Your voice needed to stop the 7% cut

March 12, 2018

By Best Life Alliance

Please rally with us at 10 am March 13 at ARRM/MOHR Day at the Capitol. Recent developments mean a cut to services could be in the near future, so your voice is needed now more than ever! Learn more about the day’s schedule of events.

Recently, we were made aware that due to decisions at the Federal level, rates may potentially be cut by 7%. You can help stop the cuts by contacting your Minnesota Senator, Representative and Governor Dayton, making them aware of this decision and asking them to take action to support the Best Life Alliance’s solution.

Here’s how you take action:

  • Copy and paste the paragraph labeled “The Problem” and “The Solution” into an email to your State Senator, State Representative and Governor Dayton.
  • At the end of the email ask them to:
    • Tell your caucus leadership to stop the upcoming 7% cut to rates for individuals accessing community-based disability services.
    • Support the Best Life Alliance legislation, SF 2889 (Utke)/ HF 3191 (Schomacker), which restores the 7% cut and strengthens the Disability Waiver Rate System.
  • Include the Best Life Alliance One-Pager as a resource for legislators.
  • You can find out who represents you and their contact information here. Use this form to contact Governor Dayton.

The Problem:

  • This past February, the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) informed the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) that CMS denied Minnesota’s legislatively approved investments in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS), the system that determines service rates for Minnesotans with disabilities accessing community-based disability services.
  • CMS’s denial of these specific investments within this rate-setting system will result in a cut of 7% to the rates for community-based disability services across the state for Minnesotans with disabilities.
  • The 7% that is being cut is money that advocates fought tirelessly for in 2013 and 2014 and has now fallen to the bottom line. A cut of 7% will prove devastating to affected individuals and the staff who serve them.

The Solution:

  • The Best Life Alliance, a statewide coalition of more than 130 organizations, people with disabilities, families and supporters advocating for community based disability services, is advancing legislation to stop this 7% cut.
  • The Best Life Alliance 2018 Legislation (SF2889/HF 3191) stops this 7% cut to individual service rates by targeting these investments specifically to workforce competitiveness and increased frequency and predictability of scheduled rate adjustments, all within the community-based disability services rate setting system.

See you at the Capitol, and thank you for your advocacy!

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