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[Headline] MiCASSA and Money Follows the Person Introduced!

MiCASSA (the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act) and Money Follows the Person have been re-introduced and have new bill numbers. MiCASSA is now S 401 and HR 910. The main cosponsors remain Senators Harkin of IA and Specter of PA, and Representatives Danny Davis and Shimkus of IL.

MiCASSA gives individuals who are eligible for institutional services like nursing home services and ICF-MR services equal access to community-based attendant services and supports. The services are based on functional need and are consumer controlled; in fact, they provide a choice of ways to have consumer control. MiCASSA also creates a demonstration project to evaluate service coordination and cost sharing approaches for those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. Also included are funding and direction to the states to reform their long term care to level the playing field and increase home and community based services.

The Federal Money Follows the Person bill S 528 is co-sponsored by Senators Harkin and Gordon Smith of OR. This bill sets up demonstration programs in the states to allow people in nursing homes and other institutions to move into the community on existing community service programs, instead of having to go on long waiting lists, etc. However, this bill allows the funds that were paying for their institutional service to be moved over to pay for the services in the community. This bill also allows the participating states to get 100% federal funds to cover the first year of community services for those who move out, and at the end of the year the funding returns to that states regular match (60% federal funds - 40% state funds or what-ever the state's regular match rate is.)

We need more co-sponsors. Unfortunately, when a Congressional Session ends (every 2 years) all the bills that haven't passed die and that is why they need to be reintroduced; also, all the co-sponsors need to sign back on again. If your Senators and/ or Representative has signed on, thank them. If not, ask them to sign on again. To find out who is co-sponsoring the bill you can contact us at adapt@adapt.org (or 512/442-0252) or you can go to the Thomas website www.thomas.gov and type in the bill number.

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Tuesday 23 July 2013

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Friday 4 December 2020

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