June 10, 2010
CURRENT UPDATE
The Senate passed its budget in mid-May. The House rejected that version and passed its own version late last week. Any items that are not in agreement – like this one as there are slightly different versions – are in contention. A conference committee of House and Senate members has been appointed to work out differences with a goal of passing a budget by June 30.
IMPACT OF BUDGET ON MH/DD/SA
The Coalition recognizes that North Carolina has not yet experienced the full benefits of the economic recovery and will face funding shortfalls. This does not relieve the state of its responsibilities to provide support for people affected by MH/DD/SA. North Carolina must build community MH/DD/SA services and supports so that people have the opportunity to recover and to live, and will not need to rely on crisis services, emergency rooms, hospitals, and institutions. Additional reductions and continuation of the worst of these cuts will cause irrevocable harm to people with disabilities and the nature of the programs that support them. Additionally, continued reductions will further harm the economic recovery by eliminating important community-based jobs.
MESSAGE
- Support the $40M for community services in the Governor’s and Senate budget – reject the House proposal of $18.8m.
- Support the $12M for inpatient community beds in the Senate budget
- Reject the provider rate cuts in Medicaid which are part of re-basing – these will severely impact the ability of Medicaid recipients to obtain services
- Do not support the enhanced mental health services cut of $41M – it will reduce availability and disrupt services
March 1st, 2010 at 4:33 pm
I will attend the April 19th meeting in Asheville. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do.
March 1st, 2010 at 4:48 pm
These Services are there and made available to help families but it seems that government does everything it can to add on unneeded, undeserved stress on families. The Services are much needed so that families, people with disabilities, mental illness, addictions, etc. can live viable lives.
Please don’t disconnect yourselves from. We are all connected! When one hurts it does have a domino affect. Though it may not touch those who make the decision directly when you leave your workplace and get into your service car waiting for you, do you pass someone in a wheelchair waiting for a bus that has a lift, a parent who is rushing home to reach a school bus that will drop off her child because she doesn’t have the Cap, H&C or Respite hours to afford her to leisurely get home. I can go on and on but I believe that you get the point and that you will do the right thing.
May 18th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
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