Susang1961@aol.com .

TO: NDSC Members and Affiliated Parent Groups

FROM: Susan Goodman, Director
Governmental Affairs

DATE: October 30, 2007

Senate Passes Budget Bill to Fund Human Services Programs

Last week the Senate passed the FY 2008 budget for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. The Senate-passed budget, which is $1.9 billion less than the House, is $9.6 billion over the President’s budget and $5.7 billion over the FY 2007 level. A committee of members of the House and Senate will meet and resolve the differences between the two bills. This budget reflects funding for important disability programs such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), long-term services under Medicaid, health care and employment programs.

The President has said that he will veto this bill. At the present time, the House of Representatives would probably fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto. If this happens, the bill would likely become part of a larger omnibus appropriations bill. If a bill is not signed by mid-November, Congress will have to pass another “continuing resolution” to keep the government operating until the FY 2008 budget is passed.

NDSC has focused efforts on educating members of the House of Representatives who voted against the House budget of the importance of adequate funding for disability programs. We are tracking the ongoing developments closely.

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HHS Proposing to Eliminate Critical Services

The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed regulation on August 13th which prohibits reimbursement for services currently received through the “rehabilitation services option” in Medicaid. Services received under this option include “day habilitation,” various therapies and some I.D.E.A. services that are currently paid under Medicaid.

Some services received by adults with developmental disabilities living in the community would be impacted by this. The affected states include Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Currently, legislation has been proposed that calls for a 6 month moratorium on the implementation of this rule.

To read a more in-depth article about this action, go to http://www.ucp.org/uploads/ww.doc. Efforts are continuing to pass legislation that will extend this moratorium.

 
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