PENNSYLVANIA
The Budget
The FY 2002-2003 budget included an $18.1 million increase in total funds to provide home and community-based services (HCBS) for an additional 1,175 people with mental retardation, $13.4 million in total funds for HCBS services for an additional 479 persons with disabilies and $7.1 million in state funds for community oversight of mental retardation services. The budget also allocated $56.4 million in tobacco settlement funds to provide HCBS for 4,393 older Pennsylvanians.
Four lawsuits have been filed in recent years in Pennsylvania regarding people on waiting lists for Medicaid community services. Settlement of the lawsuit Delong et al. vs. Houstoun in April 2002 resulted in the state agreeing to seek funding from the General Assembly to serve 3,382 people in the Person/Family-Directed Supports Medicaid waiver program. Another lawsuit, Sabree et al. vs. Houstoun, was dismissed on January 16, 2003. The lawsuit alleged that Pennsylvania had not furnished ICF/MR services to eligible individuals with reasonable promptness. The plaintiffs were people with mental retardation.
Information and Referral
The Office of Social Programs (OSP) of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare began developing a plan to establish regional single points of entry called Community Resource Centers for Persons with Disabilities. These entry points would be responsible for eligibility assessment, service plan development and monitoring, emergency response, and nursing home transition services. The OSP issued a request for bids for the proposed system in October 2002.
Grant Initiative
A nursing home transition project-called PATH-has been operating in Pennsylvania since July 2001 with funding from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The project involves the Pennsylvania Intra-Governmental Council on Long-Term Care; the departments of Aging, Public Welfare, and Health; and consumers. A progress report issued in November 2002 noted that 90 referrals had been received in the 11 months of project operation, with 25 people successfully making the transition from a nursing home to the community.
Work Force
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare initiated a new set of regulations for the nearly 1,800 personal care homes in late 2002. The new rules limit those who can dispense medications, increase training and certification requirements for administrators and staff, and restrict the work that employees younger than age 18 could perform.
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