FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DISABILITY COMMUNITY “SHOCKED AND VERY DISAPPOINTED” BY HMO REPORT

January 27, 2011 – The co-chair of a statewide coalition of disability organizations expressed “shock and great disappointment” about a report released today by Minnesota’s seven largest Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) to make changes in the state’s Medical Assistance program.

“This report is extremely troubling,” said Steve Larson, Co-Chair of Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MN-CCD).  “It proposes cuts to the services that currently help Minnesotans with disabilities live independently in the community.  It fails to provide factual data to back up the proposed savings it claims. It was developed under a closed process that didn’t involve the disability community and other affected stakeholders.  And it allows HMOs to profit from its recommended budget cuts.”

“The disability community is eager to engage in discussions with HMO leaders about ideas for saving money on our health care and long-term support programs – ideas on which the disability community is working diligently.  We have no illusions about the size of the deficit that Minnesota currently faces.  There will be difficult decisions to be made as legislators work to balance the budget this legislative session.  But our ideas for changing disability services could achieve cost savings without undermining the services that help make life possible for people with disabilities and their families, and which Minnesota has worked so hard to establish.”

The report, titled “Minnesota’s Healthcare Imperative,” contains specific proposals for potential cost savings from within Minnesota’s current public healthcare system in the face of our state’s $6.2 billion deficit.  One of the most significant recommendations in the report would move individuals with disabilities who currently access services through a fee-for-service model into a managed care model.  However, MN-CCD argues that managed care has not worked for Minnesotans with disabilities.  It says that Minnesota has not yet perfected the technique of matching provider payments with needs of complex individuals, and the coalition cites the recent financial collapse of MnDHO- a managed care program for Minnesotans with disabilities — as an example.

Another proposal in the report would reduce spending on a specific disability program called “waivered services” by five percent – despite the fact that the disability community could find no evidence to support the report’s claim that reducing up-front costs in these programs will save costs in the long-term. An additional proposal to cut dental and rehabilitation therapy benefits for Minnesotans with disabilities left disability advocates baffled.  “The report provides no data to show that these cuts would create any long term savings, either,” Larson said.

The Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MN-CCD) is a broad-based coalition of more than 100 organizations of persons with disabilities, providers and advocates, dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities. We address public policy issues that affect people with disabilities by collaborating with others, advocating, educating, influencing change and creating awareness for understanding.

Contact: Steve Larson

Tel: 651-523-0823

Cell: 651-334-7970

Email: stevel@arcmn.org