All posts by elly.rufer@gmail.com

DETAILS FOR VIRTUAL TOWN HALL

May 21, 2020Uncategorizedelly.rufer@gmail.com

GOOD MORNING

NYC FAIR’s 1st Virtual Town Hall Log-In Information & More

THURSDAY, MAY 21^st, 2020 at 7pm

Time: May 21, 2020 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
(Please login starting at 6:45, so that we can start promptly at 7)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83137512074

Meeting ID: 831 3751 2074
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,83137512074# US (New York)
+13017158592,,83137512074# US (Germantown)

Phone instructions from ZOOM: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362663-Joining-a-meeting-by-phone

Please Read Before the Forum:

Not Familiar with Zoom?

The attached “Intro to ZOOM for NYC FAIR’s Forum”

PDF is attached

Meeting Ground Rules attached

Updates & Resources attached

See YOU on ZOOM Today,

Elly

on behalf of NYC FAIR’s Steering Committee

Any Questions? Contact Us by email of call 917-833-4738

3 for 5 Support Letter

March 5, 2020Uncategorizedelly.rufer@gmail.com

Date:__________________________

Dear :

My name is and I am a (circle one) parent / self advocate /

staff member. I am your constituent, and am writing to you today to urge you to support 3 for 5, an annual 3% increase for 5 years to human services providers of supports and services in New York State.

The time is now to commit to 3 for 5 for nonprofit providers that are an important part of our communities. For the past decade, these provider agencies have been forced to do more with less as the state has continued to cut rates and defer annual increases, taking billions of dollars out of the service delivery system. At the same time, the State has increased spending on their own state-operated programs by an average of 3% a year. These nonprofit providers (which deliver approximately 85% of the day-to-day services for more than 140,000 New Yorkers with developmental disabilities) are coping with the continually increasing cost of operations, years of unpredictable and unsustainable rates, and severe workforce recruitment and retention challenges. These conditions damage their ability to provide quality supports and services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Additionally, the OPWDD Commissioner recently stated publicly that there will be a 2% rate cut effective July 1^st of this year – all the more reason we desperately need 3 for 5!

Without your commitment to 3 for 5, these nonprofit agencies, are at serious risk of closure or program reductions impacting tens of thousands of employees and individuals receiving services.

Specifically, 3 for 5 is critical to me because

Thank you for your consideration. I sincerely hope that you will lend your support and strongly advocate for the inclusion of 3for5 in this year’s budget to supportus.

Sincerely,

Signature:

Address:

3 for 5 Fact Sheet

March 5, 2020Uncategorizedelly.rufer@gmail.com

Recap of NYC FAIR’s Family Friendly Budget Briefing

March 5, 2020Uncategorizedbudget, id/dd, opwddelly.rufer@gmail.com

Family Friendly Budget Briefing

The Budget process: The Governor released his budget January 21, containing the budget plus a briefing book. The story is not just the numbers but in the language of the briefing book. After this, the legislature starts its work. The various committees hold Joint public hearings, with members of both the Assembly and the Senate. They are there to hear from and question the Department Heads and Commissioners. Often there are opportunities during these briefings to hear from other interested parties.

At this point the Legislature has finished Joint Budget Committee hearings, (you can watch them here: https://bit.ly/2PBj6wU )

Now they are discussing what will go into the One House Budgets, each house submits their One House budget the first week of March. They are consulting with each other about their priorities before taking positions on what they want to include. Members send ‘sign on’ letters to their colleagues, to build consensus for their priorities, these then will go into their One House letters.

This year:

At first look the Governor’s budget didn’t seem that bad, it included:

$5B for OPWDD 3 ½ % raise
Items in it:
$6B to make up for FMAP (Federal Medical Assistance Percentage) because to create the CCOs (Care Coordination Organizations) the state only had to put up 10% of the cost and the Federal government agreed to pay 90%. That 90% match goes away July 1 (reduced to 50/50) so to continue the work of the CCOs the state has to make up the loss in funding.

$ 66.4M (2%) for Direct Care raises for 1/1/2020 and 1/4/2020

$30 M for services

Up to $120 M in new money but it is more of a credit card than actual money sent to OPWDD

$23M so agencies can pay for the mandated increases in minimum wage

MRT 2 – FIRST WAS 2011 (Medicaid Redesign Team)

The Governor announced that the current Medicaid deficit is untenable so he created a new Medicaid Redesign Team to look for $2.5B savings to come out of Medicaid programs. They are supposed to find ongoing savings not just this time; in other words, structural changes. The savings suggestions are due at the end of March so they can be incorporated when the budget is due April 1.

The agencies that are under the Mental Hygiene and Developmental Disabilities committee like OPWDD are supposed to be exempt from these cuts but there are no guarantees. The bulk of the cuts are to come out of Dept. of Health (DOH) Medicaid programs which includes CDPAP (Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program) a program used by many in the disabilities community.

CDPAP has been identified by the DOH as one of the causes of the growth in the deficit. For that reason that program has been identified at risk of cuts by the MRT2.