news & updates
STATE
Medicaid Buy-In
On June 30, 2007, Governor Strickland signed into law a Medicaid Buy-In program for workers with disabilities, as part of Ohio's 2008-09 Biennium Budget Bill. This will allow Ohio to become the 35th state with a Medicaid Buy-In program that will allow individuals with disabilities to be able to earn income and maintain Medicaid health care coverage.
UPDATE:
Applications will be accepted beginning April 1, 2008. If you would like an application mailed to you, call the Medicaid Consumer Hotline: 1-800-324-8680 (Voice) 1-800-292-3572 (TTY)HOME Choice
Ohio is one of 17 states to receive funding for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration projects, which were enacted by Congress as part of the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Ohio will receive $100 million in enhanced federal matching funds over five years from the federal government to enable about 2,200 seniors and persons with disabilities to relocate from institutions to home and community-based settings. Total funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to all states was $888 million.
Consumer Direction in Ohio Home Care Waiver
Consumers enrolled on an Ohio department of job and family services- (ODJFS) administered waiver in accordance with Administrative Code rules, and/or their authorized representative, have choice and control over the arrangement and provision of home and community-based waiver services. Consumers also have choice over the selection and control over the direction of approved waiver service providers.
Unified Long Term Care Budget
In his first biennium budget, Governor Ted Strickland instructed the Department of Aging to lead the charge in determining the steps necessary to establish a unified budget for long-term services and supports, as well as to determine what that budget will look like and how it will be managed. This will start with the formation of a Unified Long-term Care Planning Committee and several appropriate subcommittees.
The Department of Aging will actively solicit input from aging network and state agency partners, long-term care service providers, aging advocates, policy makers, the general public and more to guide the process. Check this page regularly for the latest events, resources and information about the state's effortst to create a comprehensive, flexible and transparent budget process that is based on consumer choice and differing levels of need.
NATIONAL
2008 Election
ADA Restoration Act of 2007
Signed into law on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the landmark disability legislation that helps ensure that individuals living with disabilities can lead independent, self-sufficient lives in their communities. However in recent years, the Supreme Court, lower court decisions, and inconsistent policies have eroded the intent of this law-often not providing enough protections for people with disabilities.
The goal of this bill is to amend the ADA in order to restore, clarify, and codify the protections and intent of the landmark law as passed by Congress in 1990. It will help restore protections for people living with multiple sclerosis and other disabilities.
Community Choice Act
The Community Choice Act would establish community-based services in all States across the US, reforming Medicaid and ending the institutional bias that forces hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities into nursing facilities and other institutions.
Show your support of this essential legislation by encouraging your Representative to sign on to HR1621 today!
If your representative is already supporting HR 1621, then the message you be sending will be to thank them for their support and ask them to take an active role in moving this legislation forward.
Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA)
The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) makes a number of changes to the Section 8 voucher and project-based and public housing programs to expand rental assistance opportunities, improve program efficiencies, and encourage family self-sufficiency:
Voucher Funding Formula. The bill reforms the Section 8 voucher funding allocation formula in order to increase the number of families receiving vouchers, by eliminating inefficiencies that have resulted in $1.4 billion in unused funds and through incentives for housing agencies to use funds to assist more families. The bill protects housing agencies adversely affected by formula changes, by allowing them to retain and use voucher reserves during the transition period to maintain the number of families being assisted.
Incremental Section 8 Housing Vouchers. The bill authorizes 20,000 incremental vouchers in each of the next 5 years, for a total of 100,000 new vouchers.
Self-Sufficiency.. The bill includes a number of provisions to encourage economic self-sufficiency for low income voucher and public housing families, including (a) income disregards to reduce rent disincentives related to increases in earned income, (b) targeting changes to make it easier for low income working families in rural areas to receive a voucher, (c) an improved funding mechanism for family self-sufficiency coordinators, who help families find employment, (d) income exemptions for adult full time student dependents and for education savings accounts, (e) helping low income families improve their credit score by allowing reporting of voucher and public housing rent payments.
Homeownership.. The bill permits housing agencies to let a family use a housing voucher as a down payment on a first-time home purchase. The bill corrects statutory impediments to use of a voucher for purchase of a manufactured home on leased land.
Simplification.. The bill changes rent calculation, recertification, and inspection rules for the voucher, public housing, and project-based Section 8 programs, to reduce costs and compliance burdens for public housing agencies, landlords, and families. These changes are made while maintaining rules that target scarce resources to those families most in need and while maintaining rent calculation rules that ensure that rents are affordable.
Tenant Protections.. The bill makes a number of changes for the benefit of federally assisted families, including provisions to preserve voucher families’ ability to move to other areas, to address excessive voucher rent burdens, to provide for more accurate fair market rent calculations, and to protect voucher holders in units that are in need of repair.
Housing Innovation Program.. The bill expands and renames the Moving to Work Program, which gives a limited number of housing agencies flexibility to experiment with development and rent policies, and strengthens the program’s evaluation process.
Project-Basing of Vouchers. The bill includes changes to make it easier for housing agencies to attach vouchers to housing units – an important option in tight rental markets and in developing supportive housing for seniors, disabled persons and homeless persons.
