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JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- For Columbia resident Bob Pund, just getting out of bed is a struggle. He was paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident 21 years ago and now requires eight hours of care a day in his home.

But that care is in jeopardy as lawmakers look to trim the state's budget. Millions of dollars could be sliced from the Consumer Directed Homecare Program that pays for caretakers for people like Pund.

"I'm not sure if I can stay in my own home,” Pund said. “I might have to move to a nursing home."

Thousands of disabled and elderly people statewide depend on the services to stay as independent in their homes. To save money, Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed cutting down on the number of hours of in-home care.

"If they're gonna cap the hours at 60 hours a month, that's not enough for me to get out of bed,” Pund said.

State Rep. Stephen Webber, (D) Columbia, has joined their fight.

"There shouldn't be an arbitrary across the board cut,” Webber said.

He said the cuts would save money in the short-term, but will end up costing taxpayers more as the people that don't get the help they need in their homes would seek it out in hospitals and nursing homes.

"There's a human dignity issue too,” Webber said. “It's important to let people live their lives the way they want to live them."

And for people like Pund, it means survival.

"I really feel fearful for my life,” Pund said.

Webber said if the cuts go through, they would disproportionally fall on a group of people who have already had to deal with other funding cuts to medical services in the past several years.