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-- Programs and Services -- Contact Information Legislative update..."equal choice" initiatives
As we go to press, the state budget for fiscal year 2006, which is expected to go into effect on July 1, 2005, is being reviewed by a joint House and Senate committee (comprised of three members from each branch), which is working out the differences between the House and Senate versions. Once this is done, the budget will then go to the Governor, who has 10 days to review and sign, and/or veto various line items. At this time, it is unlikely that the budget will be finalized until early to mid-July.
This past month, the state legislature’s Elder Affairs Committee held a hearing on legislation that would help disabled persons of all ages to live out their lives in the most integrated, least restrictive setting possible. This “equal choice” legislation (House bill H. 2898 and Senate bill S.434) says that seniors or disabled adults who meet the Medicaid eligibility guidelines for long-term care should have the right to choose where they will receive their care, including in their own homes, and that the money for their care will “follow” and stay with them as their condition changes. Although promising, this legislation still has a long ways to go before becoming law.
Also this month, the State of Vermont and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced a new Medicaid program that will give elderly and disabled Vermont residents more freedom to decide where and how they will receive their long-term care services. An assessment would determine what kind of services the Medicaid program would provide. Those Vermont residents determined to have the highest need would be offered either a traditional nursing facility or whatever expanded services would be necessary to keep them in their own homes.