Legislative Update - Budget Sent to Governor

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend of ASO:

The budget process is almost complete. The Budget Conference Committee, comprised of member of both the House and Senate, has finalized a compromise budget bill and sent it on to the Governor for his signature. The Governor must sign the budget bill into law by June 30, 2007. While the Governor does have "line item" veto, most of the items of interest to those with autism and their families will likely not be vetoed. We will update you as soon as we have word. These include:

- Medicaid Buy-in (for more details, see an update from Ohio United Cerebral Palsy after my signature)

- Funding for the v. Taft settlement in the MRDD budget (this will include 1500 new, state funded waivers - distribution of which is TBD)

- Autism Early Screening Pilot Program (allocated to Ohio Department of Health, this program will be run by the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. ASO was instrumental in getting this appropriation and we hope to have an initial training plan in place by early August. Ohio has also been chosen to receive a CDC grant for a one time training from First Signs to be held in Columbus in October. Details will follow. Check back on our website for updates. This language was included by Rep. Bacon)

- An appropriation to OCALI for transition services administered through the Delaware ESC (this language was included thanks to Rep. Jon )

- Additional funding for the Rehabilitation Services Commission (this allows them to draw down additional Federal funding dedicated to assisting Ohioians with disabilities (including autism) to obtain or retain a job. This is especially important for our population that is on the "higher" end of the spectrum that may not qualify for services of this nature from MRDD)

- The Community Mental Health Amendment to the House passed version of the budget introduced by Rep. which removes the amendments to ORC 340.03(A)(1)© and 5119.611( C) from the Budget Bill and repeals the amendments to these sections passed in the Capital Bill (HB699 passed in the lame duck session last fall). This amendment restores federal and state funding for mental health services to individuals with certain DSM-IV diagnosis and be detrimental to children and families living with autism and a much wider group of children, seniors, and other individuals that would have been denied if these actions were not taken.

- Special Education Scholarship program (modeled after the Autism Scholarship Program): The program:

· Places a 3% cap on enrollment, or currently approximately 8,000 students each year.

· Limits the special education scholarship to a maximum award of $20,000.

· The program is piloted from FY 2009-2014.

· ODE must conduct a formative evaluation by December 31, 2010.

Legislators will be heading in to recess for the summer. Be sure to take the time to contact your legislators and thank them for supporting autism issues in the budget and for all of their hard work during this process. Even if they aren't your legislators, please contact Rep. Bacon and Sen. Kirk Schuring and thank them for their efforts in getting the Autism Early Screening Pilot appropriation. And finally, please take a few minutes to contact Rep. Jon and thank him for all of his work in the budget on behalf of persons with autism, all disabilities and families in Ohio. In addition to the things that do appear in the budget that are listed here, Rep. was instrumental in including many others that benefit our population, as well as others that did not make the final budget. Information on how to contact legislators is on our website at www.autismohio.org, click on LEGISLATION under the Main Menu on the left side of the page.

We continue to make progress on the recommendations of the Ohio Autism Taskforce - Medicaid Buy-in and Early screening both being recommendations. We at ASO are working in conjunction with OCALI to develop a matrix of all the recommendation and the progress to date. We hope to have that posted to both sites within the next month. Check back to our site and OCALI's www.ocali.org to see the matrix.

Thank you to all of you who contacted your legislators to urge them to support any of these initiatives. We could not have made nearly the progress we have without your support. We at ASO will continue to work on behalf of persons with autism and their families in Ohio. If you have any input, feedback, etc. please do not hesitate to contact us at askASO@....

Sincerely,

Barbara C. YavorcikPresidentAutism Society of Ohio701 S. Main St.Akron, OH 44311(330) 376-0211fax: (330) 376-1226email: askASO@...home: byavorcik@...web: www.autismohio.org

MEDICAID BUY IN

Congratulations to all of you who have worked so hard for so many years on making Medicaid Buy-In a reality in Ohio! Because of your tireless advocacy, Ohio will become the 35th state to enact a Medicaid Buy-In program for workers with disabilities. Thank you for your persistence!

The General Assembly voted on Wednesday to pass the final budget bill AND it includes Senate Bill 4 MBI language, with some modifications. The budget bill has been sent to the Governor for his signature. The Governor must sign the budget bill into law by June 30, 2007. After the budget bill is signed into law, a detailed summary will be prepared and sent to you.

Some of the modifications to the Senate Bill 4 language are:

* changes in definitions. For example, the term "assets" has been changed to "resources".

* eligibility for the program will be based on individual income, instead of family income, below 250% of poverty. Additional exemptions and disregards may be established in rule, beyond the $20,000 in income.

* the premium calculation will also have additional exemptions and disregards established in rule.

* allows 180 days, instead of the original 90 days, to submit the state plan amendment to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and allows changes, if necessary, to gain CMS approval. The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services assures us this will not change the January, 2008 start date for implementation of the program.

* the advisory council membership has been expanded.

What happens now? Between now and January, 2008, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, in collaboration with the Medicaid Buy-In Advisory Council, will write the rules to implement the program and will seek approval from CMS. Additionally, a series of regional meetings will be planned to spread the word about this new program.

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