Happy Monday! This is the start of committee deadline week in Springfield. For those who are not familiar, especially this year, committee deadline week involves many crammed in hearings occurring with short notice. Legislators will be running around and bills will be flying by. In order for a bill to stay alive to be voted... Read more »
Thanks to all those who joined last week’s Executive Forum! Sorry about the late issues with the phone line. SAVE THE DATE – June 6 Executive Forum (Medicaid Managed Care) Following up from the Executive Forum: 1) Please send me a contact who might want to participate in a short term employment/subminimum wage discussion. We... Read more »
MEDICAID UPDATE Thanks to all those who were able to join us on the Medicaid and Issues with Sherri Schneider webinar today. We apologize again for not being able to accommodate everyone who registered. HOT OFF THE PRESS -Sherri shared on the webinar: 1) Effective 3/30/18 – If the computer system that used to automatically... Read more »
Disability Activist Alert Tell the USDA: Don’t Cut Off Our Food Assistance! Action needed by Monday, April 9, 2018 The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is collecting comments on whether it should make changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that will lead to people losing food and nutrition assistance. Roughly 1 in 4... Read more »
March is Developmental Disabilities Month! How are you celebrating? Please share with the Arc how you are spreading the word. Check out Trinity’s efforts to raise awareness and build connections through their open house March 12. Here are some ideas: 1) Share your stories on social media about IDD! #DDawareness18, Check out the NACDD Guide... Read more »
Today the Division on Developmental Disabilities Director, Greg Fenton, announced that he will be retiring May 31, 2018. Director Fenton has been a great friend to the Arc and people with disabilities and families across Illinois. He has been incredibly accessible to families throughout the years especially at Arc Conventions and Speak Up Speak Out... Read more »
Medicaid Issues Continued: As previously shared, when HFS rolled over to new software a few months ago, individual and families have faced significant Medicaid issues. We want to share with you a new Medicaid Q&A that tries to answer some of the main questions people are facing related to barriers in accessing Medicaid. We know... Read more »
The Human Services Committee will hear House Committee Amendment #1 to HB 4383 (Feigenholtz) tomorrow, Wednesday, February 28 at 8 a.m. This bill gives Medicaid managed care patients the option to remain with their primary care provider (PCP) if their care is disrupted due to a contract termination between their PCP and a health plan. Currently, if... Read more »
Up first: Michael Berens released another article today in the Chicago Tribune “Reforms Promised but group homes still suffering from problems“. The Arc of Illinois plans to respond with a letter to the editor about this article as we see it as incredibly bias and advocating for a return to state institutions. It also completely... Read more »
Below is the summary of the FY19 Budget Proposal. We will update, correct and clarify this list after the Governor’s speech at noon and the Departmental briefings following the speech. Below are some of the topline issues impacting people with disabilities that were outlined in the summary. Here is the FY19 summary of the Governor’s... Read more »