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The following
is an ACTION ALERT that we received from the Missouri Assistive
Technology Listserv.
ACTION ALERT
Most of this information is from an Action Alert
from Paraquad CIL.
The Senate Appropriations committee is considering SIGNIFICANT cuts
to programs for people with disabilities. The goal of the committee
is to complete its work by this Thursday afternoon (April 17).
Persons who want to contact their own legislators or members of the
Senate Appropriations Committee about the proposed cuts should do so
immediately. The alternative to cutting services for persons with
disabilities is to support revenue enhancements. Revenue
enhancements are raised taxes and new dollars to fund these
programs.
These are some of the proposed cuts they have been
presented with:
Non-Medicaid Eligible (NME) Program:
The Senate Appropriations committee is presenting a 100% cut for NME.
That would eliminate the program for 171 Missourians, 30+ in St.
Louis! This is an important program which allows people with severe
disabilities to return to work and retain their medical benefits and
personal attendant services (PAS). Without this program, many will
lose their medical services, lose their jobs and could be forced
into nursing homes or other institutions.
Center for Independent living (CIL) Funding:
Considering a 15% cut ($380,556) for CIL's, including Paraquad. This
is the funding CIL's use to operate their programs. CIL's are
already hurting for funding.
Social Services and Mental Health Departments:
They are considering reducing the eligibility for Medicaid to 77% of
poverty from 80% of poverty. This will force many people off
straight Medicaid and onto the Spenddown program, as well as raise
the Spenddown amount for users. The Medicaid eligibility is already
too low - $591 per month is not enough to live on! Many have to
choose between medicine and food! The Medicaid eligibility rate
needs to increase, not decrease.
They are considering reducing the eligibility rate
for the Medical Assistance for Workers With Disabilities (MAWD)
program to 150% of poverty. This will force many workers with
disabilities to lose their medical benefits!
They are considering establishing co-pays on home
and community based services. This could mean that a person would
have to pay a few dollars in co-pays every time their attendant
comes to work. These people do not have any extra money to pay these
fees and may have to terminate PAS services for periods of time if
they do not have the money. This is not acceptable!
They are considering cutting the MC+ CHIPS program.
The children in the premium level for MC+ are children with high
health care costs due to disabilities and special health care needs.
These families cannot get health insurance for their children or
they have reached the coverage cap. These children will be uninsured
if the General Assembly cuts MC+. How are families below 300% of
poverty to pay for these high health care costs? One of the biggest
causes of bankruptcy is medical bills.
They are considering cutting $40 Million for the
Department of Mental Health. Over 7,000 people who are non-Medicaid
eligible could lose their community services. |
