By Steve Suroviec, President and CEO
Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DHS) received a 10 percent increase in the federal share it receives for services funded by Medicaid. So far, the state hasn’t committed to directing any of those funds (which total in the hundreds of millions of dollars) to adults with intellectual disabilities or autism (ID/A) or the organizations that provide home and community-based services (HCBS) to them. It’s been about five years since the adult service system received a permanent increase in rates. One area of good news recently was that the state’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning increased rates for Early Intervention (EI) providers effective July 1 (yet it was only a 3-percent increase, and being only the second rate increase in ten years it hardly makes up for state’s underfunding of EI during the past decade).
The HCBS system for adults with ID/A is a single-payer system – and the government is the single payer. Except for relatively small amounts of charitable donations and grants, revenue for HCBS comes entirely from state and federal funding sources. When rates don’t keep up with inflation, it becomes harder and harder to attract and retain the Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) needed to deliver the care – and that means quality can suffer. To attract and retain DSPs, service providers must be competitive when it comes to wages and benefits, yet it has become more and more challenging to do so due to both the shrunken workforce (caused in part by enhanced unemployment benefits, many analysts speculate) and the resultant wage inflation occurring in other sectors of the economy.
Governor Wolf, DHS, and the General Assembly must not forget their responsibility as the single payer for ID/A services. Pennsylvanians with disabilities rely on HCBS to keep them healthy, safe and living independently in the community. Disability advocates and service providers are urging, even begging, Governor Wolf and our elected officials to commit to a multi-year rate increase to support the organizations that depend on well-trained and experienced DSPs to support and care for Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Click here for more information or to take action.
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