WV Medicaid Recipients' Union : Meeting at DHHR (May 10, 2005)


◊ HOME RETURN TO MAIN MR/DD WAIVER RENEWAL PAGE ◊ CONTACT US ◊ MISSION ◊ MEMBERSHIP ◊ CALENDAR ◊ POSITIONS ◊ COMMITTEES ◊ WV MEDICAID ◊ LEGISLATIVE ◊ ELECTIONS ◊ LINKS ◊ JOB MATCH	MAY 10, 2005 MR/DD WAIVER RENEWAL APPLICATION Meeting @ DHHR
	May 10th , 2005 Meeting in the Tiger Morten Conference Room A broad cross section of people with disabilities, family members, and direct care staff asked to meet with the people drafting the MR/DD waiver renewal application. Four dates, before the application was posted for public comment, were offered. DHHR did not respond directly to our request and clearly was not interested in sitting with us to discuss these issues. The group chose to come to Charleston anyway and take time out of our busy lives to make yet another effort to meet. The Department was aware that we were coming. In fact, it tried hard to let us know that no room would be available and no one had the date or time on their schedule. When the eleven of us arrived at the Secretary of Health and Human Resources' office, we were met by John Law, the Secretary’s Communication Director, and Shana Phares, the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources. They again stated that no one would be meeting with us and that public comment would begin on Monday when the application would be posted on the Web. One mom asked, “What about those of us who don’t have computers?” The response was you can go to the public library. Unfortunately, for many families getting to the library is difficult and once there, in Charleston anyway, there is sometimes a one hour wait to access a computer and then only 30 minutes of time allowed on before the next person waiting gets a turn. Scott Miller said that the group was not looking to comment but to have dialogue with those writing the application so that ideas could be discussed before they were drafted into the application. John Law said that we would have to agree to disagree about whether comments were considered enough input or not. He then stated that the application has been written and will be posted on Monday. A camera crew from WSAZ and a reporter were present during this exchange. After this brief encounter with the Deputy Secretary and Communications Director of DHHR outside the Secretary’s office, nine of the people gathered were escorted by the Communications Director and two security people to the Tiger Morton Conference Room. Here is what the group agreed as being important issues for consideration in drafting the Waiver renewal application: The definition of "medical necessity" should be expanded to include the definition as written in the Medicaid Policy manual in Michigan (see attached). Attendant Care services should be added to the list of allowable services. This is cost neutral and would not duplicate Adult Companion services since individuals are removed from the waiver program for just needing attendant care services. Fixed time lines and data must be available for the due process “process” and an attorney fee shifting provision should be in place which allows consumers who prevail in fair hearings to recover attorney fees. Person-centered planning and individualized budgets must be placed in existing budgets. See Michigan state plan. (www.Michigan.gov) There is no such thing as person-centered managed care. It is an oxymoron. There must be regular meetings between a cross section of stakeholders. Information must be disseminated to ALL stakeholders through a variety of means (email, snail mail, telephone, public notice, etc.). DHHR must Invest in the development of policy that resolves labor and tax issues, so that contracted services do not present an excuse for the agencies to refuse to provide needed services. Remove the "optional" label. Eligibility determinations should be based on CMS criteria and compatible with New Freedom/Olmstead definitions. If the program covers people with developmental disabilities, then people with developmental disabilities should not be threatened with being “kicked off” the program simply because they are functioning at a cognitive level above mental retardation. DHHR expects individuals and families to be accountable, yet it is clear that there is no corporate/state/bureaucratic accountability. (DHHR is out of compliance with Benjamin H; has no data on status of fair hearings; has no credible data available to APS for their assessment purposes -- to name a few). Paperwork requirements should be consolidated. This would free up time for workers to do more direct service and reduce overall cost. [23 pages of paperwork (one month) required for one individual was included in this packet. This mom has said she could cut the paperwork in half and still provide all the information required by the waiver program.] DHHR should hold scheduled widely publicized public forums in a variety of formats and locations on a regular basis.

	The West Virginia Medicaid Recipients' Union relies on volunteers to support its advocacy efforts. Thus, donations in any amount are gratefully accepted both electronically via credit card (left) and via U.S.Mail to cover the costs of postage, copying, bumper stickers, ads, operating expenses, etc. Checks or money orders should be made payable to "MRU WV." Thank you! ~~ Contributions are NOT (yet) tax deductible. ~~

++ PRIVACY STATEMENT ++ MRU WV will never share its members' personally-identifiable information (name, address, phone, or e-mail address) with any outside person or organization without express consent.
This page last updated Friday 24 June 2005