BUDGET
REQUEST For Fiscal
Year 2002 - 2003 FOR MH/MR
COMMUNITY SERVICES WHY? ã RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CRISIS
CONTINUES ã ã ESSENTIAL SERVICES TO PEOPLE
JEOPARDIZED ã ã HEALTH AND SAFETY OF INDIVIDUALS AT
RISK ã ã UNFUNDED MANDATES EXPAND ã REINSTATE: A 2% Cost of Living
Adjustment (COLA) for the following line-item
Appropriations in the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) budget:
ã Community Mental
Retardation Services ã Mental Health
Services
ã Pennhurst Dispersal ã MR Residential Services - Lansdowne
Essential MH/MR services, as established by laws,
regulations and court decisions rely almost exclusively upon state and federal
funding. The Coalition recognizes that
the General Assembly and the Executive Office face a difficult task due to the
economic situation in Pennsylvania.
Therefore, the Coalition request is for a nominal COLA percentage
increase.
Inadequate or absent COLAs during the past
fifteen years created the current recruitment and retention crisis despite the
best efforts of individuals, families, counties, providers and advocates. This year, the Governor’s Budget does not
include a COLA for any of the above services.
With the rapidly escalating costs of health insurance and property casualty insurance, along with increasing unfunded mandates related to new state and federal requirements (e.g. HIPAA), we believe that the impact of no COLA will reduce the number of people that can be served. The Olmstead decision obligates the Commonwealth to fully serve all persons entered into the waiver. To fully serve all persons in the waiver without receiving a COLA means that people who need services will lose any hope of getting them. We earnestly request your advocacy for a COLA for Community MH/MR services.
MH/MR
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
FISCAL YEAR 2002-2003 FUNDING NEEDS
v
A Cost of Living Adjustment
(COLA) for line-item appropriations addressing community mental health and
mental retardation services that equals the projected rate of inflation.
v
Continuation of the multi-year commitment begun in
FY2001-2002 by the Ridge Administration to address the recruitment and
retention crisis with additional state funding.
v
Additional state funding of $82.5 million to meet the
need identified in 1999 of $100 million of additional funding.
v
Workforce development and generation of an economic
stimulus during the current global economic crisis by approving additional
state funding for recruitment and retention.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION SUPPORTING THESE FUNDING NEEDS
1.
Pennsylvania
has historically been a national leader in providing services and opportunities
for individuals with mental retardation and individuals with mental illness in
the community. The recent Olmstead
decision by the United States Supreme Court and the implementation of the
Court’s Order by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through
the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), particularly in Olmstead
Updates No. 4 and No. 5 issued in January, 2001, further clarify the
Commonwealth’s responsibility in providing necessary services and in stating
the entitlement that accrues to individuals with these disabilities. Update No. 5 identifies the issue of
recruitment and retention as an example of how federal grant monies can be
utilized in meeting the Olmstead mandates. Likewise, recommendation #5 of the recent Federal CMS review of
PA’s home and community-based waiver services found that “The level of funding for waiver
services is less than required to provide quality services,” and told the Commonwealth, “Reimbursement levels for waiver services must be set so they are
sufficient to attract qualified and competent staff.”
2.
The
Mental Health/Mental Retardation
Coalition (Coalition) is a stakeholder group of county, provider and advocacy
associations supported by consumers, families and direct care professionals
advocating additional state funding for the recruitment and retention
crisis.
3.
In 1999 the Coalition identified an initial funding
need of $100 million state dollars required to begin addressing the recruitment
and retention crisis resulting from years of underfunding existing services.
The $100 million two-year request was based upon several factors inherent in
the MH/MR community services system.
The system is funded almost entirely by state and federal sources with
limited or nonexistent private pay or other third-party reimbursement
revenues. This dependency upon
government funding requires regular and adequate cost of living adjustments to
base funding allocations in order to assure that program quality and service
goals and objectives are achieved.
4.
The
FY 2001-2002 state budget proposed by Governor Ridge and approved by the
General Assembly included a multi-year special initiative of a 2% funding increase,
equaling $17.5 million in additional state funds for this purpose, together
with a general 2% cost of living adjustment to various MH/MR line-item
appropriations. Bipartisan support for
this initiative was overwhelming. The
Coalition continues advocating the need for $82.5 million in additional state
funding to meet the need of $100 million additional state dollars identified in
1999 for this initiative.