Volume 8, Issue 7 February 21, 2003 Two notable pieces of legislation dropped this week. Senate Bill 170, The Independence Plus Act, proposes that people who receive Medicaid waivers be provided the opportunity to select services and providers to enhance their choice and control of those services. HB 428 and HR 225 would offer special license plate to generate donations for Special Olympics Georgia. One-quarter of the funds raised would provide household establishment expenses for people with disabilities moving from congregate care facilities to the community. Lawmakers are in recess so House Appropriations Committee members may work on the FY 2004 budget and the Senate can work on the amended FY 2003 budget. They return on February 26 at 1:00 p.m. for the 20th legislative day. Legislation Tracker HB 34: Education; students committing certain acts of physical violence; disciplinary tribunal Sponsor: Greene-Johnson, 60th Status: Filed HB 38: Child support; amend provision; income deduction order Sponsor: Ehrhart 28th Status: Filed HB 81: Teachers; rights for continued employment; restore Sponsors: Lucas 105th district, Cummings 19th, Hugley 113th, Greene 134th, Reece 11th, Jordan 83rd. Status: Education Committee favorably reported HB 82: Fair Lending; redefine points and fees; exclude certain fees Sponsors: O'Neal 117th district, Richardson 26th, Massey 24th. Status: Read and referred to House Banks and Banking Committee HB 130: Georgia Health Care Act Sponsors: Holmes 48th, Orrock 51st Status: Referred to Appropriations Committee HB 142: Fair Lending Act; amend provisions Sponsors: Floyd 132nd, Shaw 143rd, Parrish 102nd, Royal 140th, Channell 77th, Skipper 116th Status: Passed the House; Senate read and referred to Banking and Financial Institutions Committee HB 145: Health Maintenance Organizations; mental disorders; point-of-service options Sponsors: Gardner 42nd, Harbin 80th, Moraitakis 42nd, Henson 55th, Maddox 59th Status: Referred to Insurance Committee HB 170: Fair Lending Act; repeal Sponsors: Franklin 17th, Joyce 2nd, Coan 67th, Burmeister 96th, Yates 85th, Amerson 9th Status: Referred to Banks and Banking Committee HB 211: Assistance dogs; interfering with, assaulting, killing; penalties Sponsors: Rice 64th, Millar 52nd, Dix 70th, Sholar 141st, Jenkins 93rd Status: Referred to Special Judiciary Committee HB 256: Industries for the Blind; manufactured products; purchase by state employess; exception Sponsors: Broome 141st, Sholar 141st, Skipper 116th, Westmoreland 86th, Drenner 57th, Lunsford 85th Status: Referred to House State Institutions and Property Committee HB 295: Education; deaf students; certification of interpreters Sponsors: Butler 88th, Smith 76th, Thompson 69th, Burmeister 96th, Bordeaux 125th Status: Referred to Education Committee HB 318: Adult Day Center Licensure Act; enact Sponsors: McClinton 59th, Howard 98th, Ashe 42nd, Mobley 58th, Sinkfield 50th, Maddox 59th Status: Referred to Human Relations and Aging Committee HB 352: Licensing boards; complaints against licensee; certain notification Sponsors: Harbin 80th, Campbell 39th, Powell 23rd, Boggs 145th Status: Read and referred to Governmental Affairs Committee HB 357: Certain deaths; persons in compensated care; notify coroner Sponsor: Howard 98th Status: Read and referred to Human Relations and Aging Committee HB 363: Electronic Textbooks; make available to local boards, schools, and students Sponsors: Fludd 48th, Greene-Johnson 60th, Marin 66th, Floyd 69th, Holmes 48th Status: Read and referred to Education Committee HB 428: Intellectually Disabled Health and Fitness Program Fund; establish; special license plates Sponsors: Borders 142nd, O'Neal 117th, McBee 74th, Jenkins 93rd, Stephens 123rd Status: Read and referred to House Motor Vehicles Committee HB 429: Workers' compensation; total and temporary partial disability; benefits Sponsors: Bordeaux 125th, Bannister 70th, Ralston 6th Status: Read and referred to Industrial Relations Committee HR 225: Intellectually disabled health and fitness program; special plates Status: Appropriations Committee SB 12: Criminal Offenses and Penalties for Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of Disabled Adults and Elder Persons Sponsor: Unterman 45th, Balfour 9th, Squires 5th Status: Passed the Senate; now in House Special Judiciary Committee SB 17: Child support; computation of award, guidelines, income deduction orders Sponsor: Harp 16th Status: Read and referred to Judiciary Committee SB 50: Health Insurers; Consumer Choice of Benefits Health Plan Act Sponsors: Seabaugh 28th, Golden 8th, Price 56th, Moody 27th, Mullis 53rd, Williams 19th Status: Referred to Insurance and Labor Committee SB 53: GA Fair Lending Act; amend provisions Sponsors: Cheeks 23rd, Starr 44th, Crotts 17th Status: Passed the Senate, now moves to the House Banks and Banking Committee SB 111: Death Investigations; patients receiving compensated care in facilties licensed by DHR Sponsors: Tanksley 32nd, Unterman 45th Status: Read and referred to Judiciary Committee SB 170: Long-term care services; in-home and community based care; consumer choice and control; Independence Plus Act Sponsors: Jackson 50th, Dean 31st, Zamarripa 36th, Gillis 20th, Starr 44th, Thomas 2nd Status: Read and referred to Health and Human Services Committee ------------------------------ View any bill in its entirety at http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/leg/legislation.htm Budget Overview Suggested cuts for the Department of Human Resources are: Proposed DHR Austerity Cuts for Fiscal Year 2004 Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities/Addictive Disease State Dollars Convert 75% of state-funded DD family support slots to Medicaid waiver slots $586,767 Reduce Emory contract for Autism Resource Center $100,000 Reduce state-level reserve for autism support (these are funds remaining from the closing of the Clayton Respite Home, and do not reflect a loss in services.) $35,924 Reduce room and board supplement for 1,362 consumers with Developmental disabilities by 30% $2,039,731 Eliminate the Marcus Institute contract for fetal alcohol syndrome services $108,520 Newly Proposed Cuts: Department of Community Health (DCH) DCH is proposing premiums between $0-458/month for the Katie Beckett waiver program based on the parents' income. This will impact 5,417 children and families. To implement this proposal, DCH must obtain Federal approval. DCH also proposed a 10% provider rate cut for all Medicaid waiver programs. Category Total State Reduction Community Care (CCSP) 3,216,146 DHR state Independent Care 789,160 Medicaid Mental Retardation Waiver 5,351,951 DHR state Waivered Home Care 214,458 Medicaid DSPS 86,731 DHR state Therapeutic Residential Services 1,926,683 DHR state SOURCE 312,200 MRWP (CHHS Waiver) 1,884,997 DHR state FY 2003 Supplemental Budget This is a mid-year adjustment for 2003. Georgia's budget shortfall is over $600 million of which $450 million is Medicaid. The proposed cuts in MHDDAD totals $8 million or 1.3% of their state budget. These include: State Dollars Consolidation of Augusta Regional Hospital and Gracewood administration (259,000) Cut state MR service dollars and refinance with Social Service Block grant (462,500) One-time hiring freeze of state office and state hospital staff (1.5 million) Austerity Adjustments ($3.1 million) Some Enhancements remain in the budget: Transfer 11 children from nursing homes to community $222, 692 Transition planning for people with DD or mental illness who want to move to community from institutions $170,000 Start-up costs for 65 children moving from institutions to community $585,000 FY 2004 Budget The big budget contains temporary tax increases for tobacco and alcohol totaling some $400 Million. It also calls for using the Rainy Day funds. Enhancements: DCH State Dollars 145 people to move from nursing home to community $3.2 million Assessment of people to move from nursing home to community $75,000 15 people with serious mental illness will move from institutions to community and this reflects their primary care health costs $36,045 10 people off ICWP waiting list $220,369 Department of Human Resources (DHR): The overall Mental Health, Developmental Disability, and Addictive Disease FY 04 budget has been cut by $11 million state dollars. All cuts described in the following section are from existing state dollars. These are not all the cuts to MHDDAD, just the ones which appear to directly impact DD. Cuts: DHR State Dollars Consolidate administration at Augusta Regional and Gracewood ($813,417) Reduce administration costs at CSBs ($2.6 million) Cut MR state funds and replace with SSBG federal funds ($761,108) Eliminate contract with Georgia Hearing Impaired ($50,000) Austerity adjustments (budget cuts) ($5.46 million) Pay raise from last year not annualized for 2004 ($3.61 million) Because so many people with DD are served in Community Mental Health Centers, which include all the CSB's, the additional cut of $4.2 million will affect people with DD. The only enhancements to DHR are for child welfare and Olmstead/Waiting Lists items. All enhancements are from projections for maximizing federal revenue through the ICF/MRs, ICFs and Skilled nursing facilities. The term used for this maximization process is upper payment limit (UPL). It is based on changing the federal reimbursement rates at the institutions so they can capture 100% of their costs in the future. This is a short-term fix during a fiscal crisis, not a long-term solution. DHR is also researching whether flexibility in federal regulations will allow additional provider groups (other than nursing homes and hospitals) to participate in the UPL. FY 04 Enhancements:DHR State Dollars Move 50 people from state hospitals to community $2.6 million Move 15 people with serious mental illness from institutions to the community $432,898 Transition planning for moving the above 65 people $170,000 Add 2 state office positions to certify and monitor services $148,644 Serve 50 people with DD from the short term waiting list who need services in addition to what they are already receiving $949,031 Aging There are also 84 people from nursing homes, who are being moved using the CCSP program at a projected cost of $421,523. Current Waiting Lists For Services Over 3,300 people are waiting for help, including: 3,142 Georgians with Mental Retardation or Developmental Disabilities 249 people with severe physical disabilities e-Updates available at http://www.gcdd.org/publicpolicy/index.htm . For Moving Forward by EMAIL ONLY, send an email from the account you wish to subscribe with "Moving Forward email only" in the subject line and your first and last name and mailing address in the body of the message. Send email to ddoughman@dhr.state.ga.us . Do you know who your legislators are? Look up your legislators at http://www.vote-smart.org and type in your zip code in the left column. Call and ask the Secretary of State's office at (404) 656-2871. Moving Forward is published by the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Phone: 404-657-2126 Toll Free:1-888-ASK-GCDD E-mail: ddoughman@dhr.state.ga.us TDD 404-657-2133 ~ FAX 404-657-2132 You may view Moving Forward each week at our Web Page http://www.gcdd.org To receive Moving Forward via email, send a blank email to ga-advalert-subscribe@egroups.com