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5/27/03 ASW Legislative Committee Update
By a 12 - 4 vote, the JFC adopted the Governor's revised recommendations to create an intensive in-home autism benefit under a community-based waiver!!!
JFC approved a Medicaid package this evening (5/27) which included our issue - as described in LFB budget paper #392 - Option 2) The full paper can be found at: www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/2003-05budget/2003-05BudgetPapers/392.pdf
Funding was approved at a total of $44,427,000 over the biennium ($17,342,400 state GPR and $25,104,600 federal) and authorized DHFS to seek a waiver that would include intensive in-home autism services as a benefit for children with developmental disabilities or serious emotional disturbances. Two hurdles left - the full legislature and Governor must give final approval.
Option 2 included serving approximately 1,100 children estimated to receive the current autism benefit and an additional 250 children for each year of the biennium. The figure approved is based on the assumption that services would be implemented November 1, 2003, and that the current benefit would be maintained, until the new waiver is implemented. The approved package also includes parent cost-sharing estimates that would increase revenue and offset GPR and federal funds. Funding is included for a small amount of DHFS staff to meet the increased workload associated with implementing the waiver and increasing caseloads.
During the deliberation last night on the Medicaid packages (there were two versions proposed - one by the majority party and one the minority party), comments from both sides were heard about the tremendous impact that parents and children with autism made on legislators statewide on the in-home autism treatment issue. Some comments included:
Senator Alberta Darling, JFC Co-Chair, sent the following letter to Nissan Bar-Lev, ASW Legislative Committee member and one of Darling's constituents, (right after the vote) to be shared with the ASW-Autism listserve. Most important is this sentence describing the impact that we had, "The parents of autistic children were especially effective in lobbying state government officials for some level of funding." The letter has been uploaded to the ASW-Autism Yahoogroups files at this address: groups.yahoo.com/group/ASW-Autism/files/
May 27, 2003
Dear Friends:
I am proud to announce my commitment to serving children with autism during these tough fiscal times for the State of Wisconsin and our citizens. The Joint Committee on Finance voted to restore funding for in-home autism treatment to ensure all children with this disability are treated in an effective manner.
Like you, I believe providing services for people with disabilities is important to our children, parents and all citizens in Wisconsin and those services will continue to be one of my top priorities.
The Legislature¹s Joint Committee on Finance listened to parents and providers across the State advocating for restoration of the in-home autism treatment. The parents of autistic children were especially effective in lobbying state government officials for some level of funding. I was especially pleased to see Governor Jim Doyle move away from his original proposal to eliminate funding for in-home treatment. I followed the discussions between the autism coalition of parents, school representatives, providers and others with interest and I was happy to see the Department of Health and Family Services willing to cooperate with the autism coalition.
I know the benefits of in-home treatment are real. For these reasons, I supported the full level of funding that will continue the state¹s commitment to servicing these children.
You have contacted me in the past to advocate for this important program. You have been a powerful force for the future of Wisconsin and our youngest and most vulnerable children and for that I thank you.
Thank you for your support and best wishes in the future.
Sincerely,
ALBERTA DARLING
State Senator
Next steps: The Autism Coalition will continue working with DHFS on the waiver details. An information sheet was developed by Pam Stoika, a member of the Autism Coalition, with as many details known about the waiver last week. A more comprehensive guide for families related to accessing the waiver benefits will be prepared in the coming months.
Previous updates:
4/22/03 3/24/03 3/11/03 3/7/03 3/6/03 3/3/03 3/2/03T he ASW Legislative Committee is currently coordinating (along with other interested state stakeholder groups & ASW local chapters) the gathering of information related to this unexpected budget provision. We are meeting with key Dept. of Health & Family Services staff agency personnel and others in Madison to work together to try to resolve this issue. We will continue to share information with you via the ASW email group to keep you informed.
Useful information:
Media Coverage
Local ASW chapters to contact for more budget-related information:
ASW Position Statement on Early Autism Intervention