Medicaid Buy In Bill Filed!

[Guest guest]

Regards,

Ven Sequenzia

President

Autism Society of America

State of Florida Chapter

Medicaid Buy In Bill Filed!

Date:

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 12:11:05 -0500 (EST)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Work Incentive Medicaid Coverage Initiative UPDATE

in this issue

Medicaid Buy In Bill Filed!

Ticket to Work Events

Background on Work Incentive Medicaid Coverage Initiative

Medicaid Buy In Bill Filed! Time to Take Action!

It is that time of year again! The State Legislator is in session and the "Medicaid Buy In" bills are filed! We need your support to get the companion bills passed! Medicaid Buy In helps persons with disabilities work more or keep their jobs with less fear of losing their Medicaid. Rep. Homan filed it in the House, (House Bill 837) and Senator Crist filed it in the Senate (Senate Bill 2038). You can help by calling your own Representative or Senator to ask them to co-sponsor this bill. Research conducted by Mathematic Policy Research, Inc. clearly shows the importance and benefit of the Buy-In program not only on the working status of individuals with disabilities but also to States that implement them. Preliminary data clearly shows a cost savings for Buy-In program participants when looking exclusively at average service expenditures when compared to other Medicaid program participants.

If you recall, last year's bill was changed in the Senate to recommend a working group to study and plan for the implementation of "Medicaid Buy In" in Florida. That group met between sessions and created a White Paper providing further details about the benefits to persons with disabilities.

Go to our website: www.partnershipforwork.com to see this White Paper, the proposed bill and the Fact Sheet of the Mathematic Policy Research. We also have talking points for talking to your legislator about this important issue for people with disabilities.

The House Bill 837 first has to go to the Health Care Regulation Policy Committee where Rep. of Ft Myers is the Chair (phone and email nick.thompson@... ).

The Senate Bill 2038 has been referred to Health Regulation; Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; Health and Human Services Appropriations; and the Policy & Steering Committee on Ways and Means. The Chair of Health Regulation is Sen. Don Gaetz (phone and email gaetz.don.web@...).

Ticket to Work Events

March

Work Incentive Seminar Events: Helping Beneficiaries Make Informed Choices About Work

If you are interested in learning about the Ticket to Work Program or other Work Incentives, you can attend a FREE Work Incentive Seminar Event (WISE). WISE are community events held by local organizations for beneficiaries to learn more about available Social Security Work Incentives through accessible, informal, learning opportunities.

Attend a WISE to connect with local training and employment resources, explore opportunities to increase your income, and network with other job seekers and employers. Local Work Incentive Planning and Assistance projects will be hosting 46 WISE Events in 24 states and one territory in March. A list of the locations and dates of those upcoming events appears below.

Florida:

ville - March 9

Palatka - March 29

For more information or to sign up for a WISE Event in your area, visit us online at www.cessi.net/wise or call 1- (voice or TTY). If there is not currently an event scheduled in your area, please check the web site often as events are added frequently or visit www.choosework.net to view a WISE Event online.

Background on Work Incentive Medicaid Coverage Initiative

This advocacy effort is coordinated by a statewide Partnership for Work and Healthcare consisting of over 30 organizations. Learn more about this "Medicaid Buy In" program at: www.partnershipforwork.com and sign in for updates. The website provides talking points for meeting with legislators, sample letters to the editor, and other advocacy and educational materials.

The proposed changes would increase the income and asset limits for persons on SSI or SSDI so they can go to work, make a living wage and still keep their health insurance. Here are the elements suggested by the Partnership: 1) Unearned income would be capped and tied to existing Medicaid requirements to help control start-up costs. 2) Cash assets of $10,000 (individual) and $15,000 (married couple) would be excluded, as would IRS-recognized retirement accounts. Participants could be charged premiums of up to 7.5 percent of their income if their earned income exceeds the poverty level. The cost to the state for this program is low, since many proposed participants are already receiving Medicaid.

Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit our website: http://www.partnershipforwork.com/

For More Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call Barbara Butz, Capstone Consulting at or email barbara@...

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