A bill that would clear the waiting list for developmental disabilities waiver services -- community-based services not typically covered by traditional Medicaid -- failed to make it out of an Arkansas legislative committee Tuesday.
House Bill 1749 by Rep. Josh Miller, R-Heber Springs, would require the Arkansas Department of Human Services to investigate all waiver programs and develop a plan to eliminate the waiting list for the state's Alternative Community Services Waiver Program. A report on that plan would be due back to the governor and Arkansas Legislative Council on Sept. 1, under the legislation.
The legislation failed to get enough votes to make it out of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, after a roll call vote got only nine supporting votes. Eleven of the 20 members on House committees must support a bill for it to advance.
Arkansas Medicaid pays for the cost of placing a disabled person in a nursing home or one of the DHS-run human development centers. Those individuals seeking to obtain Medicaid dollars for home care or community-based services must apply for a limited number of waivers from the state. DHS said it currently serves about 14,000 patients through the waivers, including providing them with help in daily tasks.
DHS has estimated that about 3,000 people are currently on the waiting list for those waivers, and representatives of the agency have said at least 90 percent of those people are still qualified for the services offered under the waivers.
DHS officials have suggested that the Community First Choice Option, a federal program that offers enhanced Medicaid funding made available under the 2010 health care overhaul law, may be the best option to reduce the waiting list.
The Community First Choice Option allows states to receive a 6 percentage point increase in federal funding to provide in-home care to the elderly or disabled, meaning the federal portion of Arkansas' costs would increase from 70 percent to 76 percent.
In exchange, the state would have to eliminate its waiting list and serve all qualified applicants. Human Services Department officials have said the increased federal funding would enable the state to provide services to those on the waiting list -- with Washington picking up the cost.
Miller's bill asked the state to consider the Community First Choice Option along with other alternative waivers.
Metro on 03/25/2015