SJCS Legislative Agenda
St. John’s Community Services advocates for and with people with disabilities by actively participating in ongoing dialogue with government officials, legislators, providers and advocates and taking positions on local and federal legislation. Following are a few current federal and state level issues.
Federal Level
Medicaid Block Grants: House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, passed by the House on April 15, 2011, would dramatically restructure Medicaid by converting it to a block grant and cutting the program’s funding sharply. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Ryan budget would reduce federal funding by 35 percent in 2022 and by 49 percent in 2030. This would adversely affect tens of millions of low-income Medicaid beneficiaries.
To compensate for the steep reductions in federal funding, states would either have to increase funding or, more than likely, use the flexibility of the block grant to cap enrollment, scale back eligibility, and curtail benefits for seniors, people with disabilities, children, and other low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid for their health care coverage. While people with disabilities constitute 15 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries, they account for 42 percent of all Medicaid expenditures. If benefits are cut by the states, many people with disabilities would be unable to obtain coverage elsewhere because of their severe and long-term medical conditions.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS will continue to monitor the activities of the Senate as they begin debate on this issue.
Health Care Reform: The House is expected to vote on H.R. 1213, a bill to repeal mandatory funding provided to states to establish health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This bill, introduced by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), seeks seeks to uncercut a cornerstone of the health care reform law. Exchanges will be the market places for individuals with no employer-provided or unaffordable employer-provided coverage to buy insurance as of 2014. Click here for ACA's most important provisions for people with disabilities.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS will continue to monitor this legislation and its impact on the Affordable Care Act.
Medicaid Report Released: United Cerebral Palsy released its annual report--"A Case for Inclusion, An Analysis of Medicaid for Americans with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities." The Report ranks states on several factors, including the percentage of Medicaid funds devoted to home and community based services, the number of people in supported or integrated employment, and the size of waiting lists for services. Among the key findings are that there still remain162 large state institutions housing 32,909 Americans (only one closed in the last year); and waiting lists have increased dramatically overall.
State Level
Tennessee
Legislation Seeks to Restore State Residential Rates: An amendment has been filed on an appropriations bill to restore some of the rate cuts in the DIDD budget. The amendment requests $4.7 million in non-recurring state dollars to be matched with federal dollars for a total of $13.9 million to restore the rate reduction to community residential providers. TN providers have not received a rate increase since 2005.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS strongly encourages contacting TN legislators and encourage them to vote FOR House Amendment #181 and Senate Amendment #34 .
Virginia
Funding Approved for New ID Waiver Slots: The 2011 General Assembly approved funding for an additional 275 persons to be served under the waiver as of July 1, 2011. Currently there are 3,115 on the Urgent Needs Wait List.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS strongly supports more waiver slots being made available.
Department of Justice Findings: The Department of Justice (DOJ) identified several major limitations in the Virginia system of care for individuals with intellectual disabilities. These include 1) Lack of adequate care within the Training Centers, 2) Insufficient waiver slots, limited program capacity and inflexible waiver rate structure creating barriers to effectively transitioning individuals into the community, 3) Insufficient use of the "Money Follows the Person Program," and 4) Lack of meaningful work opportunities in day programs. DOJ’s intervention is pushing Virginia to advance the development of services so persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including those in state institutions, will have choices to live as full a life as possible in the community.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS strongly endorses the closure of the state institutions and individuals given choices about where and how they live.
District of Columbia
Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Faces Major Deficit: Mayor Vincent Gray’s first proposed budget for FY2012, addressing a $320 million dollar shortfall, included higher taxes for top earners and $187 million in spending cuts. Most of the proposed cuts affect social services, especially homeless and mental health services. The Mayor did not propose any cuts to services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The first DC City Council vote on the budget will be at the end of May, with the final vote in early June. The Council appears to be deadlocked over increasing taxes on those earning $200,000 or more, hiring additional police officers and the degree of cuts in social services.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS will continue to monitor the budget hearings and process.
Pennsylvania
Fiscal Year 2012 Budget: Governor Corbett’s FY11-12 proposed budget, released by the Department of Public Welfare, contains no major cuts for autism, intellectual disabilities or early intervention services. The governor vowed to provide the necessary support and assistance that “Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens need and deserve.” He proposes to backfill all federal dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to avert a crisis in human services due to the loss of temporary increase in federal participation. There is no waiting list initiative to assist over 16,000 people who are eligible for ID services, including 3,000 people in emergency need.
SJCS Position/Action: SJCS will continue to monitor the budget hearings and process.
For further information, contact Arthur Ginsberg, SJCS Chief Government Affairs and Advocacy Officer, aginsberg@sjcs.org.
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