A view of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities building in Albany, NY on Thursday, July 30, 2020 (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)
A view of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities building in Albany, NY on Thursday, July 30, 2020 (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)
Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union
Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union
A view of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities building in Albany, NY on Thursday, July 30, 2020 (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)
A view of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities building in Albany, NY on Thursday, July 30, 2020 (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)
Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union
Capitol Insider: OPWDD Budget Increases; Provider shoulder cuts
ALBANIA – Though the total budget for the state agency for people with developmental disabilities is expected to increase by nearly 3 percent, those who provide direct services to people with disabilities say the cuts will fall on them.
The recent cuts insult a violation of a sector where the cost of living has not risen in a decade, including a general 1 percent cut in Medicaid spending. Reduce supplier payments by 5 percent; According to providers and supporters, reimbursements for vacancies will be cut by 50 percent in May.
In addition to these reimbursement changes, the sector is still struggling with high turnover and job vacancies due to low wages.
Kirk Lewis, ARC executive director of Schenectady, said the nonprofit will lose $ 550,000 between cuts to Medicaid and the change in reimbursement for vacant beds. What the 5 percent cut will mean for the organization that provides full service to the vulnerable Schenectady County’s populations is unknown, he said.
“We’re cut in a thousand different ways in a thousand different places,” he said. “The irony is that the commissioner spoke of not costing jobs or taking money away from direct support professionals. The reduction (reimbursement of vacant beds) will affect our residential programs and will not affect what we do or how we can pay our direct support experts. “
Advocates of intellectual and developmental disabilities also expressed frustration with government officials’ portrayal of the sector’s budgetary position.
Jim Moran, CEO of Care Design New York – one of seven care coordinating organizations licensed to provide home health care management services to people with intellectual or developmental disabilities – said the organizations had been notified that their government funds were being used cut by 23 percent from July. State officials claimed they would adjust reimbursement rates based on the cost of the service, Moran said.
“At the time they made that dollar value decision, they didn’t have certified expense reports to review and make a decision,” he said. How state officials properly aligned tariffs with the cost of the service is unclear, Moran said.
The organizations are the first port of call for families and people with disabilities seeking home health services through the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, and demand for home health services for all populations has increased amid concerns over the spread of the infectious coronavirus in community facilities .
Even so, state officials plan to cut reimbursement rates for these organizations by 23 percent this year, on top of a 16 percent cut implemented last year. Moran said the cuts – which won’t change whether or not New York gets an additional federal government – mean a collective reduction in revenue for the organizations of $ 166 million.
State officials only planned the sector to grow by 2 percent, but demand grew 10 percent, Moran said.
“Legally, they can’t stop enrolling people,” he said. “Your thought is, ‘We’re going to put it on the back of the organizations that provide services because they haven’t adequately prepared for the expansion of the people who are using the services.'”
The agency’s commissioner reiterated his commitment to vulnerable populations in a statement emailed.
“Despite the global pandemic and lack of federal funding, the executive budget is calling for government spending on OPWDD programs to increase by 2.8 percent,” said the commissioner. “These resources will support new services for people with developmental disabilities and their families, provide new funding for the availability of affordable housing, and continue to support wage increases for employees who assist individuals in the community service. Since 2015, direct care and clinical staff wage increase spending has increased $ 710 (million). “
OPWDD officials say the increased pay is a mix of minimum wage compliance and targeted wage increases for the sector – the last of which was a 2 percent raise in 2020. State officials did not comment on the specific budget cuts that are cause for concern the sector.
State lawmakers have introduced laws that set a minimum starting salary for domestic helpers of $ 35,000 in response to high turnover and low wages among workers.
New York Disability Advocates President Tom McAlvanah said in recent years as the state has come under pressure to turn away from the at-risk population, ignoring calls for more resources made long before the coronavirus pandemic to further exacerbate the problems.
“We have not received any relief funds from corona aid packages that were passed last spring. We continue to have additional spending on PPE, overtime and hazard payments, and other increased spending on the sector, ”he said. “We suffer all the time and with no increased investment and cost of living to get some of it under control. Announcing cuts in the middle of a pandemic does not help people with developmental disabilities.”
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