To the editor:

Let’s talk about the Legislature’s shortsighted cuts to Medicaid. A program funded through Medicaid with a 70 percent match from Washington, the traumatic brain injury waiver, saves the state money with focus on community-based services for TBI survivors versus more costly maintenance in a nursing home. Beyond acute care, rehabilitation services and community supports are provided for those learning to live again with a life-changing injury. The waiver is time-limited, based on progress toward the individual’s goals for independent living, and comes with a client obligation (premium) determined by income over $750/month.

If the person recovering from a TBI is you, it’s time to grow up again. You must relearn how to walk, talk, think, recall and behave. Recovery varies greatly, influenced by many factors, but your best outcome depends on availability of services. Most of these aren’t covered by insurance.

The good news, at least for now, comes with the TBI waiver giving you the opportunity to live with dignity and respect as part of the community. You’ll have a case manager to navigate the details; personal care attendants if needed; physical, speech, occupational, and cognitive therapists to help you figure out new ways to do things, and transitional living specialists to help you use the new strategies in daily life.

Contact your representative today; the 20 percent cut hurt us badly with more planned. Remind them that a $200,000 cut to this program takes away $800,000 when matching funds are lost. Ask the going rate for a nursing home.