Will your Governor and State Respond
Will your Governor and State Respond?
Information Bulletin #318 (7/2010)
Do you reside in any of the following States: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Utah,
Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming? If yes, then your State can take
advantage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act which provides an additional
$2.25 billion for fiscal years 2012-2016 to support state efforts to
transition individuals from institutional living back to the community
through the extension of the Money Follows the Person program. If you
reside in one of the other 30 States, there is federal funds so that
your
State can expand its MFP program.
On July 26, 2010, Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, sent your
Governor
the following a letter. Please note the connection between the ADA,
Olmstead, and discrimination against people with disabilities. Advocates
-
please meet with your Governor regarding whether your State will take
advantage of these funds. Particularly with all the buzz about reducing
MA expenditures, this is a great opportunity to increase federal funds
by
implementing the ADA and enforce Olmstead. A win/win.
“Dear Governor:
“This month, as the country celebrates the 20th anniversary of the
passage
of a landmark civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA),
I wanted to bring to your attention provisions in this year’s Affordable
Care Act that offer states new opportunities to build on gains made
under
the ADA. Over the past two decades, the ADA has provided greater
opportunities for 54 million Americans with disabilities to live and
work
in their communities. But despite the two decades of progress, people
with
disabilities continue to be denied health coverage necessary to fulfill
the promise of the ADA.
“The Affordable Care Act expands coverage and improves health care for
millions of Americans and has paved the way for the creation of
insurance
plans to provide transitional health coverage to uninsured people until
the law that prohibits health insurance discrimination on the basis of
disability is effective in 2014. The Affordable Care Act also offers
numerous opportunities for people with disabilities, including new
options
for states to deliver on the promise of the ADA and adhere to the
principles of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision….
“I … hope you will take advantage of incentives and new opportunities
in
the Affordable Care Act to strengthen home- and community-based services
(HCBS), so that people who want to live in the community have the
ability
to make that choice. These incentives include an increased federal
Medicaid matching rate for new home and community based attendant care
services, and new federal program authorities and funding to coordinate
medical and long-term care services for people with chronic conditions.
“The Affordable Care Act also extends the Money Follows the Person (MFP)
program and provides an additional $2.25 billion for fiscal years
2012-2016, and additional $450 million for each year, to support state
efforts to transition individuals from institutional living back to the
community…. States currently participating will now have an
opportunity
to expand the scope of programs and a grant solicitation to bring new
states into the program is being released today.
“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will continue to
communicate to states the numerous new opportunities to strengthen the
Medicaid home and community-based system afforded by the Affordable Care
Act.
“Finally, I want to let you know that we are also exploring new ways to
leverage federal resources to help states create new opportunities that
promote choice and self-determination for individuals with disabilities.
One of these is the Community Living Initiative, which includes a
partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development, to improve the coordination
of housing and supportive services for people with disabilities who are
either already living in the community or transitioning from
institutional
facilities.
“It is this Administration’s belief that access to health coverage is as
fundamental a right for every American as the right to employment,
access
to public accommodations, and full participation in the American
mainstream, all of which ADA has helped make a reality for persons with
disabilities. I know, as a former governor, that the federal government
and the states need to work side by side to deliver on the Affordable
Care
Act’s promise of access to health care regardless of disability. In the
weeks and months ahead, we will be providing more guidance on various
programs and benefits available to your state, and we welcome your
suggestions for how we can maximize their impact and effectiveness. I
hope
you will contact the Director of the HHS Office on Disability at
henry.claypool@hhs.gov about these new opportunities to better serve
people with disabilities in the Affordable Care Act.
“Meanwhile, I look forward to working with you to break down
longstanding
barriers to accessible and affordable healthcare for people with
disabilities, and achieve the promise of the ADA.”
Looks like an underhand pitch to your Governor. Will she/he swing at it
or
just sit it out and complain about not having enough federal funds, all
the time paying to keep people unnecessarily institutionalized?
That depends on how organized the disability and older Americans’
advocates are!
Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues
Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at
http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site
divided into different subjects.
To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada@cs.com
or call 215-627-7100.
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