ADS UPDATE PAGE

 

Update: Late Thursday July 21, 2011, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a State Plan Amendment to extend the elimination date for ADHC as a Medi-Cal Optional Benefit from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 2011. ADHC will continue as a state plan benefit with current reimbursement until December 1, 2011 or longer, if an injunction extends the date.


When the budget was approved by the Governor on June 30, state funding for all Adult Day Health Care Programs (ADHC) was eliminated. These programs are a cost-effective way to serve the poor, frail elderly suffering from chronic conditions such as Alzheimer’s, chronic heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.
Key Issues of Concern:

    • Unless emergency legislation is passed, our license to provide ADHC services will be terminated on August 31, 2011. Currently licensure is tied to MediCal funding, requiring us to discharge all 115 participants by August 31, even those with private funding.

      • The state legislature intended to provide a reduced level of funding for these vulnerable populations, but the Governor vetoed language that would have paved the way for new funding.
    • Without the funding that the legislature intended, our most vulnerable citizens are left without the appropriate resources to prevent institutionalization.

READ PRESS RELEASE, CLICK HERE

Action Steps to Take Now


We are asking you to take two actions to advocate for AB 96, the KAFI legislation that requires the state to apply for a federal waiver to create a new model of Adult Day Health Care. Generate as many calls as possible! Find your legislators on www.leginfo.ca.gov.

1) Contact your legislators in their district office, now that they are home during summer recess, which started last Thursday July 14. Ask to speak with the district director or leave a message respectfully asking the legislator to write a letter to Gov. Brown urging him to sign AB 96. Assembly Member Eng has already sent such a letter to the Governor.

If your legislator is on the following list of “No” votes or abstentions, they voted against ADHC and should be called and asked “why did you vote against AB 96 and the frail, sick, disabled elderly who need ADHC to remain in their community?”

NOTE: One Assembly Republican – Diane Harkey (Laguna Niguel) - voted for AB 96. Let’s all thank Ms. Harkey for being independent and voting her own conscience to support vulnerable populations you serve! (949-347-7301 – district office).

If your legislators are not found on the list, they voted for AB 96 and should be thanked for their support. The Assembly Democratic caucus has made ADHC survival their #1 priority.

DO NOT CONTACT THE LEADERS OR BUDGET CHAIRS WITH THIS REQUEST. They have already expressed their concerns to Gov. Brown in personal meetings.

Speaker John Pérez
Assembly Member Bob Blumenfield


President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg
Senator Mark Leno

You may, however, contact them to THANK them for their continued commitment to AB 96 and KAFI to “keep ADHC alive” and “ADHC doors open,” as promised in March.

2) Call or fax the Governor’s office. Respectfully urge him to sign AB 96, to keep his promise to the Legislature when the March compromise was made to “keep doors open.”

Tel: 916.445.2841 Fax: 916.558.3160 Email: www.gov.ca.gov (click on “Contact”)
Note: as of 7/16/11 the website’s “Contact” button was not working, but keep trying.

SF GATE, Adult Day Services fight for life, CLICK HERE.
NAPA REGISTER ARTICLE, State cuts threaten Adult Day Services, CLICK HERE.
ST. HELENA STAR ARTICLE, State shuns poor, elderly, disabled, CLICK HERE.