http://www.examiner.com/special-education-in-providence/ri-bills-could-h
elp-special-needs-children-ineligible-for-medicaid

Follow the link above for information regarding pending legislation at
the RI State House.

A bit of background...  Rhode Island's home and community based services
and supports for children and youth with disabilities currently require
that the individual be eligible for Medicaid in this state to access
services.  For some time, there has been a gaping hole in Medicaid
eligibility for those children in Rhode Island who meet the childhood
disability criteria under Social Security law but who live in families
who are over federal income limits, which are designed for the very
poor.  Many of these children with disabilities have access to
commercial insurance through their parents' employers but no private
insurance plan provides the home and community based services they
require to be cared for in their own homes and communities, by their own
families - where they belong.  Because these children (who have
documentable disabilities) cannot currently qualify for Medicaid through
any mechanism, including the Katie Beckett eligibility provision which
requires that the child also meet an "institutional level of care,"  and
because there are currently no mechanisms for families to buy those
services, they are left with NO access to the wrap around services and
care coordination that is currently only available to those who can
qualify for Medicaid.

This leaves these vulnerable children at increased risk for out of home
placement (at which time they become the full responsibility of the
state) if their families cannot access adequate services and supports
they need to be cared for at home.

In recent years, even those children who had previously qualified for
Medicaid using the Katie Beckett eligibility criteria, are losing
eligibility at alarming rates when their claims are being recertified.
This practice only makes the access issue greater with more children
with disabilities not able to access the services they need.

Simply stated - if you have a child with disabilities who is not
currently able to access the state system of home and community based
services, primarily through access to the state's CEDARR Family Centers
due to Medicaid ineligibility (or work with families of these children),
you may want to learn more about this legislation and it's intent.  You
have a role to play in this process by being sure that your legislators
understand the needs of your children and families and the barriers you
face on a daily basis.  Your legislators work for YOU - but we all share
in the responsibility of informing and educating them about what our
families need.

Access to services and supports should be available to ALL children with
disabilities in this state and families should not be driven into
poverty to ensure that their children's needs are met.  This is an
equity issue - equal access to home and community based services for ALL
children in Rhode Island with disabilities.

Please feel free to contact me for more information on this issue if
needed.  The voices of families in our state - and the professionals
caring for them - are critical in this decision making process.  Make
sure your voices are heard on this important issue!


Dawn Wardyga, Director
Family Voices/Family to Family Health Information Center
RI Parent Information Network
1210 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston RI 02920
401-270-0101
800-464-3399
familyvoices@ripin.org
www.ripin.org