Call To Action: Contact House Appropriations Committee
Posted February 28, 2012 by Mandy Smith in Advocacy
From now through March 6th, we need the disability community to contact each member of the House Appropriations Committee. A complete list of names and contact information is available here.
They will begin debating the budget on March 6th. As they are working on budget issues we need to make sure they know the importance of funding the Home and Community Based services Physically Disabled waiting list and to restore the Financial Management Services(FMS) rate back to $140.
Shannon Jones assembled the following handouts to use in making your contacts with the Legislators.
Some of the talking points for funding the waiting list are:
- As of February 1, 2012 there are 3,433 persons waiting for HCBS/PD services.
- 30 persons died while waiting during the month of Jan. 2012
- 10 persons entered a nursing facility during the month of Jan. 2012.
- The last person offered PD Services had been waiting for 3 years!
- Since 2010, 1,200 persons have come off of the PD Waiver, yet no one is coming off the waiting list.
- Approximately $33 million (State funds) would fund HCBS waiver services for those waiting.
Some of the talking points for increasing the FMS rate are:
- Last fall, Providers were notified of the $115 reduced rate with no justification and no opportunity for discussion.
- Providers are asking for a fair rate for services delivered.
- CILs anticipate additional layoffs associated with the FMS, which will amount to roughly a 25% reduction in agency staffing, the majority of which are people with disabilities.
Once you have made contact with each Legislator on the House Social Services Budget Committee, please email me any responses that you receive so we can track and amend our message as needed.
