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Spousal caregivers face cruel choice Photo by Steve Johnson Calvin McGahuey measures his wife, Juell's, blood pressure in their Medford home Thursday. The couple is one of many dismayed about the Legislature's action that stops the program compensating husbands and wives who care for a disabled spouse. Legislature's budget cut hits local couples By KELLY STEWART Juell McGahuey has suffered through heart surgery, brain surgery and a stroke. She's confined to a blue reclining chair in her West Medford home. Juell's husband, Calvin, cooks her meals, gives her medication, checks her blood pressure and assists her in the bathroom. In the meantime, he keeps the house clean, shops for groceries and picks up Juell's prescriptions. The couple, both 65, can afford this arrangement because the state pays Calvin $1,300 each month through a spousal-pay program. It pays Calvin, a state-certified caregiver, to care for his wife 24 hours a day. But this summer, the Legislature's joint budget subcommittee on human resources eliminated the $3.4 million program. It will be replaced by a state- and federally funded program next year that does not pay for spousal caregivers. Federal law prohibits Medicaid money for spouses. For the 210 families served by the program, a tough choice looms -- either hire a live-in caregiver or move the disabled spouse into a nursing, assisted-living or foster-care home. To the McGahueys, the choice itself is ridiculous. "I'm a certified caregiver," Calvin said. "What's preventing me from taking care of her? For me to be a caregiver, we'd have to get a divorce." Juell doesn't want someone from outside her home caring for her, when her husband has been doing the job well since 1995. "I would hate to have someone I've never seen before help me," she said. "I'm used to Cal." And she said divorce is not an option; they've been married for 45 years. Calvin wrote a letter to Gov. John Kitzhaber this week, asking him to help. More than 30 local couples subsist on the spousal-pay program, said Don Bruland, director for senior and disability services for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Bruland said his agency wants to help couples explore their options. "What I want to emphasize is for people not to panic," he said. "We are going to try to find a solution for them." Couples will not have to find another caregiver right away, Bruland said. The McGahueys can't find an around-the-clock caregiver who will work for the price of Calvin's spousal aid -- about $2 an hour. The couple also collects Medicaid and Social Security. Their daughter has three children and works part-time, so they don't expect her to help. Calvin may have to go back to work to pay the extra cost for a caregiver. Legislative analysts figured it costs the state an average of $1,200 a month to pay a spouse to care for a disabled Oregonian. It's estimated to cost about $1,525 per month to pay a live-in caregiver who isn't a spouse. The state has to cover around 40 percent of that amount, and the federal government pays the rest. Bruland said the program will cost taxpayers more in its new form, which will take effect next year. "There's some irony in this whole situation," he said. "In total, it will cost taxpayers more. It just won't cost the state as much." The government preaches family values, yet it cuts a program that allows spouses to perform care, Bruland said. "If you're going to be cared for by someone, you would prefer somebody who's a loved one rather than someone on the outside," he said. And because these couples often have low incomes and live in small residences, there is often not room for an outside caregiver to live with them, he said. Juell leaves the house every three or four months, when she has a doctor's appointment. Otherwise, she sits in her chair. Calvin leaves the house only when he buys groceries or picks up prescriptions. He can't leave Juell home alone for long. She's fallen twice. "He loves to fish," Juell said, "but he really is afraid to go." As Calvin slipped a blood pressure cuff over Juell's arm, he wondered what the couple will do. "It's quite a chore to make sure she's comfortable," he said. "I am her companion, too." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA