Take Action on Work Requirments

Tennessee is asking the Federal Government to allow it to have monthly work requirements put in place for folks to receive healthcare thru TennCare.  

Please use the survey put together by the Tennessee Justice Center as an easy means to submit comments. By taking this short survey and adding your comments after you answer each survey question, your comments will be sent anonymously. 

Survey on work reporting requirements. 

February 7th is the last day to submit comments on this proposal. To learn more about this and to submit comments take this survey on work reporting requirements.

The responses to this survey would generate at least 5 separate comments (depending on how you answer) for the federal comment period. The Tennessee Justice Center submit those comments on your behalf anonymously. All you have to do is the survey. 
 
Please pass this on to your friends, even people outside of Tennessee can do it. 



https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/tenncaresurvey

A robust federal comment period helped Kentucky defeat work reporting requirements in their state.

A federal district court decided to vacate a plan from the Kentucky government to implement work requirements for able-bodied adults in the state Medicaid program. That decision calls into doubt an initiative strongly favored by the Trump administration and several Republican governors across the country. It also challenges a larger administration plan to refashion all federal welfare and means-tested poverty programs, and should kick off a flurry of court activity on the issue.

Kentucky created the work requirement in its Medicaid program back in January, after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued official guidance encouraging “state efforts to test incentives that make participation in work or other community engagement a requirement for continued Medicaid eligibility.” Formerly, federal administrations had never approved state restrictions in Medicaid like work requirements or drug-testing that constrained base eligibility for the program. After expanding Medicaid to all low-income adults in participating states, President Obama’s CMS was particularly stringent about this, approving state waivers that restructured elements of Medicaid programs and even reduced benefits, but never approving a waiver from a state involving work requirements.

MATAplus Rider’s Guide

Review of the MATAplus Rider’s Guide

By Allison Donald
It is time for an in-depth look at the MATAplus rider’s guide and its effectiveness.  If you are a person with a disability in Memphis and you choose to apply for MATAplus, the Rider’s Guide is an important source of information to learn how to use the service.  It is imperative that the Rider’s Guide be a useful tool for new riders as well as all users of the paratransit system.

We all need to understand how the system works.  First, by reading the Rider’s Guide thoroughly we can learn how the paratransit system is supposed to meet our needs, and the procedures we are to follow.  Second, the Rider’s Guide equips us with the knowledge to hold the administration of MATAplus accountable when instances of inconsistent service occur.  

The MATAplus Rider’s Guide is nineteen pages condensed down to inform riders on how to use the service.  There are some positive takeaways from the MATAplus Rider’s Guide.  The Guide is available in alternate formats if needed upon request by calling the MATAplus eligibility center at 901-722-7193 or you can visit the website at mpluscertification@matatransit.com.  

Also, MATA does offer assistance to individuals who may have difficulty understanding the rider’s guide. The guide also explains what is needed to make a reservation as well as the different types of reservations.

Even though the rider’s guide has some good points there are still some problems which makes it fall short of being a complete and useful document for riders like myself.  The categories that are used to determine eligibility are too vague.  

The reservation process was laid out very simply.  I would be helpful if the Rider’s Guide had a more complete description of a “trip refusal” and a “trip denial.” It would be helpful for MATAplus riders to know how they may respond to a trip refusal or denial.  

The Rider’s Guide also needs to be more specific to what a “will call trip” is and how it could be used. Those are just some of the problems with the MATAplus Rider’s Guide that may make it difficult to understand.

If I had to give the MATAplus Rider’s Guide a grade it would have to be an INCOMPLETE.  It is clear that the Rider’s Guide is packed with basic information, but it also leaves out updates and service changes. 

If you truly want to be fully informed on everything going on with MATAplus my advice would be to go to the MATAplus website and visit www.matatransit.com/services/mataplus. There you can find the most up to date information on the changes happening with the paratransit service that will affect you as a rider, because the MATAplus Rider’s Guide alone won’t cut it.

MCIL annual federal report

Analysis of the MCIL annual “704 Report”

MCIL has made progress this year despite the move. Most significantly, with the loss pass-through funds and state program funds, the overall annual report will show a healthy growth of consumers despite stagnant funds for Independent Living services.

First is the overall growth rate of consumers. We have reported in previous years a slow decline, however; this year, the Center shows a sharp turn-around in the number of consumers served. We have over 70% increase over the past reporting year 2016 - 2017, and about 20% more than the reporting year before that of 2015 - 2016. Our overall total of consumer served this reporting year is about 35% lower than the high of 2012 - 2013.

MCIL has increased the number of consumers served, the number of new consumers and the rate of consumers closed. The chart shows not only the total number of consumers served, but it shows the number of “carry-over consumers.” It is important to continue to show a decrease in the number of “carry-over consumers,” so that the Center does not report on consumers that are not meeting their goals or have stagnated.

I do not believe our growth will continue at this pace, but the growth, matched with decreased carry-over is a good sign. I suspect that we will have more closed consumers in the coming reporting year and that services will level off as staff improves on data reporting, Independent Living plans, and we reach our staff capacity of service.


>


The above chart shows the change in Center funding over the past six years. State and fee-for service are the largest drops over the past two years, but also notice that the Part C funding has not remained constant and dropped over the past reporting period.




Each year we report on the racial makeup of the consumers that MCIL serves. This year shows little difference from last in the racial break-down of our community.





This chart, I believe shows a healthy consistency in the types of disabilities over the past three reporting periods. I believe there is a “smoothing out” of the overall trend as MCIL works to reach out to people with all types of disabilities in our community. Still, there is a noticeable dip in our service to people with hearing disabilities and we can improve in our reporting of people with multiple disabilities. I am proud that we do not use the “other” category even though it shows up in our federal report.




Finally, I have set aside the break-down of the age of our consumers. It is important to note that the majority of MCIL consumers, nearly two-thirds (61.8%), are in the “working age” category. This area was the focus of the Independent Living from its roots in Vocational Rehabilitation. Still, almost 30% of consumers are over 60 and we have had a small increase in the percentage of young consumers of transition age. 

Notes on this year's CIL Program Project Performance Report

You may not wish to read the entire "MCIL 704 Report," but the Center has a history of always making this report public. Each year the Program Directer does some analysis on the report and uses the annual numbers to help the Executive Director and Board of Directors to guide MCIL in effectively working to accomplish our mission. 

Following are notes and highlights from the report. There is a link to the MCIL Program Project Performance Report at the end of this blog.

• This year you will find photos and active links in the report. The Center has long felt that communication often lacks connection and too often our community relies on paperwork and forms that have been passed-down for generations without a real evaluation of their impact and effectiveness. We hope that MCIL will not only provide you with written information, but also visual, video, description and audio information in accessible and usable formats. I hope that we can provide our community and the Memphis public with information that reflects our passion for equality and dedication to civil rights.
• After four years of decline, this year MCIL had an increase in the number of consumers, an increase in the number of consumers served, an increase in the number of new consumers.
• We increased the number of consumers closed. The Program Director reports that this is a healthy trend. One reason for the decline in consumers over the past four years is the stagnation of many of the Consumer Service Records. The Center was not fastidious in "closing consumers" so many remained in the database while they were not actively pursuing goals. 
• MCIL showed an increase in service provision this year, while still dealing with the large loss of overall funding.
• The type of disability shows a small "leveling off." MCIL serves people with all types of disabilities, but in the past we have had an overwhelming number of people with physical disabilities compared to other types of disabilities. Our largest service population is still people with physical disabilities, but this year we show a trend of serving a wider variety and thus physical disability is a smaller overall percentage.
• While in the past MCIL reported any consumer contact as an "Information and Referral," in this 704 we make it a point to only report on I&R that we follow-up on. MCIL believes that information can be the most powerful tool of consumers; however, it is also critical that they get good information and we distinguish between "Information and Referral to a Consumer," and I&R to the public or non-consumers. By making and tracking this distinction, MCIL is more responsive to the individual goals of people with disabilities who ask us for information.
• Please read the success story on pages 26 - 27.
• Our new workplan (also on the web) is part of this report.

The link to the MCIL Program Project Performance Report for FY 2017.

DIA Introduced!

ADAPT sees the bipartisan Disability Integration Act back in the US Senate

By Allison Donald
Members of National ADAPT chapters from Rochester, Denver, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Washington DC and Philadelphia traveled to the nation’s Capital for the reintroduction the Disability Integration Act and to continue the work of getting support for the legislation.  

The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is civil rights legislation, introduced by Democratic Senator Schumer in the Senate and Republican Representative Sensenbrenner in the House. The DIA will address the fundamental right of Americans to live in the community and not be forced into expensive institutions.

People who need Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) are forced into institutions and losing their basic civil rights. The legislation (S.117, H.R.555) builds on the twenty-five years of work that ADAPT has done to end the institutional bias and provide seniors and people with disabilities home and community-based services (HCBS) as an alternative to expensive institutionalization. 

The three day event was highlighted by the 2019 Freedom Day Celebration which was attended by disability rights advocates from around the country.  Senators Bob Casey (D-PA.), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Corey Gardner (R-CO.) were in attendance to show their bipartisan support for the legislation.  In a room filled with disability rights advocates from across the country the Disability Integration Act (S.117) was reintroduced on January 15, 2019 on what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King’s 90^th birthday.  This legislation is an integral piece in the fight for civil rights for people with disabilities.  

The celebration was a sign of hope, but it was also a let advocates know that there is still much work to be done. That is why ADAPT activists went to Capitol Hill to visit our legislators and continue the education that is needed regarding the Disability Integration Act.  

Members of the Tennessee delegation, along with Denver ADAPT, visited Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen’s office and he informed them that he would be signing on in support of the bill.  After a day of hill visits ADAPT demonstrated at the Democratic National Convention headquarters.  

As another ADAPT gathering came to an end I must say that it feels good to have gotten this far, but there is still so much work ahead if the Disability Integration Act is to come to pass.  We must continue to push our elected officials in Tennessee and educate our community about the DIA, because DISABILITY RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS!

FREE OUR PEOPLE NOW!