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Sept. 2, 2003 Contact: Jim Sellers (503) 945-5738 Program contacts: Jim Edge (503) 945-5769, Oregon Health Plan/Medically Needy Cathy Cooper (503) 945-5940, Seniors and People with Disabilities Federal approval needed to restore Medicaid-related human services Although the recently adjourned 2003 Oregon Legislature approved significant restorations of human services benefits that were cut last spring to balance the state budget, the state agency that delivers the services is issuing this warning: If you are among those who found stopgap alternatives to services or benefits you lost last spring, don't give them up yet, even though state lawmakers voted to restore many of them. "The Legislature restored some of the most critical services that were cut last spring," said Jean I. Thorne, Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) director. "But we need to obtain federal approval before we can resume medical benefits under the Oregon Health Plan and restore long-term care services for some seniors and people with disabilities." Thorne said DHS is asking federal officials to expedite the process, and is hoping to restore Health Plan benefits by Jan. 1 and services for seniors and people with disabilities perhaps within two months. These are the changes for which the state is now preparing to seek approval:  For
seniors and people with disabilities, restoration of long-term care services
for about 1,200 people who need assistance with eating, mobility and using the
toilet (in DHS's 17 priority rankings, levels 12 and 13). Services were not
restored for more than 3,600 other people in levels 14-17 who also lost services
last spring.
For about 55,000 people in the Oregon Health Plan's Standard benefit package,
restoration of outpatient mental health and chemical dependency treatment, emergency
dental treatment, payment for medical supplies, and a change from full to partial
hospitalization benefits. Included in the waiver request is expanding eligibility
for the Children's Health Insurance Program for children and teens in households
with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (up from 185 percent).
DHS already has requested federal approval to move the line on the Health Plan's
prioritized list of medical conditions and services by 30 places.
For an unspecified number of low-income seniors and people with disabilities
with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, a new program to
help pay prescription-drug bills. It would replace the 8,500-person Medically
Needy program, eliminated Feb. 1, and require participants to pay part of their
drug bills.People previously in these programs will be notified by letter, Thorne said, and public announcement will be made as benefits and services are restored. "Although we haven't been able to track how all these people have handled the cuts, we know anecdotally that Band-Aid approaches have included obtaining temporary drug supplies from manufacturers, making alternative living arrangements, accepting help from friends and family, and simply doing without," Thorne said. Significant restorations to DHS-financed benefits and services that don't require federal approval include:
community mental health crisis services for children and adults not covered
by Medicaid;
7.5 percent in monthly payments for foster parents of 5,500 children;
7.5 percent in monthly payments for adoptive parents of 7,700 special-needs
children;
$8 million in "system of care" funds to help ensure the safety, family permanency
and wellbeing of children in the child-welfare system;
$5 a month in welfare benefits ($503 monthly for a family of three), a benefit
that is unchanged since 1991;
co-payment requirements for participants in Employment Related Day Care, which
supports families moving from welfare to work;
General Assistance benefits for about 1,500 indigent people who have applied
for federal Supplemental Security Income benefits, down from 2,600 last biennium;
parts of the tobacco tax-financed tobacco prevention and education program and
the Lottery-financed gambling addiction treatment services;
core funding for 20 school-based health clinics.Legislators also authorized staffing three new forensics wards at Oregon State Hospital. Thorne noted that House Bill 5077 would require DHS to reduce its 2003-05 budget by nearly $266 million if a legislatively authorized temporary income-tax increase is referred to a February 2004 election and defeated by voters. |
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