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Social Services Consortium Members,
The Conferees met yesterday and went over each item in the House and Senate comparison budget to see if they could easily come to an agreement on anything. A few items were resolved but most of the time was spent discussing the process of how to negotiate the budget and hearing information from the Department and lobbyist on items in the budget. The co-chairs of the committee then decided they wanted the House and Senate members to meet separately in closed meetings to determine what they felt was negotiable in the budget. That night they met separately and then met together to come up with decisions on most line items. The committee held another open meeting this morning to roll out the budget items they had found agreement on and to start discussions on the Special Provisions. The next meeting will be Monday to continue work on the Special Provisions.
Below I have highlighted some of the budget items the conferee members found agreement on. REMEMBER that if the House and Senate have identical items in their budgets then it is accepted “as is†and not discussed by the conferees.  The decisions made by the HHS conferee members will most likely be in the final budget but the co-chairs of the Conference Committee CAN make changes if they deem necessary.
2 Very Important Items!!!
1. NC FAST - Agreed to the House version that provides $4.9 million the first year. They said that the second year funding for NC FAST had not been decided. PLEASE CALL the conferee chairs to let them know we MUST have the second year funding for NC FAST to succeed. Click on the name of the co-chairs below for all contact info. If you have a strong relationship with another legislator please call him/her and ask them to talk to the co-chairs!
2. Medicaid Coverage for Aged, Blind and Disabled - No decision yet. Please let the conferees know how important this coverage is for the most vulnerable North Carolinians !
SENATE
Sen. Linda Garrou , Co-Chair
Sen. Walter H. Dalton , Co-Chair
Sen. Kay R. Hagan , Co-Chair
HOUSE
Rep. Crawford, Co-Chair
Rep. Earle, Co-Chair
Rep. Nye, Co-chair
Rep. Owens, Co-chair
Medicaid Rates - for SFY 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. Rate freeze applies to all Medicaid private and public providers with a few exceptions. This could make it more difficult to find Medicaid providers. ($62.491 FY 05-06 and $128.292 FY 06-07)
Medicaid Reserve Fund - takes $50 million from the reserve on FY 05-06 and )6 -07 . According to HHS, this money is not available as they are required to maintain a certain level in the fund and this would deplete it to a lower level than is allowed.
Medicare Part D Claw Back - this is expected to save the state money when Medicare Part D program begins paying for prescription drugs for people who have dual eligibility (Medicare/Medicaid). Save FY 05-06 $11 M, FY 06-07 $22 million.
Increase Co - Payments for Medicaid - Is a $3.00 co-payment for chiropractic, optical, podiatry, hospital outpatient, non-emergency ER visit, generic prescription drugs.
Pharmacy Reimbursement - Reduced reimbursement by reducing the payment for prescription drugs from Average Wholesale Price (AWP) minus 10% to AWP minus 11% plus the dispensing fee. Save $1.5 FY 05-06 and $3.8 million FY 06-07.
Physician and other Medical Provider Reimbursement - Reduces physician reimbursement and other medical providers whose reimbursement is based on physician reimbursement from 94% of Medicare rates to 90% of Medicare rates.
Reduction to Personal Care Services - The House wanted to see some savings in the PCS but not through enforced reduction of hours. Instead they reduced PCS funding by directing DMA to develop a utilization management system for PCS. Savings reduced to $6M 05-06 and $12M 06-07.
Health Choice - Originally the Senate plan called for moving the 0-5 from Health Choice to Medicaid but the final version took that language out and kept all ages on the Health Choice. Funding for this program was $14,670M 05-06 and $35,475M 06-07.
MRS FUNDS - This money is for additional CPS workers in counties to reduce the worker/client ratio to 1:10 to assist in the expansion of MRS. It provides FY 05-06 $2 Million and 06-07 $2 Million. We want to reach $5.6 million increase but this is a great start!
DFS Mental Health Licensure and Inspections - expands 13 new positions in 05-06 and 23 in 06-07 to provide annual inspections of 24 hour residential facilities for the mentally ill, developmentally disabled, and SA population.
DFS Adult Care Licensure Section - Provides funding for 14 positions in 05-06 and an additional 17 positions in 06-07 to allow annual inspections of adult care homes.
Complaint Intake - Expands DFS Complaint Intake unit by 2.5 positions.
Child Care Subsidies - $1.231 Million in recurring funds for FY 05-06 and 06-07. This funding was included to help maintain the current level of services although the House budget describes it as addressing the waitlist. In talking with DCD they have said they will be about $700,000 short this year in meeting the current level of services. HOWEVER, next year we are looking at a $7 million dollar deficit. This increase is because DCD up until now has been absorbing the inflationary increase in subsidies but they no longer have funds available to cover this cost.
More at Four - 3,200 more slots at a cost of $16,640 FY 05-06 and $16,640 FY 06-07.
ACH Personal Care Services for Residents of Special Care Units - Provides funding to increase the number of hours ACH PCS for residents of Special Care Units from 1.1 hrs per day to 4.07 hrs per day. $1.7 M FY 05-06 and FY 06-07
Adult Care Home Income Disregard - Provides funding to support increased enrollment of Medicaid recipients receiving State/County Special Assistance due to the implementation of an income disregard for the State/County SA program. $6.3 M FY 05-06 and 06-07.
Increase Rates for Dental Services - Provides funding to increase Medicaid rates for dental. $2M recurring
COUNTY SHARE OF MEDICAID Funds a grant-in-aid program to offset the county share of Medicaid expenditures for medical assistance payments. 50% of the funding will be used to provide targeted assistance to counties where the number of Medicaid eligibles is equal to or greater than 20% of the county's population. 50% of the funding will be used to provide assistance to all 100 counties including the counties receiving targeted assistance. $15 Million in 05-06 ONLY.
Care Coordinators for School-based Child and Family Support Teams
Facilitators for School-Based Child and Family Support Teams
School Nurses for Child and Family Support Teams
Funding for each of these which supports what was in the Governor's recommendation. Funding for the Facilitators at County DSS is $1.4 Million recurring.
Increase SA Rate for Residents of Special Care Units - Increase the rate from $1,084 to $1,515.
State/County Special Assistance Rate Adjustment - Increases the monthly rate from $1084 to $1124 per month. The total requirement for the increase is $6.8 in FY 05-06 and $8.2 in FY 06-07 with state funding 50% and counties funding 50%.
