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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE RESOLUTION 342

2    AMENDMENT NO. ___. Amend Senate Resolution 342 by replacing
3everything after the heading with the following:
 
4    "WHEREAS, On February 18, 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner's
5administration released its proposal for the Fiscal Year 2016
6State budget; and
 
7    WHEREAS, On that day, the Illinois Department of Human
8Services announced that it intended to save money by making it
9more difficult to enter the Division of Rehabilitative Services
10Home Services Program by changing the minimum threshold for
11eligibility; the Illinois Department on Aging and the
12Department of Healthcare and Family Services also announced
13that it intended to save money by making it more difficult to
14enter the Community Care Program, Supportive Living
15Facilities, and nursing homes by changing the minimum threshold
16for eligibility consistent with the change announced by the

 

 

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1Department of Human Services; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The prior threshold for service was a score of 29
3on the Determination of Need Assessment; the new proposed
4threshold for service would be a score of 37 on the
5Determination of Need Assessment; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The current Determination of Need minimum of 29
7covers people with disabilities and seniors who are in need of
8help in critical areas of daily living; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family
10Services would carry the administrative responsibility for
11creating the change by seeking federal approval to amend 2 1915
12(C) Home and Community-Based Services Waivers to change the
13Determination of Need Assessment score requirement; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Changing the score from 29 to 37 would immediately
15eliminate 10,000 people with disabilities from the Home
16Services Program; changing the score would also prevent 16,000
17seniors from becoming eligible for Medicaid waiver service in
18the next year, and 21,000 more would be eliminated in
19reassessment in the next year; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The members of this body find it unconscionable to
21deny tens of thousands of people with disabilities and seniors

 

 

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1the opportunity to receive vital care and support services; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The proposed change to the Determination of Need
3score was made without any input from those that advocate for
4the needs of individuals with disabilities and the elderly; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Each person with a disability in the Home Services
6Program saves Illinois Medicaid at least $17,000 a year by
7living in the community instead of a nursing home; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Each senior living independently with support
9from the Community Care Program saves Illinois Medicaid
10approximately $24,000 a year by living in the community instead
11of a nursing home; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Each resident residing in a nursing home with
13support from the State's Medicaid Long Term Care Program saves
14Illinois taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars by
15preventing unnecessary emergency room and hospital visits; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Thousands of workers in the Home Services Program,
17the Community Care Program, and Illinois nursing homes would be
18left without employment when consumers are made ineligible;
19therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL

 

 

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1ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we state our opposition
2to the proposed change of the Determination of Need Score
3minimum threshold from 29 to 37, which would result in
4thousands of people with disabilities and seniors being left
5without critical support for activities of daily living in
6their own homes and access to critical medical care in nursing
7homes; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor and the Illinois
9Department of Human Services to withdraw any and all plans to
10amend the Medicaid State plan to change the Determination of
11Need score requirements; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
13delivered to the Governor and the Secretary of Human
14Services.".