From: Dani Sullivan
[dani.sullivan@health.wyo.gov]
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 5:47
PM
To: Jamie Staunton
Subject: [ddd-providers] 2011
Legislative Session
Brent D.
Sherard, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., Director and State Health
Officer
Governor Matthew H. Mead
To:
All Home and
Community Based Waiver Providers
From:
Chris Newman, Developmental Disabilities
Division Administrator
Subject:
Summary of legislation that impacts the Home and Community Based Waivers
Date:
January 10, 2011
__________________________________________________________________________________
Happy New Year to
everyone! As many of you already know, the 2011 General Session of the
Wyoming State Legislature begins tomorrow, Tuesday, January 11th.
I have received many calls and questions about how this legislative session may
impact participants, families, guardians and providers so I thought it would be
helpful to send out a summary of the bills that have been introduced as of
January 7, 2010 that could impact the Developmental Disabilities Division
(Division).
If you are
interested in tracking these or other bills, click the link below to access the
Wyoming State Legislature Home Page (http://legisweb.state.wy.us/lsoweb/session/sessionhome.aspx).
From this website, you can review bills that have been introduced, track the
progress of bills, listen to sessions, find information on how to attend a
hearing and give testimony, and find out how to provide written input on a
bill.
Currently, there
are two bills that directly pertain to the home and community based waivers
administered by the Division. I have provided a summary of the bills
below.
1.
HB
0020 (House Bill 20): Authorizes payment to relatives of persons with
developmental disabilities or acquired brain injuries. This bill, if
passed as drafted, would allow parents of participants to receive reimbursement
for providing services with certain restrictions. The parents would need
to be certified as a Medicaid Waiver provider and meet the certification
requirements for the service being provided.
2.
SF
0029 (Senate File 29): Authorizes funding for currently underfunded units
of residential habilitation and day habilitation services so providers can
receive reimbursement for units of these services they are currently providing,
authorizes development of a training and certification program for behavioral specialists,
and specifies a basis for calculating the budget for home and community based
waivers.
Both of these bills
were introduced by the 2010 Select Committee on Developmental and Intellectual
Programs. The final report from the Select Committee provides more
detailed information on the background of these bills. The report can be
found at: http://legisweb.state.wy.us/InterimCommittee/2010/DD%202010%20Final%20Report.pdf
In addition, the
2011-2012 budget bill includes a recommendation to fund the currently
underfunded units for residential habilitation and day habilitation services so
providers can receive reimbursement for units of these services they are
currently providing. The budget bill recommendation mirrors the
authorization in Senate File 29.
Please feel free to
share this information with any interested parties, including participants,
guardians, families and other stakeholders. The Division will be tracking
these bills through the legislative process and will send out listserv updates
when significant developments occur, such as if a bill is approved or fails to
pass a certain step in the legislative process. However, the best way to
track these or any bills on a routine basis is to access the Wyoming State
Legislature website, which will have the most current information.
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