FW: [AutismRecoveryNetwork] Ruling impacts funding for Floridians with developmental disabilities

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From:

AutismRecoveryNetwork

[mailto:AutismRecoveryNetwork ] On Behalf Of Holly

Bortfeld

Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 9:43 AM

To: AutismRecoveryNetwork

Subject: [AutismRecoveryNetwork] Ruling impacts funding for Floridians

with developmental disabilities

TALLAHASSEE — A quarter of the 31,000 Floridians who get state money

for help with developmental disabilities could get less from the state

after an administrative judge ruled new procedures for assigning care

is legal.

Judge Eleanor Hunter said rules set earlier this year by the Agency

for Persons with Disabilities are valid. The rules establish four

tiers of care that set different individual spending caps for people

in the Medicaid program.

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People with mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, spina bifida

or Prader-Willi syndrome get money from the state for care at home,

supported living and in group homes. In addition to the 31,000 who get

help, about 17,000 are on waiting lists for care.

In 2007, the Legislature directed the state agency to come up with a

new assessment and assignment procedure to determine the level of care

for clients, in an attempt to curb costs for the program. The Agency

for Persons with Disabilities did so, with public hearings and a

proposed rule earlier this year.

The Advocacy Center for Persons With Disabilities in May challenged

the new rule, saying the agency did not have the authority to make the

changes.

Hunter this week said it did.

" Our agency works hard to comply with the law and today's ruling

supports that, " said Jim DeBeaugrine, interim director of the APD, in

a statement. " Although most of our customers will not be affected by

the tiers, we are sensitive to the fact that our customers have

anxiety about possible service reductions. … This is a somber task for

us to perform, and we pledge to carry it out with fairness and caring

for the people we serve. "

Mowry Etters, communications director for the agency, said it

estimates about a quarter of current program participants could see

reduced funding from re-classification in a new four-tier

categorization. She said it's not known how much money may be lost, on

average, for those who see cuts.

Full implementation of the new system doesn't have a date yet, Etters

said.

" We will send out a letter to all our customers, giving them 30-day

notice on any change in service, " Etters said. " We've been trying to

listen and we've been putting information on our Web site. "