2002 LEGISLATIVE PREVIEW

Budget Shortfall versus Need for Services

The 2002 state legislature will convene in late January under a budgetary cloud. Current projections show a possible deficit in the coming year, and the Human Services Department has already identified the Medicaid program as an "area of opportunity" for budget cuts and service reductions.

Nonetheless, consumer advocates will be educating legislators about the needs of people with disabilities, and encouraging them to find the funds needed to preserve current services, and to expand them to meet the needs of those who lack adequate services. For example, there are over 2,000 persons on the DD waiting list, and the D&E waiting list has in recent times been even longer than that. Some of the expected program expansion requests to be considered by the 2002 legislature include:

DD Waiver Waiting List $6.2 million

D&E Waiver Waiting List $2.0 million

MH Community Services $0.7 million

In-Home Care Alternatives $13.0 million

HIV/AIDS Services $0.8 million

ILC Expansion $0.3 million

Other disability-related funding requests expected to emerge during the session include a pilot program for self-directed services in the DD system, and a separate proposal to require self-directed services as an option in all disability programs; funds to facilitate transition of residents from institutions into community settings; and a program to make it easier for persons with disabilities to find employment with state government. In addition, DD provider agencies are expected to seek $8 million for rate increases, and $1.7 million to provide DD Early Intervention services to all those who qualify for them.

The legislature may also address the issue of implementation of the Olmstead decision in New Mexico. Although the federal Medicaid agency and the U.S. Supreme Court have strongly suggested that states develop comprehensive, working plans to assure that persons with disabilities are fully integrated into the community, state officials in New Mexico have so far chosen not to do so.

HSD and the Hospital Association are expected to promote a plan to use unspent Medicaid money to subsidize a very limited health insurance plan for uninsured workers, to be purchased through their employers from private insurance companies. Health care advocates and the Legislative Health Committee have raised concerns about the proposal, and it could carry a price tag of over $30 million in state matching funds.

For current information during the legislative session, check the P&A web site at www.nmprotection-advocacy.com.