FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 25, 2012

Contact:
Janine Bertram (503) 622-6387
Rachel Siler (312) 479-0220
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504
Amber Smock ambity@aol.com

ADAPT APPLAUDS ISSUANCE OF KEY AFFORDABLE CARE ACT REGULATIONS

Washington, 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 Community First Choice (CFC) Option, the national grassroots disability rights group ADAPT stormed the HHS headquarters once again by surrounding its doors.  This time, the protests yielded the long-awaited result: Cindy Mann, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations announced at 6 pm that she had just that very afternoon submitted the CFC Option regulations in final form to the Federal Register for publishing.  The issuance of the regulations brings the possibility of much-needed Federal assistance to states struggling with massive Medicaid cuts.

“After almost two years of working to get the CFC Option in the Affordable Care Act and then waiting for the regulations, ADAPT truly is celebrating this moment,” said Bruce Darling of Rochester ADAPT.  “We thank Ms. Mann and Henry Claypool, Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administration on Community Living, for working with us to see the regulations come out.”  The CFC Option is a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would provide Federal matching dollars, plus an extra six percent, to states that amend their Medicaid state plans to provide home and community based services for people with disabilities who meet a certain level of need, determined by each state.

The completion of the regulations marks a high point in a saga of front line battles between advocates in the states and their respective Medicaid administrators.  Most states, faced with the prospect of budget cuts in a time of austerity, have not committed to taking advantage of the CFC Option.  Some, like Illinois and Montana, have held off on final decisions pending release of the CFC regulations.  Others, like New York and California, have moved forward with planning for the CFC Option implementation.  In states that have not made such a commitment, Medicaid administrators have met with ferocious grassroots pressure from ADAPT.

HHS itself became the main focus of ADAPT efforts once it was clear that the agency was working on the regulations.  The Affordable Care Act provided the deadline of October 1, 2011 for the publication of the CFC rules.  Once that date passed, tensions in the disability community ratcheted up as anxiety grew about whether the Administration would hold firm to its commitment to community living and Olmstead implementation for people with disabilities. The release of the regulations and the very recent formation of the Administration on Community Living are both viewed by ADAPT as positive developments.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Darling.  “The release of the regulations means we will now have to work state by state to ensure that every person with a disability has the same access to community living as everyone else.  We are not done, but for today this is a major policy and advocacy victory for disability rights.”

For more information, see www.adapt.org and http://www.twitter.com/nationaladapt
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