Vetoes Limit Disability Gains

Disability programs received substantial new funding - around $15 million - in the final state budget bill passed by the state legislature. However, if Governor Johnson vetoes the budget as expected, this funding will be in limbo until a special session. Other vetoes have already negated some of the positive work of the 1999 state legislature.

The most dramatic gains for the disability community involved the waiting list for services in the Medicaid waiver programs for Developmental Disabilities and Disabled and Elderly. The state budget bill includes $7 million in new funds for DD, and $2 million for the D&E program. Prior to the start of the legislative session, Protection and Advocacy System and the ARC of New Mexico filed a lawsuit seeking to end the waiting list for these two programs.

Another major milestone was the inclusion in the state budget of $2.7 million to establish personal care (attendant) services as a new option in the state Medicaid program. This service is currently available only to those who are in one of the Medicaid waiver programs. Another new program in the budget, funded at $400,000, is a program allowing disabled adults who earn up to 250% of the federal poverty level to "buy in" to the Medicaid program, on a sliding fee basis. Lack of insurance coverage is a major barrier to the employment of persons with disabilities.

The state budget also contains $500,000 for ombudsman services for consumers in managed health care; nearly $1.5 million in new funds for mental health services; and $350,000 for additional HIV services including Native American case management.
Disability advocates hope that even if the state budget is vetoed, these funds and programs will be reinstated in whatever final budget is adopted for the new state fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

Vetoes by the governor have already undone some of the work of the legislature. A bill requiring parity for mental health coverage in health insurance was vetoed before the session ended. Bills which would have exempted DD services from managed care and required the Department of Health to request cost-of-living increases for community DD providers were vetoed. The governor also vetoed a bill to protect health care employees who report unsafe conditions or practices that violate state law or regulations (the "whistleblower" bill), and a bill to require HMO's to pay doctors promptly.

Legislation which passed near the end of the session has not yet been acted upon by the governor. Bills that are on the governor's desk include: a bill to allow trainers of guide dogs and other service animals to take them into public places such as restaurants; a bill to make it a crime to allow unleashed dogs to harm or interfere with service animals; a bill to require health care facilities and others who transport persons in wheelchairs to train their employees on safety issues; a bill to reduce inappropriate use of handicap parking placards and misuse of handicap parking places by the non-disabled; and a bill requiring medical providers to promptly give copies of medical records needed for SSI or SSDI applications, including free copies to those who are indigent.

Other bills passed by the legislature and pending action by the governor include: a bill directing the Department of Health to issue regulations establishing minimum staffing ratios for nurses and aides in nursing homes; a bill to exclude Native Americans from Medicaid managed care unless they individually choose to participate; a bill to require public schools to provide information on how to apply for Medicaid to all families whose children do not have insurance coverage; a
bill which would require the preservation of the charitable assets of Blue Cross ( a non-profit health plan) if it transfers business to an out-of-state mutual company as allowed under the bill; and a bill amending the Patient Protection Act to assure that the managed care regulations issued by the Department of Insurance will apply equally to participants in Medicaid managed care.

For a complete description of the state budget bill, and disability-related bills which were considered by the 1999 legislature, log on to the P&A web site at http://www.nmprotection-advocacy.com