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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 342

 
2    WHEREAS, On February 18, 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner's
3administration released its proposal for the Fiscal Year 2016
4State budget; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On that day, the Illinois Department of Human
6Services announced that it intended to save money by making it
7more difficult to enter the Division of Rehabilitative Services
8Home Services Program by changing the minimum threshold for
9eligibility; the Illinois Department on Aging and the
10Department of Healthcare and Family Services also announced
11that it intended to save money by making it more difficult to
12enter the Community Care Program, Supportive Living
13Facilities, and nursing homes by changing the minimum threshold
14for eligibility consistent with the change announced by the
15Department of Human Services; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The prior threshold for service was a score of 29
17on the Determination of Need Assessment; the new proposed
18threshold for service would be a score of 37 on the
19Determination of Need Assessment; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The current Determination of Need minimum of 29
21covers people with disabilities and seniors who are in need of
22help in critical areas of daily living; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family
2Services would carry the administrative responsibility for
3creating the change by seeking federal approval to amend 2 1915
4(C) Home and Community-Based Services Waivers to change the
5Determination of Need Assessment score requirement; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Changing the score from 29 to 37 would immediately
7eliminate 10,000 people with disabilities from the Home
8Services Program; changing the score would also prevent 16,000
9seniors from becoming eligible for Medicaid waiver service in
10the next year, and 21,000 more would be eliminated in
11reassessment in the next year; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The Members of this Body find it unconscionable to
13deny tens of thousands of people with disabilities and seniors
14the opportunity to receive vital care and support services; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The proposed change to the Determination of Need
16score was made without any input from those that advocate for
17the needs of individuals with disabilities and the elderly; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Each person with a disability in the Home Services
19Program saves Illinois Medicaid at least $17,000 a year by
20living in the community instead of a nursing home; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Each senior living independently with support
2from the Community Care Program saves Illinois Medicaid
3approximately $24,000 a year by living in the community instead
4of a nursing home; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Each resident residing in a nursing home with
6support from the State's Medicaid Long Term Care Program saves
7Illinois taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars by
8preventing unnecessary emergency room and hospital visits; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Thousands of workers in the Home Services Program,
10the Community Care Program, and Illinois nursing homes would be
11left without employment when consumers are made ineligible;
12therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we state our opposition
15to the proposed change of the Determination of Need score
16minimum threshold from 29 to 37, which would result in
17thousands of people with disabilities and seniors being left
18without critical support for activities of daily living in
19their own homes and access to critical medical care in nursing
20homes; and be it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor and the Illinois
22Department of Human Services to withdraw any and all plans to

 

 

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1amend the Medicaid State plan to change the Determination of
2Need score requirements; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
4delivered to the Governor and the Secretary of Human Services.