GREAT NEWS: Community First Choice Option in AFFORDABLE CARE ACT REGULATIONS

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 25, 2012Contact:Janine Bertram Siler Marsha Katz Amber Smock ambity@...ADAPT APPLAUDS ISSUANCE OF KEY AFFORDABLE CARE ACT REGULATIONSWashington, D.C.--- On Tuesday, after months of pressure on the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS)Medicaid division to release federal regulations for the CommunityFirst Choice (CFC) Option, the national grassrootsdisability rights group ADAPT stormed the HHS headquarters once againby surrounding its doors. This time, theprotests yielded the long-awaited result: Cindy Mann, Director of theCenter for Medicaid and State Operationsannounced at 6 pm that she had just that very afternoon submitted theCFC Option regulations in final form to theFederal Register for publishing. The issuance of the regulationsbrings the possibility of much-needed Federalassistance to states struggling with massive Medicaid cuts."After almost two years of working to get the CFC Option in theAffordable Care Act and then waiting for theregulations, ADAPT truly is celebrating this moment," said BruceDarling of Rochester ADAPT. "We thank Ms. Mann andHenry Claypool, Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administrationon Community Living, for working with us to seethe regulations come out." The CFC Option is a provision of theAffordable Care Act that would provide Federalmatching dollars, plus an extra six percent, to states that amendtheir Medicaid state plans to provide home andcommunity based services for people with disabilities who meet acertain level of need, determined by each state.The completion of the regulations marks a high point in a saga offront line battles between advocates in the statesand their respective Medicaid administrators. Most states, faced withthe prospect of budget cuts in a time ofausterity, have not committed to taking advantage of the CFC Option.Some, like Illinois and Montana, have held off onfinal decisions pending release of the CFC regulations. Others, likeNew York and California, have moved forward withplanning for the CFC Option implementation. In states that have notmade such a commitment, Medicaid administratorshave met with ferocious grassroots pressure from ADAPT.HHS itself became the main focus of ADAPT efforts once it was clearthat the agency was working on the regulations.The Affordable Care Act provided the deadline of October 1, 2011 forthe publication of the CFC rules. Once that datepassed, tensions in the disability community ratcheted up as anxietygrew about whether the Administration would holdfirm to its commitment to community living and Olmstead implementationfor people with disabilities. The release of theregulations and the very recent formation of the Administration onCommunity Living are both viewed by ADAPT aspositive developments."We still have a lot of work to do," said Darling. "The release ofthe regulations means we will now have to workstate by state to ensure that every person with a disability has thesame access to community living as everyone else.We are not done, but for today this is a major policy and advocacyvictory for disability rights."For more information, see www.adapt.org andhttp://www.twitter.com/nationaladaptFOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/