Providers Fear Iowa Cuts

DES MOINES — The state government's plan to privatize Medicaid services includes a new payment system that organizations helping people with physical, mental or developmental disabilities say cuts their reimbursements enough that it could force smaller organizations to close and leave people they serve scrambling to find needed services.

The providers include mental health centers and organizations that serve the most vulnerable adults and children in Iowa who rely on Medicaid for treatment, assisted living, behavioral programming and improving day-to-day living skills. These services often are used by people with brain injuries or those born with physical or intellectual disabilities.

A Message to Arizona Governor and Legislators: 'We Are In Your Community'

A guest column from azcentral.com by Mark Jacoby, executive director of Gompers Habilitation Center and chairman of the Arizona Association of Providers for People with Disabilities.

Gov. Jan Brewer, Arizona legislators: Are you listening?

A provider of developmental-disability services in Vail has been forced to discontinue providing respite services, leaving the community with no one to turn to. A Phoenix provider has closed six group homes. Children with autism have to endure long waiting lists in order to receive critical behavioral treatments. A children’s program in Kingman closed. A Phoenix provider closed a dental center that exclusively served individuals with disabilities. Services for children with developmental disabilities age birth to 3 have closed all across Arizona.

Florida Governor Offers Option to Cuts

Not sure Gov. Scott's request is reasonable, but perhaps some sort of compromise can be reached. Don't think he realizes how devastating his cuts will be to some of Florida's most vulnerable citizens and the people who have dedicated their careers to serving them and their families.


TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he will cancel massive cuts in the Agency for Persons with Disabilities if legislators come up with a $174-million budget patch.
Since Scott's across-the-board cuts March 31, hundreds of Floridians with disabilities have been searching for new caregivers while companies that serve them are reducing staff and services.
"Hopefully, we'll see if the Legislature will give us some emergency funding. But we have to live within our means," Scott told about 100 APD employees after a tour of their agency.

Cuts Stun Maryland Disability Community

Dr. Bob Ireland didn't think the state could cut his resources any more.
The executive director of Bello Machre, a Glen Burnie nonprofit organization that provides services to Marylanders with developmental disabilities, has gotten used to working with a tight budget. Even in a thriving economy, his clients' needs grew as state funding shrank.
When the state Board of Public Works decided Wednesday to slash the budget for community service providers by 2 percent - saving the state an estimated $21.7 million - Ireland cringed.
That reduction in funding was on top of the $1 million cut from the Developmental Disabilities Administration's Rolling Access program, which gives grants to families who need immediate services, and cuts to state adult respite care and service coordination programs.