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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On February 18, 2015, Governor Bruce Rauner's
3administration released its proposal for the Fiscal Year 2016
4State budget; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On that day, the Illinois Department of Human
6Services announced that it intended to save money by making it
7more difficult to enter the Division of Rehabilitative Services
8Home Services Program by changing the minimum threshold for
9eligibility; the Illinois Department on Aging also announced
10that it intended to save money by making it more difficult to
11enter the Community Care Program by changing the minimum
12threshold for eligibility; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The prior threshold for service was a score of 29
14on the Determination of Need Assessment; the new proposed
15threshold for service would be a score of 37 on the
16Determination of Need Assessment; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The current Determination of Need minimum of 29
18covers people with disabilities and seniors who are in need of
19help in critical areas of daily living; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family
21Services would carry the administrative responsibility for

 

 

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1creating the change by seeking federal approval to amend the
2Medicaid State Plan to change the Determination of Need
3Assessment score requirement; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Changing the score from 29 to 37 would immediately
5eliminate 10,000 people with disabilities from the Home
6Services Program; changing the score would also prevent 16,000
7seniors from becoming eligible for service in the next year,
8and 21,000 more would be eliminated in reassessment in the next
9year; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The members of this body find it unconscionable to
11deny 47,000 people with disabilities and seniors the
12opportunity to live independently in their communities; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The proposed change to the Determination of Need
14score was made without any input from disability and senior
15advocates; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Each person with a disability in the Home Services
17Program saves Illinois Medicaid at least $17,000 a year by
18living in the community instead of a nursing home; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Each senior living independently with support
20from the Community Care Program saves Illinois Medicaid at
21least $24,000 a year by living in the community instead of a

 

 

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1nursing home; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Thousands of workers in the Home Services Program
3and the Community Care Program would be left without employment
4when consumers are made ineligible; therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
6NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
7state our opposition to the proposed change of the
8Determination of Need Score minimum threshold from 29 to 37,
9which would result in thousands of people with disabilities and
10seniors being left without critical support for activities of
11daily living in their own homes; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That we urge the Governor and the Illinois
13Department of Human Services to withdraw any and all plans to
14amend the Medicaid State plan to change the Determination of
15Need score requirements; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17delivered to the Governor and the Secretary of Human Services.