January 12, 2001 BUDGET PLAN WOULD CUT AT-HOME CARE SUPPORT Summary: Couples like Beverly and Harry Schatz of King City could lose the option of finishing their lives together by Kelly Kennedy The Oregonian      Harry Schatz, 77, survived when torpedoes hit and sunk the USS Lexington on May 8, 1942.      During the Battle of the Coral Sea, 216 men died as shrapnel and flames burst through the ship he was serving on.      "It happened just eight days after his 18th birthday," said his wife, Beverley Schatz, 77. "He figures every day from then on was a gift."      But that gift has almost reached its limit.      "He could go anytime," Beverley Schatz said, tears filling her eyes as they do every time she talks about a future without him. "We've been married for 52 years. When he asked me to marry him, that was the happiest day of my life."      Harry Schatz has emphysema, and hospice workers come twice a week to help in his final weeks. He can't walk from the bedroom to the living room without taking long, wheezing breaks. His face and limbs are so swollen the skin on his legs has cracked. His cough wracks his body, his bed, Beverley's heart.      But he and his wife are still together -- holding hands, exchanging kisses, and remembering days when they danced the Charleston until Beverley had to tape her ankles. Project Independence      Harry and Beverley Schatz were able to stay together because of a program called Oregon Project Independence -- a program that Gov. John Kitzhaber recommended be cut in his budget proposal. It helps people older than 60 who do not receive Medicaid to stay at home, rather than enter nursing homes, by providing minor services such as cleaning, personal hygiene, chores, transportation and relief for caregivers like Beverley Schatz.      Once a week, Oregon Project Independence workers go to the Schatz house in King City to help with laundry and general cleaning. Beverley, who recently had heart-bypass surgery, can still drive for groceries, and the couple's daughter visits often to see whether they need anything.      Beverley can do just enough to prove they don't need to be in a nursing home, but not enough to live at home without some help.      "My legs aren't what they used to be, though my husband says, 'Doesn't she have great legs for her age?' " Beverley said with a laugh -- and she does have great legs. "He's so cute.      "But he does need assistance. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. I can do a lot, and that's why we're still here."      The program keeps 3,700 Oregonians, including 200 in Washington County, out of nursing homes at a cost of $6.6 million a year. Supporters say the program could save the state $10 million a year in nursing home care if everyone eligible for the program used it rather than entering nursing homes.      "It would cost the state more money in the long run to cut it," said Kristoffer Lindstrom, a caseworker for the Department of Aging and Veterans' Services in Washington County. "It would be a quick fix for the budget, but it would have long-term consequences."      But the state pays the program's full cost with no federal matching money, and this year there is an estimated budget shortfall of $850 million along with the usual demands to increase education dollars and pay for more services for children.      "The governor wants to save the Oregon Health Plan and give more to the schools," Lindstrom said. "But it can't be the young and not the old -- it has to be both." Difficult decisions      State Rep. Richard Devlin, a Democrat who represents Lake Oswego and part of Tualatin in District 24, considers education his first priority. He said the decisions the governor had to make on this year's budget were extremely difficult.      "I think OPI is a great program," he said. "In the governor's budget, it has been cut, but I would anticipate there would be some effort to resuscitate at least part of it during the legislative session."      Devlin said Kitzhaber tried to cut pieces of the budget in ways that would most benefit the state financially. Because the project doesn't receive any federal grants and is fully state-financed, it made sense to try to cut it.      "Oregon has a long tradition of diverse, long-term care programs," he said. "OPI may be the most cost-effective program we have. Unfortunately, the federal government doesn't recognize the benefit of this kind of program."      But it does recognize and will pay for nursing home care. However, Devlin said those worried about keeping the program should contact their legislators, and he held some hope for the project.      "I don't believe there's another way to fund it unless the counties step up, but I don't think they can," he said. "Program Independence has show its benefits. I'm not criticizing the governor; I'm just saying the Legislature may make another decision."