2018 Spring Session Legislative Wrap Up
The OK State Legislature provided
OKDHS an additional $34 M to their annual budget. This means OKDHS has
2019 operating funds of $729.4M. $2 M will be earmarked to serve
individuals on the Waiting List for the
Developmental Disabilities Medicaid Home and
Community-based Waivers.
This $2 M represents less than 1%
of the total funding appropriated to OKDHS by the State Legislature.
Nonetheless, it is the only dedicated funding the Waiting List has received
since 2014 and the largest one-time appropriation ever. Currently,
7600+ individuals are on the Waiting List. Additionally,
in the DHS budget, DDS was given $100,000 to develop a
new Medicaid Home and Community-based waiver to include respite and other
supports not available on Oklahoma’s State Medicaid plan.
Legislator allies of the Waiting
List community expect OKDHS to use this funding solely to serve individuals in
chronological order – in other words, those who have been on the Waiting List
the longest. While there is not an official start date, OKDHS estimates
they can serve approximately 200 Oklahomans with this funding. Medicaid
provider’s rates for
DD and Aging supports
rates will increase by 7%, replacing the 3.5% rate cut from 2015.
Family advocates worked diligently
to ensure OKDHS Developmental Disabilities Services had some protected funding
for the Waiting List families. Three Partners in Policymaking graduates (also from each of the Redlands Partners) initiated the
Waiting List Caucus, a bipartisan working group of representatives and senators working toward annualized waiver funding. Marie Moore, then Interim
Director of DDS, provided valuable data and policy clarifications to this
effort.
The $34 M appropriation to OKDHS
is paired with an increase in OK’s FMAP. This is the federal–state
Medicaid matching formula which, this year, tipped in Oklahoma’s favor.
As such, OKDHS will have access to receive an additional
$18M.
Wanda Felty, long-time parent
advocate and facilitator of the Waiting List quarterly meetings said, “I appreciate that the legislature gave the single most funds
to work the Waiting List. Yet, this leaves 7,000 Oklahomans still waiting. We must priortize our funding into supporting all vulnerable
Oklahomans and not just those who have drawn the most attention through
litigation. When we, as a state, force individuals to sit and wait for more than
a decade for supports, we are not helping them envision and work towards independent and valued lives.”
The next DDS
Waiting List Meeting is June 14 at 1:30 pm in the Sequoyah Memorial Office
Building, basement level and the DD Council encourages families, legislators
and allies to attend.
This Legislative update is for informational purposes only. Inclusion and tracking of any legislation does not constitute endorsement or opposition by the Center for Learning and Leadership, the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council, or the Oklahoma Disability Law Center.
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