Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announces revised changes to Aged & Disabled waiver cuts

KETV spoke to caregiver families who say the cuts would have detrimental effects for older adults and people with disabilities.

LINCOLN, Neb. —

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen revised the plan to cut family caregiving hours after receiving your input.

KETV told you about those changes to the Aged & Disabled (A&D) Waiver proposed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The new proposal would get rid of the 40-hour weekly cap for live-in caregivers. It would also get rid of the 70-hour combined limit on some personal care and companion services. It would keep the review of families whose costs are greater than 150% of the average yearly cost for a nursing home stay, and cap them at 175%.

One Omaha family says it would have detrimental effects.

" I think we did the math and it was probably going to be 62% decrease in total hours from 112 a week to 40 a week," Aaron Kuecker said.

Aaron and Katie Kuecker are caregivers for their daughters, 19-year-old Chitti and 10-year-old Saha, who both have cerebral palsy. Chitti has a rare form of epilepsy that causes her to have several seizures in a day.

"Just because the girls are different and disabled and, doesn't mean that they are worth anything less and they should still be given every opportunity," Katie Kuecker said.

The Kueckers contacted several state officials after DHHS announced the cuts, which their daughter Chitti qualifies for. Under the waiver, the state pays the Kueckers an hourly wage up to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for being in-home caregivers.

Katie said she had to quit her job to provide round the clock support for her daughter.

"We have become experts in seizures, and we've become experts in Medicaid and how to navigate the hospital systems and all the different things that we need," Aaron Kuecker said. "We are also going to go above and beyond because we love our kids so dearly."

The Kueckers say the reversal is a step in the right direction.

"We're thankful that cap has been removed. But we're afraid that the monetary cap, that 150% that they're mentioning, it's going to create a financial cap. So, for some of these higher needs people, maybe they're only going to get 8 or 10 hours a day because they'll start to run out of money," Aaron Kuecker said.

DHHS said the original cuts would save the state money. The state has seen a 300% increase in use in the program since 2016.

"Cutting fraud, abuse, those hot topics, those words that are thrown around, I think those are good and honorable, noble things. Except waste and fraud and abuse really need to be identified before it's cut," Aaron Kuecker said.

'Don't want to be labeled as a dollar sign': Papillion family explains potential impact of A&D waiver cuts

The governor said he directed DHHS to make changes after conversations with family members and waiver recipients.

Family potentially impacted by DHHS A&D waiver cuts want their voice heard