December 20, 2005

Dear Senator:

We are writing as members of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD). We strongly urge you to OPPOSE the budget reconciliation conference report because of the serious harm it would cause the 9.2 million children and adults with disabilities and others who rely on Medicaid for essential health and long-term services. Unlike the Senate-passed budget reconciliation package, the conference report achieves budget savings in ways that would weaken critical Medicaid protections upon which people with disabilities and other low-income beneficiaries rely. This includes cost-sharing provisions that will only lead to necessary services being denied and effectively punishing people with disabilities who have extensive health and long-term services needs. Changes to the EPSDT requirement can only lead to a bifurcated system that will impose formidable barriers for children in Medicaid trying to access the full range of covered services. The home- and community-based services provisions permit enrollment caps and waiting lists—the very policies that currently prevent Medicaid from meeting the needs of all people with disabilities otherwise eligible for community services. The asset transfer policies also go beyond the consensus reforms in the Senate bill and will make it harder for some Seniors with disabilities to qualify for Medicaid—even if they do not have substantial incomes or were not purposefully divesting assets to qualify for Medicaid.

CCD is also very concerned about the negative impact of the TANF provisions on people with disabilities and oppose the inclusion of these provisions in the conference report.

While we are supportive of the Family Opportunity Act and the Money Follows the Person demonstration, these provisions alone do not justify supporting a Medicaid and TANF reform package that is excessively harmful to people with disabilities.

Sincerely,

Academy for Educational Development

American Association on Mental Retardation

American Association of People with Disabilities

American Foundation for the Blind

American Congress of Community Supports and Employment Services

American Council of the Blind

American Network of Community Options and Resources

American Therapeutic Recreation Association

APSE: The Network on Employment

Association of University Centers on Disabilities

Brain Injury Association of America

Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation

Easter Seals

Epilepsy Foundation

International Association of Business, Industry and Rehabilitation

LDA, Learning Disabilities Association of America

Lutheran Services in America

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics

National Association of Social Workers

National Association of School Psychologists

National Association of State Head Injury Administrators

National Disability Rights Network

National Down Syndrome Congress

National Mental Health Association

National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives

National Spinal Cord Injury Association

NISH

Paralyzed Veterans of America

Research Institute for Independent Living

The Arc of the United States

Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance

United Cerebral Palsy

United Spinal Association

Volunteers of America