FW: Stop Medicaid Budget Cuts & Be A-CHAMP for Children! Tell Your Representative to Vote No on Budget Bill!

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-----Original Message-----From: AutismRecoveryNetwork [mailto:AutismRecoveryNetwork ]On Behalf Of Holly Bortfeld

Be A-CHAMP For Children By Stopping Federal Budget Cuts!

Take Action!

Tell Your Representative to VOTE NO on the BUDGET Bill!

Be A-CHAMP For Children By StoppingFederal Budget Cuts!

Contact Congress Now!

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http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/?alertid=8343991 & type=CO

Use our messaging system by clicking here, or Get Contact Information for your Representative here:

http://capwiz.com/a-champ/directory/congdir.ttSenators Nearly Defeat Medicaid Cuts – Force The House to Re-Vote –Urge Your Representative to Vote "No" on Destructive Budget Bill!

Take ACTION NOW.Medicaid is the primary source of funding for programs that serve people with disabilities. The Budget Bill passed by the Senate last week contained severe cuts in Medicaid that will hurt social service agencies over the next five years, and will place extra burdens on States that shoulder an increasing burden of Medicaid costs.We know that the numbers of individuals with disabilities is increasing—and in part due to the autism epidemic the numbers of adults who will rely on Medicaid will continue to increase over the next fifteen to twenty years at least. Rather than plan for the future by bolstering funding or finding alternative funding mechanisms our Congress had decided that the budget must be cut on the backs of those most vulnerable – persons with disabilities.Primarily due to the pressure of advocates there still exists an opportunity to stop the cuts in Medicaid. Political pressure resulted in amendments (by a narrow 51-50 vote with a tie broken only by the Vice-President, who voted for the Medicaid cuts) in the bill passed by the Senate, requiring the House to reconsider the bill when it returns in January. We now have time to defeat this bill that would deprive disabled Medicaid beneficiaries of more than $10 billion over the ten years in increased cost-sharing and premiums, while cutting Medicaid benefits by $6 billion — all in order to finance further tax cuts. (See below section for more details). Because the vote in the House of Representatives in December was close, with some members not voting and likely unaware of the harshness of the Medicad cuts, there remains a chance to educate Representatives and the media about the potential devastating effect of the Budget bill if it is passed. We can still urge our representatives to vote NO when it comes to the House floor again. Action Steps:With most Representatives home for the holidays, now is the perfect time for state and local advocates to barrage them with phone calls and letters and requests for meetings. Please attend any public appearances by your Representatives and raise these concerns there as well. E-mailing: Use our email messaging system to send an email message to your representative – in a few easy steps you can make your voice heard on this important issue by clicking here :

http://capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/?alertid=8343991 & type=CO · Calling: Telephone your Representative’s local district office to express your concerns and ask for a meeting. Go to our Congressional directory where you can find your representative in one easy step by clicking here: http://capwiz.com/a-champ/directory/congdir.tt · Faxing: Call your Representative’s district office to request the office fax number or visit his or her website, where a fax number is usually listed. Click here for contact information for your representative:http://capwiz.com/a-champ/directory/congdir.tt Here is a sample letter that you can use – the letter appears in our messaging system but you can use this as a basis for your own letter:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Representative:I urge you to vote No on the Budget Bill when the House of Representatives convenes in January, and by doing so affirm your commitment to providing a decent life for individuals with disabilities. The extent to which a society cares for those individuals who are most vulnerable is the best measure of the society’s values. Please show us what you value by voting NO on Medicaid Budget Cuts.Medicaid is a lifeline for millions of low-income people with mental disorders who cannot afford to pay any more for their health care than their current cost. Medicaid is the source of over 60% of the dollars spent on mental health — there is simply no other safety net available for individuals with disabilities. The Budget Reconciliation bill will, if passed, cost Medicaid beneficiaries $10 billion over ten years in increased cost-sharing and premiums, while at the same time cutting Medicaid benefits by $6 billion. Many Medicaid recipients with mental disorders or other disabilities have zero disposable income. Even modest increases to cost-sharing will deprive them of treatment and therapy — especially preventive care — and increase the use of expensive crisis/emergency care, homelessness, and incarceration. The result will be devastation for those with disabilities and likely increased, not reduced, costs for government. For these reasons we urge you to OPPOSE the Budget Reconciliation legislation that will harm vulnerable low-income Americans including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and children simply in order to finance more tax cuts.

Sincerely,--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Background:The conference agreement between the House and Senate was negotiated behind closed doors and revealed to House members at 1 a.m. December 19, giving Representatives only four hours to review the bill before their vote was cast. The Budget bill barely passed with a vote of 212 to 206 with 6 Democrats and 10 Republicans not voting. (Click on this link for details on this vote: With a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Dick Cheney, the Senate also passed the conference agreement on December 21, but only after it had been amended on several technical issues raised by Democrats. As a result of these amendments, the House must again take up this measure with the Senate’s changes. This additional vote gives us a critical opportunity to convince Republican Representatives to oppose this abominable legislation. Medicaid Provisions:The Senate-passed budget reconciliation measure would result in an estimated $10 billion in Medicaid cuts over five years and $42 billion over ten years. The measure would also provide temporary Medicaid coverage for Katrina survivors and a new option to allow families of disabled children (otherwise ineligible for Medicaid) to pay for Medicaid coverage for these children. Although proponents of these Medicaid cuts emphasize the importance of reducing the deficit, the budget savings are primarily being used to help finance further tax cuts to be taken up early next year. Cost-sharing Increases: The Senate-passed budget reconciliation measure would allow states to greatly increase cost-sharing imposed on Medicaid beneficiaries and would eliminate the protection that prohibits providers from denying a medication or medical service if a Medicaid beneficiary cannot pay the co-pay. Current law limits co-payments to no more than $3 for each service or medication and exempts certain populations entirely from co-payments. Under this budget agreement, Medicaid beneficiaries with incomes between 100% and 150% of poverty (between about $16,000 and $24,000 for a family of three) could be charged up to 10 percent of the needed medical service which could amount to $100 or more per service.

For those over 150% of poverty, co-pays could be increased even more—up to 20% of the cost of the medical service. For those below the poverty level, the current nominal co-payments of up to $3 could increase at twice the rate of inflation which is also twice the rate of increase for these families’ incomes.The only limit on these increases in cost-sharing is that total cost-sharing may not exceed five percent of a family’s income. A significant body of research shows that cost-sharing of less than five percent of income causes many low-income people to forego needed medical care. BENEFIT REDUCTION<<: (EPSDT REDUCTION)>The Senate-passed budget reconciliation measure would allow states to remodel their Medicaid benefit packages after certain private insurance plans. However, certain groups of beneficiaries, including individuals with disabilities, are exempt from this provision. Nonetheless, there are many other beneficiaries in need of mental health care who would be subject to these benefit reductions. And, in light of the discrimination individuals with mental illness have continuously faced in the private insurance market, this flexibility to remodel Medicaid after private insurance will undoubtedly lead to discriminatory restrictions on mental health treatment. MOREOVER, THE VAST MAJORITY OF CHILDREN ENROLLED IN MEDICAID, INCLUDING THOSE UNDER THE POVERTY LEVEL, COULD LOSE THE CRITICAL EARLY AND PERIODIC SCREENING DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT ("EPSDT") BENEFIT UNDER MEDICAID. UNDER THE SENATE-PASSED MEASURE STATES COULD PROVIDE SCALED-BACK BENEFIT PACKAGES FOR CHILDREN AS LONG AS WRAP-AROUND COVERAGE IS ALSO PROVIDED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR EPSDT. THE EPSDT PROVISION REQUIRES THAT ALL CHILDREN COVERED BY MEDICAID RECEIVE PERIODIC MEDICAL SCREENINGS AND RECEIVE ALL NECESSARY MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR CONDITIONS DETECTED THROUGH THESE SCREENINGS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THESE TREATMENTS ARE ORDINARILY COVERED BY THE STATE’S MEDICAID PROGRAM. THIS LEGAL REQUIREMENT IS A CRITICAL PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS. HOWEVER, IT IS ALREADY OFTEN IGNORED BY STATES AND THIS PROVISION IN THE SENATE-PASSED BUDGET BILL WOULD INEVITABLY CREATE EVEN MORE BARRIERS TO PREVENT THESE LOW-INCOME AND SICK CHILDREN FROM RECEIVING THE CARE THEY NEED. Targeted Case Management: The Senate-passed budget bill would significantly reduce Medicaid coverage of targeted case management ("TCM") services. TCM services link beneficiaries not only to needed medical services but also provide assistance with education, housing, employment, and other social services they need to successfully function in their communities. This budget bill would cut federal Medicaid funding for TCM by $760 million over five years and more than $2 billion over ten years. Less Harmful Cuts Left Out:The latest Senate-passed budget bill omits cost-saving provisions that the Senate had earlier passed. These would have (1) increased the minimum rebates that pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to pay the federal government in exchange for Medicaid covering their medications and (2) eliminated a $10 billion fund to increase Medicare payments to managed care organizations. TANF Provisions:The Senate-passed budget reconciliation measure would also significantly alter the welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ("TANF"). It would impose greatly increased work requirements on poor families in need of assistance and would deny states the flexibility they now have to apply different work requirements to people receiving assistance that is funded entirely with state funds. The increased work requirements go into effect less than a year from now and would likely cause states to greatly increase the number of families sanctioned off the TANF roles and cause more children to live significantly below the poverty level. In addition, this measure fails to include important provisions passed by the Senate Finance Committee in its TANF bill that would have given states flexibility to reduce work requirements for individuals with disabilities who need rehabilitative services including mental health treatment. This agreement also omits a Senate provision to assist those who must care for a disabled child or other family member. SSI Provisions:Under this measure, poor individuals with disabilities who have waited months for the Social Security Administration to review and approve their applications for SSI and who are consequently owed more than three months of back benefits, would have to receive these benefits in installments that could stretch out over the course of a year. This would make it more difficult for these individuals who are owed these funds by the federal government to pay off bills they have accumulated during the period they were unable to work due to their disability but were not receiving SSI benefits because SSA was still processing their application. Care:Finally, this bill also cuts by $343 million funding for the foster care program primarily targeting grandparents raising children whose parents are unable to do so.

Thanks to National Mental Health Association ("NAMH") for the information that appears on this page.

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