CAIC UPDATE
Developmental Services, Medi-Cal, SSI/SSP
Summary of 2004 Budget Act
Department
of Developmental Services
In
January, the Governor proposed $100M (million) in General Fund savings in
the regional centers' Purchase of Service (POS) budget. Because of the
potential loss of federal matching funds for services that would be cut,
the total cut would likely have been about $140M of services. The January
budget relied on Statewide POS Standards and a system of parental
co-payments as mechanisms to help achieve that $100-140M in POS savings.
However, the manner of reduction and the type of services reduced remained
unknown.
The
May Revise proposes to achieve $100M in General Fund savings by:
-
Statewide POS Standards
($11.9M savings in 2004/05 and $35.8M when fully implemented).
(Status: This was rejected by both houses of the Legislature and is
dead for this year) replaced by a $7M unallocated POS reduction.
-
Family Cost-Participation
Program ($570,000 savings in 2004/05 and $3.5M when fully
implemented). (Status: The Senate version was adopted by both houses of
Legislature and signed into law).
-
$6.5M cut to Regional Center Operations. Coming on top of
the continuing cuts from last year, the total cut to Regional Center
Operations would be roughly 10% of their budget. And this happens at
a time when regional centers are expected to do the intensive work in
expanding the use of federal matching dollars. (Status: Adopted and
signed into law).
-
$11.9M to develop community housing for Agnews residents - Status: Signed
into Law.
-
Savings from the ongoing impact
of last year's temporary cost containment measures ($67.5M), decreased
rate of growth ($11.3M), and new federal funds ($8.7M).
For more information
on the proposed Statewide POS Standards and co-pay, see:
Administration's Full POS and Co-Pay Proposals
PAI's
Detailed Analysis of POS Standards
SEIU's Opposition Statement on POS Standards
SEIU's Statement on Parental
Co-Pay
Medi-Cal
10%
Medi-Cal Provider Rate Reduction - WITHDRAWN -
This
proposal made by the Governor in November would have been added onto the
5% reduction already enacted for the current fiscal year.
The additional 10% Medi-Cal provider rate cut would have
brought the total rate reduction to 15%. A 15% rate reduction would have
seriously degraded access to healthcare for people with disabilities.
In a
suit brought by the California Medical Association (CMA) and other
plaintiffs, a judge has blocked implementation of the 5% provider rate
reduction which was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2004. The
legal action is based on the assertion that a 5% rate cut would severely
limit access to medical care, contrary to Medicaid law. This decision made
the additional 10% reduction impractical to pursue.
Medi-Cal Redesign -
Last Spring, the Schwarzenegger Administration held extensive public input
sessions with the goal of developing a federal waiver proposal for the
restructuring of Medi-Cal and achieving $400M in annual savings.
Subjects such as co-payments for Medi-Cal services, multi tiered service
design, and managed care have been under consideration.
The
Administration was expected to unveil Medi-Cal reform proposals in
conjunction with the May Revise and then again on August 2. However, due to
the complexity of the redesign process and the interaction of the
California Performance Review, the
Administration delayed release of a package until the new Legislature
convenes.
SSI/SSP
The
Legislature negotiated a three month
suspension of both the January 2005 state cost of living adjustment
(COLA) for SSI/SSP and the pass through of the federal SSI COLA. The
result would be that SSI/SSP payments would remain the same, without any
cost of living increase three months The Administration had
recommended eliminating both the pass-through and the SSI COLA.
