An ACTION ALERT from the National Council on Independent Living:

For Money Follows the Person/ Family Opportunity Act

Congress has returned! They will be in session for only one
month. There is much business to be conducted. If
disability advocates want to be on their agenda, we must
make a concerted, forceful push to get there. Therefore,
disability organizations, including NCIL, ADAPT, AAPD, PVA,
The ARC, United Cerebral Palsy and NAPAS, as well as other
organizations like AARP and Family Voices have joined
together to encourage advocates and friends from all over
the country to take part in a national call-in day on
Tuesday, September 14th. Our goal is passage of federal
legislation supporting Money Follows the Person and the
Family Opportunity Act.

BACKGROUND

The Senate passed the Family Opportunity Act (S 622)
earlier this year. A separate Money Follows the Person bill
(S 1394) has been introduced, but not passed by the Senate.

In the House of Representatives, the Family Opportunity Act
(H 1811) was amended in late June to include Money Follows
the Person. It was on the suspension calendar and about
to be voted upon when concerns about offsets in Medicaid to
fund the legislation led to disagreements about how to
proceed. H 1811 was pulled from the suspension calendar and
has not been acted upon since.

TALKING POINTS

1. Family Opportunity Act

The bipartisan Family Opportunity Act would allow families
with children who have severe disabilities to buy into the
Medicaid program so that they have access to important
health care services and supports which they cannot get
through private insurance plans. The following are reasons
Congress should support this legislation.

* Passage of this bill would help these families stay
employed, keep their children at home, and ensure that
their children get the services they need.

* It requires parents to pay premiums for this coverage on
a sliding scale, based upon their incomes.

* This program would be a state option and not mandatory.

* It requires parents to take employer-sponsored family
coverage, if available, but it allows them to buy into
Medicaid to supplement the employer benefit package.

2. Money Follows the Person

Money Follows the Person is a demonstration project that
would require the federal government to reimburse the state
for 100% of the first-year costs of home and community
based services for individuals on Medicaid who move to the
community from nursing homes or other institutions. In year
two, the state match returns to the original rate. The
reasons for passing this bill include:

* Allowing individuals real choice in where they live;

* Assisting states in Olmstead implementation which would
help eliminate the institutional bias in Medicaid funding;

* Reducing costs since home and community based services
are far less expensive than institutional care

* Honoring the promise made by President Bush in 2003 to
provide $1.75 billion for a Money Follows the Individual
Rebalancing Demonstration Project

* Being consistent with family values and doing the right
thing.

CALL TO ACTION!!

1) Call the White House and urge the President to deliver
on his promise for Money Follows the Person legislation.

The White House Comment Line is (202)-456-1111 (TTY Accessible)

2) Call your Representative in the House and urge passage
of legislation to include both the Family Opportunity Act
and Money Follows the Person.

NOTE: If you do not know your Representatives Phone
Number, see below.

3) Call Your Senators and urge passage of Money Follows the
Person Legislation (S 1394) since they previously passed
the Family Opportunity Act.

NOTE: If you do not know your Senators Phone Numbers See
Below

4) How to find your Representative or Senators phone
numbers

Go to www.congress.org

Find the box under the heading Write Elected Officials,
type in your zip code and press the enter key.

Then, when the names of your elected officials come on
the screen, click your mouse on the word Info under the
name of the elected official you want to contact. The
telephone number will be listed on the page that comes up
next.

This is a real opportunity for the disability community to
live up to the NCIL motto of Not Just Responding To
Change, But Leading It!

Lets make the most of it.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS: Contact Gwen Gillenwater, NCIL
Director of Advocacy and Public Policy or Daniel Davis,
NCIL Policy Analyst by phone at (703)-525-3406 or by e-mail
at gwen@... or daniel@....