White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Governor Cuts Disabled Budget by 6% ($120 Million). Blow to Services

WPCNR HEALTH NEWS. By John F. Bailey. February 25, 2013: The Governor’s office last week added an addendum to the proposed state budget calling for among other policies, a 6% across the board cut to the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, the agency that cares for New York’s disabled population, amounting to $120 Million. WPCNR spoke to a chief executive of one independent provider of group home and educational disabled services in Westchester County Monday morning to find out what this might mean for parents who have children being cared for in such facilities. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he told us it would cost his agency $2.1 Million right off his budget, and rather than a 6% cut it actually amounted to a 7.5% cut. He said the cut came as a complete surprise, calling it “draconian.” Asked if this would require eliminating staff or closing homes, he said it was too early to tell because organizations for the disabled are mobilizing a response expected Thursday to fight the cut. He urged parents and advocates for the diabled to contact their state assemblypersons and State Senators to protest the cut. For a year now, WPCNR and White Plains Week has been the only media reporting the Governor’s plans to reorganize health care services to the disabled through a task force. Part of this effort has been necessitated by the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services requiring the state to renegotiate the amount the federal government has been paying for New York State Medicaid services to the disabled, having found that New York State had overcharged the federal government for Medicaid expenses and used the surplus in other areas of the budget. The over charges have taken place The state has reached a settlement with CMS, and is in the process of reorganizing how health care services for a disabled person’s needs are decided. The rough plan is to have a series of panels statewide responsible for evaluating health professionals’ recommendations, as a means of controlling costs with the panels deciding who gets what. Previously, health care professionals with the non-profit organizations who care for the disabled would recommend services and the state would generally approve them. This would change from bottom up to top down, services being reviewed before they could be implemented. Due to New York getting caught overcharging for years, the federal government is now cutting the funding in the new budget year 2013-14. The irony is that the population presently served will be hurt by the real cut on services the Govenor proposed last week. The governor’s office has negotiated an arrangement where that $1 Billion has been whittled to $600 Million in money the state has to find. In a letter to parents, provided WPCNR, the executive WPCNR wrote this to his constitutency today: "I am writing today to inform you that following negotiations with the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding OPWDD’s overcharging for its state-operated developmental centers, Governor Cuomo committed to reducing NYS Medicaid program expenses by $500 million. To recover $120 million of this, he amended his proposed budget to include a 6% reduction in funding for all non-profit agencies providing services to people with developmental disabilities. This cut will become effective in Five Weeks if the legislature passes the amended budget as proposed by the Governor. A 6% cut to revenues will cause drastic changes in our operations. This loss of over $2 million dollars comes after four years without a single cost-of-living increase and several reductions in our reimbursement rates. At the same time we have absorbed the increasing costs of fuel, food, equipment and supplies. Until this point, we weathered the effects of the recession through finding cost-savings and the restructuring of several staff positions. But, we have never faced a cut this deep and it implemented will disrupt the staffing and services available in all our programs. By mid-week, there will be a coordinated advocacy plan developed by the associations that represent the agencies funded by OPWDD and I will be contacting you again with more information about the direct actions you will need to take to fight these cuts to the health, safety and quality of life of your loved ones. If you want to take immediate action: · New York residents should contact their State Senators and Assembly Representatives and their representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. · Non-New York residents should contact and their representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Tell your New York State representatives that they must not approve this 6% cut because it will hurt your loved ones. In speaking to your congressional representatives, highlight the impossible situation CMS has imposed upon citizens with developmental disabilities in New York.


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