As budget negotiations heat up in Albany, advocates for the developmentally disabled are protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid services.
Community based non-profits like ACHIEVE face a 6 percent reduction in Governor Cuomo's budget plan. It's in response to a recent decision by the federal government that New York had been overcharging Medicaid for people in institutional settings like the Broome Developmental Center.
ACHIEVE CEO Mary Jo Thorn says the cut translates to 800 thousand dollars from the agency's budget and will have a significant impact on staffing, services and the safety and security of its clients. She says this comes at a time when more of the developmentally disabled are being moved out of institutions in favor of community based services like ACHIEVE. "It's less expensive. Actually, it's more inclusive of the individuals that we serve for them to receive services in a more community type setting and environment."
Under the Governor's proposal, state run facilities would lose 2,000 positions to attrition. Thorn says her group and others statewide are actively lobbying state lawmakers to restore the funding.
