Office of Developmental Programs Rate Setting May NegativelyAffect the Services People Are Receiving

April 18th, 2008

To: Consumers, families and others concerned with the quality of services for persons with intellectual disabilities

From: Dee Coccia and Ilene Shane

Re: ODP Rate-Setting

About two weeks ago, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) distributed part of their proposed new rate-setting methodology. Comments were due last Friday. Attached are the comments of four provider groups (Phila. Coalition,Lynch Homes, Phila. Alliance,PAR), and one provider. While many of these issues would appear to primarily affect providers, there are very real risks to consumers and families as well.

If these problems are not corrected, here are some of the problems that participants in the mental retardation waivers and their families will face:

People may lose services they are receiving if they go to the hospital or to rehabilitationfor an extendedperiod of time.
People in group homes may lose services if the people they live with move elsewhere or die.
Restrictions may be placed on how often residents of CLAs can visit their families overnight or go on vacation.
People with significant medical problems may have a much harder time finding a provider to serve them.
Small and medium sized providers are likely to go out of business or be forced to merge with large providers.
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