Long-Term Care

Story Idea!

This message is from Ellen Pinnes and The Disability Coalition.

This is an update on what's going on with development of the Coordinated Long-Term Services (CLTS) Medicaid managed long-term care program that the state plans to implement later this year. As you know, the Legislature passed House Memorial 16, sponsored by Rep. Jim Trujillo, and Senate Memorial 17, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, which call on the Human Services Department (HSD) and the Aging and Long-Term Services Department (ALTSD) to:

1) address concerns about CLTS before implementing the program,
2) engage in regular and meaningful consultation with provider and consumer representatives regarding design of the program, and
3) report regularly to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee (LHHS) and the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) on progress in addressing concerns about CLTS, and provide data about the program.

The concerns listed in the memorial include:

1) whether there will be adequate community services waiver slots in CLTS,
2) whether eligibility rules will limit access to community services.
3) how Money Follows the Person will be implemented,
4) whether rates paid to the managed care organizations (MCOs) will be adequate,
5) whether the way the rates are structured will provide incentives for the MCOs to serve people in the community rather than in institutional care, and
6) whether the program will reduce waitlists and waiting times to receive community services.

Representatives of The Disability Coalition met last week with ALTSD secretary Cindy Padilla and members of her staff to begin the "meaningful consultation" process called for in the legislative memorials. We had asked that HSD representatives also participate, but ALTSD didn't invite them so they weren't there. The meeting was very preliminary, and we haven't yet firmed up a process for continuing the consultation. The two agencies will be having a planning meeting on CLTS later this month, and Secretary Padilla seemed reluctant to commit to any particular consultation process until after that happens and she has conferred with HSD. The state agencies have indicated that they still plan to begin implementing CLTS in July, so the consultation needs to move forward soon.

LHHS won't have its first meeting until late June, but we're hoping that the LFC, which starts its meetings earlier, will schedule an oversight hearing on CLTS in May. That will be about three months after the end of the legislative session and less than two months before CLTS is scheduled to begin, so it's an appropriate time to check in and see whether the state is in fact engaging in meaningful consultation and taking steps to address the issues raised in the memorials.

In the meantime, if you haven't already contacted your own senator and representative to let them know that you're concerned about CLTS and want the Legislature to exercise continuing oversight of the program's development and implementation, I encourage you to do so now. Contact information for all members of the Legislature is available on the legislative website at http://www.legis.state.nm.us/ -- click on "Find Your Legislator" on the left side of the homepage, select your senator's or representative's name, and they'll give you addresses and phone numbers. (If you don't know who your legislators are, you can find out through the "Find Your Legislator" section of the site.)

Thanks for making the voice of the disability community heard!