s operation.
“Our organizations continue to hope that the state will review this proposal and allocate proper funding to the veterans home without increasing the cost for a veteran that lives in the facility,” he said.
Other veterans in the local area are also watching what is happening at the state’s veterans home and voiced support for Cianci’s position as well.
Linda Thibault, whose husband David is a veteran of Vietnam and member of state veterans organizations, said she too thinks that 80 percent of a veteran’s income is enough of a contribution to operate the home.
“I think it’s awful, it’s outrageous,” Thibault, a registered nurse and director of wellness for Aging Well, Inc., at the Woonsocket Senior Center, said of the governor’s proposed income change.
“I think our men and women veterans already gave 100 percent in service to their country,” Thibault, a former North Smithfield Town Administrator, in support of the current contribution of 80 percent.
The state invested in replacing the former veterans home in Bristol with a “beautiful new facility” that offered its residents benefits such as in-house therapy sessions, Thibault noted.
Under the new changes, veterans must now be transported by bus or van to the VA Hospital for those services and also pay an expensive co-payment fee each time they go, Thibault said. There are alternatives, she said, that could allow the physical and behavioral therapy sessions to be offered at the facilities built for them in Bristol, Thibault argued.
“They should bill Medicare for those services and waive the co-payments,” she said.
“I’m sure the paperwork is hard to do but do it and waive the co-payment,” Thibault said.
Thibault expects she and David will attend the Statehouse rally and thinks other area veterans will be joining them.
“Giving 80 percent of their income is more than enough,” she said. “They already gave 100 percent and now it is time for us to do something for them,” Thibault said.
Richard Picard, a retired vocational school instructor and Navy Vietnam veteran, also voiced support for the existing income provisions when asked about the Governor’s proposed changes.
The state updated its veterans home to a modern facility but like many things in government, hasn’t in turn funded it to a level at which it can operate properly, he explained.
The increase to a 100 percent of a resident’s income doesn’t seem to be the way to fix the problem, Picard said.
“The veterans do have to have some money left over for their expenses,” he said.
Picard, a local Mason, said he has participated in a car show with his Bristol County Street Rodders Association that raised about $15,000 for a fund at the veterans home to be used just for special events and things like going out for an occasional meal.
“We thought its was going to be just 30 to 40 cars and yet we had over 300,” Picard said of the support shown for the event.
“I think it is good idea to keep it at 80 percent,” Picard said while noting the expenses residents of the home and their families will incur from time to time.