For Immediate Release:
April 13, 2012
Contact:
Chris Hilderbrant, COO, Center for Disability Rights, 585-546-7510
Bruce Darling, ADAPT, 585-370-6690
Melanie Shaw, New York Association on Independent Living, 518-465-4650

Disability Groups Betrayed by Obama Administration Delay in Releasing Rules

Today, April 13, 2012, the Center for Disability Rights will join disability groups across the country criticizing the Obama administration for its delay in releasing final rules implementing the Community First Choice (CFC) Option contained in the Affordable Care Act. “The administration should have released these rules more than six months ago; this delay is outrageous,” said Chris Hilderbrant, Chief Operating Officer of CDR. “We feel betrayed and abandoned by this administration. Delays by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are costing states millions of dollars, and forcing people with disabilities into institutions against their will.”

CDR joined in a statewide advocacy campaign for CFC implementation led by the New York Association on Independent Living and NYS ADAPT. As a result, Governor Cuomo committed to implementing the CFC Option in New York State more than a year ago. But the State has waited for the final rules from CMS before taking the first step toward implementation, appointing the required Development and Implementation Council. “The New York State Department of Health has not moved forward to appoint the D & I Council because of the delay in issuing the final rules at the federal level, even though CMS has told the State there is no reason to wait,” said Hilderbrant. “Having the final CFC rules in place will move New York closer to implementation of CFC.”

After over 20 years of advocacy to create a real alternative to institutionalization, disability rights and aging advocates praised the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which contains several sections promoting home and community based services and supports. One of the most celebrated sections is the CFC option, a state Medicaid plan amendment that will prevent people from being forced into nursing homes by funding home and community-based services. The CFC option will serve people based on their functional needs, not a particular diagnosis or age. To promote the use of this new option, the Affordable Care Act increased federal Medicaid funding by six percent for states that implement the CFC Option.

While CMS has indicated that states can begin to include the CFC option in their state plans even though the final rules are not in place, the vast majority of states is unwilling to implement a program without the security of those final rules. “We are hearing from all over the country that states are concerned the final rules will be different from the proposed rules; they simply don’t want the risk of implementing a program without knowing what the final rules will look like,” said Kelly Buckland, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living.

Advocates in many states have argued that the additional federal funds provided by CFC will not only increase the availability of alternatives to institutionalization, but will also offset other cuts in state Medicaid programs. Without these additional federal dollars, states are already planning, or will be more likely to cut existing optional Medicaid home and community based services. These cuts will force seniors and people with disabilities into unwanted institutionalization in order to obtain the services and supports they need.

OMB has up to 60 days to review the rules, but advocates are also concerned that further delays will bolster arguments for states to cap their Medicaid programs, or for the federal government to block grant Medicaid funds to the states. “We are angry and afraid,” said Rahnee Patrick, an ADAPT Organizer from Chicago. “The Obama administration is standing in the way of giving people a real alternative to institutionalization, and they are setting up a situation where we will lose ground on even basic Medicaid services – ground we simply can’t afford to lose. OMB needs to release the rules now!”

Today (Friday), members of CDR will be visiting the local offices of Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Slaughter to discuss how elected representatives can help facilitate the passage of CFC rules. CDR will also be waging an e-mail campaign to convince Acting Director of OMB, Jeffery Zients, to release the CFC rules immediately.

Later this month, CDR will join disability rights activists from all over the country in Washington DC where they will engage in direct action and civil disobedience to make sure the administration understands the life-threatening implications of the failure to act on the long overdue rules. “If the Obama administration doesn’t get the message today and take action, we will have no choice but to bring the message directly to them,” said Hilderbrant.

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