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May 4, 2011
Contact: Janine Bertram
Contact: Bruce Darling
ADAPT TALKS MEDICAID REFORM WITH THEGANG OF SIX; VISITS WHITE HOUSE
Washington,DC — 300 members of ADAPT, the national disability rights grassroots organization, are visiting the US Senate Gang of Six: the six Senators currently shaping the country’s budget for fiscal year 2012.
ADAPT will visit Senators Durbin, Conrad, Warner, Coburn, Crapo and Chambliss. Asmall group of ADAPTers will also meet with senior advisors at the White Houseregarding the implementation of the Community First Choice Option in the Affordable Care Act.
In ADAPT’s view, reforming Medicaid long term care spending encompasses several factors. Eliminating the institutionalbias by mandating that a state can and should spend funds on community-based services and supports is paramount. Next, the federal government should take leadership in pushing to rebalance Medicaid long term care spending away from institutional settings and emphasize community based services. Also, making enormous cuts to Medicaid and block granting Medicaid tothe states, as under the House-approved “Ryan Plan,” would be a disastrous strategy for services that support people with disabilities all over America.
“The Senate has got to take counteractive measures against the damaging provisions of the Ryan Plan,” said David Wittie, an organizer with ADAPT of Texas. “We know that they are eyeballing Medicaidreform. We want reform, too: reform that banishes the institutional bias in Medicaid long term care spending and focuses on investing on community-based services, which are vastly more cost effective.”
Of the 60 million people counting on Medicaid right now, 8.5 million are people with disabilities; 8.8 million are low income frail, elderly and disabled individuals who rely on Medicaid to plug the gaps in Medicare coverage, such as long term care. Medicaid pays for vital services such as wheelchairs and prostheses for people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities; prescription drugs for people with mental illnesses and other medical conditions
Today, ADAPT will also be visiting the White House to reiterate the importance of federal funding for state programs that pay for community-based supports. “Without this kind of funding, I would not be able to live in my own home and hold down a job,” said Kevin McPhan of Chicago ADAPT. “I need to be able to have a personal attendant. They make everything possible.” The current policy of the White House supports community living.
“State policy should match federal policy, and now is the time to take action,” said Cassie James Holdsworth of Philadelphia ADAPT. “ADAPT will hold the Gang of Six and the White House accountable for thefreedom of 60 million Americans who rely on Medicaid.”
For more information about ADAPT, visit http://www.adapt.org and http://twitter.com/nationaladapt
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FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/