LOUISIANA
The focus of Louisiana's long-term care activities continues to be on expanding home and community-based services (HCBS) for people with disabilities as part of a settlement of a lawsuit that charged the state with discriminating against people with disabilities through greater spending on institutional-rather than on community-care. As a result, the state has increased funding for HCBS and has engaged in an ongoing planning effort involving state agencies and consumers.
Home and Community-Based Services
As a result of the settlement of the class action lawsuit, Barthlemey vs. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in August 2001, the state is in the midst of a four-year, $118 million plan to provide community services to an increased number of people with disabilities. The Legislature approved $83.8 million to expand home and community-based services for FY 2002-2003. The additional funds were expected to provide services for about 1,400 people on waiting lists.
Effective November 1, 2002, the Medicaid home and community-based waiver program for people with mental retardation or developmental disabilities added a skilled nursing service. The service must be ordered by a physician, provided by a licensed nurse through an enrolled home health agency, and meet a medical necessity.
Planning
Two groups that were created by legislation in 2001 continued to be involved in long-term planning efforts in the state during 2002: the Disability Services and Supports Systems Planning Group and the Consumer Task Force. These two groups were compiling a list of recommendations for state activities through the fall and winter of 2002. In addition, the state was awarded a $1,385,000 federal Systems Change grant in 2002 to support the planning process of the two groups. With the funds, the Department of Health and Hospitals was planning to provide staff, meeting space, educational opportunities, and consultants to support and inform the two groups.
The department also planned to hold a series of public forums in all regions of the state to obtain consumer input. Another activity under the project was developing programming, training materials and project evaluation materials to enable implementation of consumer direction in Medicaid home and community-based waiver programs.
BACK TO INDEX
BACK TO REPORT
|
