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The Arc and UCP Urge Congress to Implement the CLASS Act

/in /by The Arc

Washington, D.C. – The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) restate their support for the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program. Both The Arc and UCP worked hard to support passage of the CLASS Act and support full implementation of the program.

The CLASS program is a new long term care insurance program. It is financed by voluntary payroll deductions and will provide a cash benefit for individuals with functional limitations. CLASS plan benefits can be used for personal care attendants, assistive technology, home accessibility modifications, and other supports and services that help people with disabilities to function in their daily lives.

UCP and The Arc support the CLASS program, in part, due to our concern that individuals and families should not be forced to impoverish themselves to cover the costs of services they or their family members need in the event of disability or advancing age. Long-term services and supports can put enormous strain on both families as well as the federal-state Medicaid program. Both organizations believe it is imperative that the hard-fought CLASS program be fully implemented.

Nearly half of all funding for long term services is now provided through Medicaid, which is a growing burden on states and requires individuals to become and remain poor to receive the help they need. There is also an institutional bias in Medicaid whereby approximately two-thirds of all spending is directed towards nursing homes and other institutions instead of preferred community-based services and supports.

The CLASS program is a national solution to a national problem. The plan should give consumers access to a broad array of support options, including a continuum of home and community-based supportive services. This new system will ultimately relieve pressure on Medicaid. The new system should promote independence and dignity across the lifespan by ensuring beneficiaries the right to control and choose what services they receive, how and where they are delivered, and who provides them.

We are pleased by the renewed attention to the CLASS program brought about by today’s hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee. We urge members of Congress to ensure that the CLASS program is fully implemented as soon as possible so that the working public may begin to participate in the program and insure themselves against future need.

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Home Is in the Community

/in /by Kristen Bossi

Most people with I/DD share the dream of living in the community in a home of their own. For some, that dream may become a reality.

Earlier this week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government will dedicate billions of dollars to help individuals with disabilities access care in the community as opposed to institutions.

“There is more evidence than ever that people who need long-term care prefer to live in their own homes and communities whenever possible,” said Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “To restrict these individuals to institutions where even the simplest decisions of the day such as when to get up, what to eat and when to sleep are made by someone else must no longer be the norm.”

HHS is also proposing new rules to allow states to access additional federal Medicaid matching funds if they encourage individuals to live in a community setting, as opposed to a nursing home or other institutional setting.

Thirteen states are slated to receive about $45 million for demonstration grants this year, with $621 million budgeted through 2016. Federal officials are awarding $621 million over the next five years to expand the Money Follows the Person to help people with disabilities who are living in institutions transition into the community with services and supports programs.

The new grants will have an impact on 13,000 people in Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.

The Arc believes that adults with I/DD should have the opportunity to lead lives of their own choosing, reside in the community, and live independently with ready access to whatever services and supports they need to be included and participate as full members of the community.