Weekly Update - April 25, 2011

Editorial:  Time is Running Out! The deadline on the 30 day demand letter is April 30, or given the weekend, May 2. The demand letter was written after yet another Emergency Preparedness news conference by the Commonwealth did not include American Sign Language Interpreters. "Good News" said one official doesn't require ASL.  Please. Would someone find that reference Title II of the ADA? I remain skeptical that we'll hear anything from the Governor's office.  Book tours and trade junkets remain more important than the Civil Rights of People with Disabilities

New flexibility for states to improve

Medicaid and implement innovative practices

New rules will make Medicaid more flexible and efficient, helping states provide

better care and lower costs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced four

initiatives to give states more flexibility to adopt innovative new practices

and provide better, more coordinated care for people with Medicaid and Medicare

while helping reduce costs for states and families.  The initiatives support the

Obama administration's work to make Medicaid more flexible and efficient and to

address long-term cost growth.  Several of the announcements also help implement

provisions of the Affordable Care Act.  Today HHS announced:

Fifteen states will receive federal funding to develop better ways to coordinate

care for people with Medicare and Medicaid coverage, also known as dual eligibles, who often have complex and costly health care needs.

    * All states will receive increased flexibility to provide home and community-based services for more people living with disabilities.

* All states are eligible to receive more money to develop simpler and more     efficient information technology (IT) systems to modernize Medicaid enrollment.

* A proposal by the state of New Jersey for flexibility to expand health coverage for nearly 70,000 low-income residents has been approved.

"Medicaid programs provide health coverage for millions of low-income Americans

who otherwise would lack access to health care," said HHS Secretary Kathleen

Sebelius.  "With these new resources and flexibilities, states will have new

options to make their Medicaid programs work better for the people they serve,

while helping lower their costs."

Coordinated Care for People with Medicare and Medicaid

Under a new initiative funded by the Affordable Care Act, 15 states will receive

up to $1 million each to develop new ways to meet the often complex and costly

medical needs of the approximately nine million Americans who are eligible for

both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, known as "dual eligibles."  The goal of

the program is to eliminate duplication of services for these patients, expand

access to needed care and improve the lives of dual eligibles, while lowering

costs. 

The new Federal Coordinated Health Care Office, or the Duals Office, at

the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), was created by the

Affordable Care Act to improve care for dual eligibles and will work with the

states to implement the top strategies to coordinate primary, acute, behavioral

and long-term supports and services for dual eligibles, improving quality and

lowering costs.

The 15 states that will receive these funds are California, Colorado,

Connecticut,

, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina,

Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

"Beneficiaries who are in both Medicare and Medicaid can face different benefit

plans, different rules for how to get those benefits and potential conflicts in

care plans among providers who do not coordinate with each other," said Donald

M. Berwick, M.D., administrator of CMS.  "This can be disastrous for those

beneficiaries who are most vulnerable and in need of help."

CMS proposed new rules today giving states new flexibility for their programs to

help people with disabilities choose to live in their communities rather than in

institutions.  The proposed rules reduce administrative barriers for states

seeking to help multiple populations, which may include seniors and/or people

with different types of disabilities.  They will also allow individuals to

participate in the design of their own array of services and supports, including

such things as personal care and respite services for caregivers.

"These long awaited rules will help people living with disabilities realize the

promise of the ADA to live in the least restrictive environments possible for

them-like their own homes," said Henry Claypool, director of the Office on

Disability at HHS.  "With these new tools as well as incentives included in the

Affordable Care Act, states, working closely with advocacy groups,

beneficiaries, and other stakeholders, can more easily develop effective plans

to improve options for people with disabilities.  We hope states will take

advantage of this new flexibility."

The proposed rule, CMS-2296-P, can be found at

.