Faced with a $170 million deficit for services to the severely disabled, the state moved to slash payments by 15 percent for group homes and other rehabilitation organizations in the Medicaid waiver program Thursday.
Gov. Rick Scott said the cut was necessary to put the Agency for Persons with Disability on a path to fiscal stability. But a representative of the medical and rehabilitative organizations caring for about 35,000 people with disabilities said it will mean job cuts that will seriously reduce services.
APD and the Agency for Health Care Administration submitted an emergency plan to cut payments to providers by 15 percent for the next three months. APD received $805 million for the current year but state law requires agencies to make adjustments when they foresee a shortfall in their legislative appropriations.
"As we know, we've got to make sure we don't waste dollars and we have to get great care," Scott said. "What we're doing, I think is the path to long-term viability of that agency."
But the Florida Association of Rehabilitation Facilities said state spending for developmental disabilities has fallen from $961.5 million in Fiscal 2007-08 to $805 million this year. Programs have been running deficits for the past two fiscal years, patched by fund transfers.
Kingsley Ross, a lobbyist for providers, said about 5,000 patients were added to APD programs in 2005 but the Legislature never budgeted for their care.
APD chief of staff Bryan Vaughan said the emergency cuts, through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, were "necessary to comply with statutory obligations so that we are not forced to eliminate services to this vulnerable population." He said APD will protect "the health and safety of Floridians with developmental disabilities while living within our budget."
Ross said most group homes and other facilities treating people with Down syndrome, spina bifida and other profound disabilities are managing on 1 or 2 percent margins. He said a 15 percent cut would be devastating.
"Since our business is a people business, 80 percent of the money we spend is on people and benefits -- and we’re not talking rich benefits, either," he said. "When you take that much money away, we have no choice but to take it out of salaries, reducing staff. There is a point at which you can’t provide these services safely. It requires a degree of attention that requires a certain level of staffing."
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