Vote yes on I-185 to help the needy

As a senior citizen and concerned caregiver, I feel we must vote to keep funds from being cut or canceled for Montanans who need them most. Things like home-based caregiving and Medicaid-funded services for our veterans are important. Funds for our seniors and wages for their caregivers must not continue to be diminished. More seniors and vets need care, not less.

I-185 will help fund these services. By voting yes, we will help continue to fund Montanans’ long-term care, veterans’ mental health and suicide prevention, programs to help people quit tobacco and the children and seniors and others who receive their healthcare via Medicaid-funded programs.

Many seniors who need the benefit of care giving at home are being denied hours to facilitate their needs. And when they don’t get the care they need, caregivers wages are also reduced. The cycle is a terrible one for everybody. Caregivers can’t make a living, and seniors can’t get the care they need.

Many times, women and others are forced to sell their homes, lose their independence, enter facilities or other ways of getting care when it not their first choice to do so.

Our seniors, veterans, disabled folks and children need us. I urge you to vote yes on Nov. 6 on I-185.

—Debra Bashaw-Pelsma,

Troy