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Today, RCPA received the following alert from one of our national associations. Please contact your Congressman.
We are re-sending this action alert to remind you to ask your U.S. Representative throughout today to oppose tax reform as written – we have both call and email information below.
Very late on Friday, the Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which seeks to overhaul the tax code but has provisions that could affect IDD services. Today, Monday December 4, the bill is going back to the House for a final vote, since it is a different bill than the tax bill the House voted on, before going to the President for his signature so it becomes law. After the House votes on it there will be no more opportunities to stop the bill. While ANCOR does not have a position on tax reform, we have key positions on how tax reform may impact our services. Given these principles and the passage of the bill out of the Senate, we believe it is important to speak up about the importance of Medicaid to people with I/DD before the House votes on this legislation for the final time.
Please contact your U.S. Representative TODAY to say that you cannot support the legislation in its current form because:
Click here to send an email directly to your U.S. Representative! Please do not put this off – a full House vote is expected by this evening.
Given the short turnaround time before the vote, we also highly encourage you to call your U.S. Representative. The Congressional Switchboard can help you identify your Members of Congress and will connect you directly to their office – dial it at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY). A short script you can use is: “I am a constituent who cares deeply about issues affecting people with disabilities. If you do not already oppose the tax reform bill coming for a vote today, please do so because it has provisions that would harm services for people with disabilities. Thank you for your hard work answering the phones.”
This position is in keeping with the Board-approved ANCOR tax reform principles that we adopted at the beginning of this debate.
ANCOR Tax Reform Principles
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities. Should you have any questions or need more information, please contact Sarah Meek, Director of Legislative Affairs, or Jack Phillips, RCPA’s Director of Government Affairs.
Today, we received the following alert from one of our national associations. Please contact both Senators Casey and Toomey.
The full Senate will vote very soon on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has already passed out of the Finance Committee, in an attempt to overhaul the federal tax code. While ANCOR does not have a position on tax reform, we have key positions on how tax reform may impact our services. Given these principles and a Senate tax reform vote as soon as next week, we believe it is important to speak up about the importance of Medicaid to people with I/DD before the Senate votes on this legislation.
Please contact your Senators TODAY and tell them that you cannot support the legislation in its current form because:
Click here to send an email directly to your Senators! Please do not put this off — a full Senate vote could happen soon after the Thanksgiving holiday.
This position is in keeping with the Board-approved ANCOR tax reform principles that we adopted at the beginning of this debate.
ANCOR Tax Reform Principles
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities. Should you have any questions or need more information, please contact Sarah Meek, ANCOR’s Director of Legislative Affairs, or Jack Phillips, RCPA’s Director of Government Affairs.
RCPA received the following email from the Senate Aging Committee in Washington, DC. Please contact both Senators Casey and Toomey and your Congressman.
“Welcome back to health care by way of a tax bill.
This afternoon both the Senate and the House added to their tax bills a provision to repeal a key component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the individual mandate to obtain health insurance. Repealing this provision would have significant negative effects for people with disabilities, families of children with disabilities, and those who are aging.
This new, last minute, major addition to the tax bills will have enormous impact on those with disabilities. In combination with the budget that passed three weeks ago and outlines over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and over $400 billion in cuts to Medicare, the proposed tax cuts and repeal of key provisions of the ACA will increase demand for Medicaid, decrease the funds available for home and community-based services and supports, and reduce the amount of revenue available to states to pay and support Medicaid.
While the tax bill does not directly cut Medicaid, the actions it takes will have the same or even worse effect on Medicaid and other services and supports for people with disabilities. If the House tax bill were to pass:
The assault on people with disabilities and their families is continuing, this time through a tax bill instead of through a health bill. And this is happening quickly with very little coverage. The Senate Finance Committee will likely vote on this bill Thursday or Friday of THIS week.
You can help by:
Thank you for your continued advocacy. Thank you for working to ensure dignity, independence, and economic sufficiency for people with disabilities.”
Questions, contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director, Government Affairs.
Today, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 478, the Outpatient Psychiatric Oversight Act. The bill now moves to the Senate floor. As background, RCPA and its members have been working on getting the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to move the outpatient psychiatric regulations, which have been promulgated for more than three years.
Over the past few months, DHS has taken steps to move the outpatient regulations towards completion. RCPA supports DHS’ efforts to move this package of regulations; however, because of the length of time it has taken to move the regulations, certain provisions contained within the regulation package are antiquated or need to be updated to current outpatient service delivery standards.
Specifically, the psychiatric recruitment crisis has grown exponentially, especially in rural areas. By introducing HB 478, Rep. Pickett (R–Bradford, Sullivan, and Susquehanna Counties), the prime sponsor of the bill, has taken legislative action to update sections within the outpatient psychiatric regulation package to current outpatient service delivery standards, and to start implementing these updates immediately through this legislation.
In short, HB 478 provides that:
RCPA believes that Rep. Pickett’s bill, HB 478, will allow psychiatrists to see more clients in a timely fashion and ultimately increase access to psychiatric services, which is vital due to the shortage of psychiatrists in the Commonwealth.
As the bill moves through the process, RCPA will keep members informed. Contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs, with any questions.
Executive Order to Review State Licensure Board Requirements & Processes
In the November 11, 2017 Pennsylvania Bulletin, Governor Wolf issued an Executive Order (No. 2017-03) that directs the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs within the Department of State to conduct a review of the State Professional and Occupational Licensure board requirements and processes. This includes a comprehensive review of the processes, fees, training, and continuing education requirements and prepared report for each type of professional and occupational license. The report is to include: training requirements; licensing, registration, and renewal fees; continuing education requirements; and any other requirements described within the executive order. The report is to also include information regarding the number of other states which require a license for each professional or occupational license, the national and regional averages for training requirements, fees, and continuing education requirements.
The Commissioner has been given the authority to establish an advisory group to assist with the research, data collection, and formatting of the reports, and any other function the Commissioner deems necessary. The advisory group shall be composed of members chosen by the Commissioner from the professional Boards and Commissions, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) staff, and any other persons the Commissioner deems necessary. The advisory group must be established within 30 days from the effective date of this executive order. Additional details regarding the report are provided in the bulletin.
The report is due to the Governor, the Secretary of Policy and Planning, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth no later than 180 days from the establishment of the advisory group or 210 days from the effective date of this executive order, whichever is sooner.
Some of the boards impacted by this executive order include: State Board of Physical Therapy, State Board of Speech–Language Pathology and Audiology, the State Board of Medicine, the State Board of Nursing, the State Board of Occupational Therapy, etc.
The executive order is effective immediately.
From: DHS STAKEHOLDERS – On Behalf Of HS, Secretary’s Office
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2017 12:00 PM
Subject: [DHS-STAKEHOLDERS] Community HealthChoices Update
The Wolf Administration is committed to providing access to high-quality services to all Pennsylvanians and to serving more people in the community.
Community HealthChoices (CHC) is the commonwealth’s program for older Pennsylvanians and individuals with physical disabilities to use health plans to provide coordinated physical health care and long-term services and supports. The goals of CHC are to improve quality of services and the health care experience – serving more people in their communities rather than in facilities, giving them the opportunity to work, spend more time with their families, and experience an overall better quality of life.
CHC is being implemented in three phases. For Phase 1, notices have been mailed to participants in the 14 counties in the Southwest Zone to inform them that they will move to CHC on January 1, 2018. Participants are currently learning more about CHC through community meetings and the independent enrollment broker. Phase 1 is expected to include approximately 80,000 people.
CHC is about choice – choice in where a person wants to live and choice in who will provide the care needed to make that a reality. Even though the deadline for Phase 1 participants to select a managed care organization (MCO) is not until November 13, 2017, more than 21,500 people have already made an active choice by already selecting their health plan and their primary care provider.
Recognizing how critical these services are, we are focused on getting this right – the health care coverage for 420,000 Pennsylvanians depends on it.
We are confident that the southwest is ready for Phase 1, but in order to allow for the deliberate and purposeful implementation of CHC in the southeast region (Phase 2) and the remainder of the state (Phase 3) we need to have the flexibility of learning from that roll out with proper time to make any needed adjustments.
Given this, the commonwealth has decided to shift the implementation dates for the next two phases of CHC. The new start dates are as follows:
These new dates will allow us to provide Pennsylvanians eligible for CHC with a health plan that will give them better access to health care. Our commitment to CHC is unwavering and we look forward to continuing to work with you in preparation for January 2018’s Phase 1 rollout.
Regards,
Teresa Miller
Department of Human Services, Acting Secretary
Teresa Osborne
Department of Aging, Secretary
On October 26, 2017, the Energy & Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee announced in a press release that they have come to a policy agreement on a permanent repeal of the Medicare therapy caps. The policy/discussion draft will repeal the therapy caps, continue to require an appropriate modifier is included on claims submitted over the new threshold (indicating the services are medically necessary), and continue targeted medical review of claims established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
Background:
In 2006, Congress created an exceptions process allowing patients to exceed the cap based on medical necessity. The cap was addressed most recently in 2015 with MACRA (H.R. 2), becoming law. A provision in H.R. 2 established targeted medical review of therapy caps and extended the therapy cap exceptions process until January 1, 2018.
As the implementation of Community HealthChoices (CHC) approaches the January 1, 2018 launch in the Southwest Region, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has developed informational materials for those individuals who will be covered by the new program. The documents, including notices and the pre-enrollment packet, are posted on the DHS website, where you will also find their most recent participant document, “CHC: Here’s What You Need to Know” (available for download in English and Spanish).
In addition, a document designed to clarify eligibility for CHC is available here. It includes the following information:
Individuals are NOT eligible for CHC if they are a person with an intellectual or developmental disability who is eligible for services through the Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), OR are a resident in a state-operated nursing facility, including state veterans homes.
Please visit the CHC website or call the CHC Provider Hotline at 833-735-4417 with any questions.