Action Alert! Tell your Senators to Support Money Follows the Person!

December 13, 2018

Earlier this week, thanks to the advocacy of people like you, the House of Representatives passed the IMPROVE Act (H.R. 7217), which includes a provision to renew the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program. We expect a vote in the Senate will follow soon – it could be as soon as today.

Call your Senators and tell them to support the IMPROVE Act, which renews the MFP program for three months.

The bill funds MFP for three months, and extends spousal impoverishment protections to Medicaid HCBS participants. By renewing MFP for three months, the IMPROVE Act gives the program a needed bridge into the new Congress in 2019, when we can advocate for a longer renewal. Call your Senators NOW and tell them to vote YES to help people with disabilities live in the community!

MFP helps people with disabilities and older adults who want to move out of nursing homes or other institutions get back into their communities. MFP has assisted more than 88,000 individuals voluntarily move into a setting of their choice – it has improved the lives of older adults and people with disabilities, saved states money, and led to better outcomes. That’s why nearly every state has participated in the program. However, MFP expired September 30, 2016 and states are running out of funding. People with disabilities deserve the right to live in the community, rather than spending their lives segregated into institutions.

URGE YOUR SENAOTRS TO VOTE YES ON THE IMPROVE ACT TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY LIVING AND FUND MFP!

For more information, visit the Center for Public Representation: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/empower-care-act/.

Call your Senators

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and ask to be connected to your Senators.

All Senators need to hear from the disability community. However, support from the Senators below is crucial to passing this legislation.

  • Senator Toomey (PA)
  • Senator Lee (UT)
  • Senator Cruz (TX)
  • Senator Paul (KY)
  • Senator McConnell (KY)

Sample Call Script:

Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].

I am calling to express my concern about the expiration of the Money Follow the Person (MFP) program and to urge you to vote yes on the IMPROVE Act, which recently passed in the House.

MFP has enabled over 88,000 older adults and people with disabilities living in institutions to transition back to their communities. MFP is fiscally responsible: it has improved the quality of live for thousands of individuals while saving states money. The program has expired and states are scaling back their programs, and without funding, could have to completely eliminate them.

I am asking Senator [Senator’s Name] support the IMPROVE Act that recently passed in the House to reauthorize Money Follows the Person Program for three months.

Thank you for taking my call!

[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address and zip code to ensure your call is tallied]

[Optional Add On]

Personal stories are the most effective form of advocacy. Talk about why Money Follows the Person is important for you or someone you know and love.

Action Alert! Tell Congress to Pass the EMPOWER Care Act

Support community living for people with disabilities

September 6, 2018

Money Follows the Person (MFP) is a Medicaid program that has helped over 75,000 people with disabilities and seniors move out of nursing homes or institutions and back into their communities. MFP restores the dignity and liberty of people with disabilities by promoting and supporting community living.

Funding for the MFP program expired in 2016, and states have already scaled back their MFP plans by approximately 40%. We need your help and advocacy to get the Senate and House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan EMPOWER Care Act (S.2227 and H.R.5306), which would extend and improve the MFP program. The number of people who transitioned to the community through MFP declined for the first time last year; the EMPOWER Care Act will help reverse that trend.

By passing the EMPOWER Care Act and funding the Money Follows the Person program, Congress can help more people with disabilities transition out of institutions and nursing homes and back into the community. Without action NOW, more people will be trapped in institutions.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives held a separate hearing and briefing about the EMPOWER Care Act and Money Follows the Person program – now is the ideal time to contact your Representative!

Help people living in nursing facilities and other institutional settings move back into their communities!

 

Take Action

Use the advocacy tool below to send an email and tweet directly to your Senators and Representative to tell them to support the EMPOWER Care Act and fund the MFP program.

Be sure to connect your Twitter account to use the social media outreach feature of this tool.

 

Call Your Members of Congress

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (voice) or (202) 224-3091 (tty) and ask to be connected to your Senators or Representative.

 

Easy Call Script:
(produced by the Center for Public Representation)

Hello, this is [Name]. I’m a resident of [Town, State].

I am calling to express my concern about the expiration of the Money Follow the Person (MFP) program.

MFP has enabled over 75,000 seniors and people with disabilities living in institutions to transition back to their communities.  MFP is fiscally responsible: it has improved the quality of life for thousands of individuals while saving states money. The program expired over a year ago. States are already having to scale back their programs, and without funding, could have to completely eliminate them.

I am asking [Member of Congress’ Name] to cosponsor and support the EMPOWER Care Act and reauthorize Money Follows the Person Program.

Thank you for taking my call!

[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address and ZIP code to ensure your call is tallied]

[Optional Add On]

Personal stories are the most effective form of advocacy. Talk about why Money Follows the Person is important for you or someone you know and love.

 

Additional Information

 

Ask your Members of Congress to Co-Sponsor the EMPOWER Care Act Today!

Action Alert! The EMPOWER Care Act Gets Individuals with Disabilities & Seniors Back Home

January 30, 2018

S. 2227, the bipartisan EMPOWER Care Act introduced by Senators Portman (R-OH) and Cantwell (D-WA), extends and improves the Money Follows the Person program (MFP). First authorized by President Bush in 2005 with strong bipartisan support, MFP gets individuals with disabilities and seniors out of nursing homes and back into their communities with family and friends.

By passing the EMPOWER Care Act and funding the Money Follows the Person program, Congress can help more people with disabilities transition out of institutions and nursing homes and into the homes and communities of their choice.

 

Take Action

National Call-In Day for Community Living: #FundMFP

February 1, 2018

Join disability advocates around the country this Thursday, February 1, for a National Call-In Day for Community Living. Urge your Senators to Co-Sponsor the EMPOWER Care Act to extend the Money Follows the Person program immediately.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and ask to be connected to your Senators.

Visit the National Call-In Day for Community Living: #FundMFP webpage hosted by the Center for Public Representation for a guide to using the Capitol Switchboard, a call script, and additional talking points. Join the Facebook Event to get the latest updates.

 

Social Media Day to #FundMFP

February 2, 2018

Join disability advocates around the country this Friday, February 2, for a Social Media Day to #FundMFP. Urge your Senators to Co-Sponsor the EMPOWER Care Act to extend the Money Follows the Person program immediately.

 

Other Actions

 

Background

MFP Enhances Opportunities to Live Independently and Age with Dignity

Medicaid requires states to provide care in nursing homes, but makes home and community-based services (HCBS) optional. MFP better re-balances Medicaid by providing grants to states to cover transitional services for individuals who wish to leave nursing homes or other institutions. Thanks to MFP, over 75,000 individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities and seniors have been able to transition from institutions back into the community since 2015.

 

MFP Rebalancing Demonstration is a Success Story – Improves Quality of Life

At the end of 2015, more than 43 states and the District of Columbia were participating in the MFP demonstration. As part of an evaluation provided to Congress in a 2017 report, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded that there is strong evidence beneficiaries’ quality of life improves when they transition from institutional to community-based long-term services and supports (LTSS). MFP participants experienced increases across all seven quality-of-life domains measured, and the improvements were largely sustained after two years.

 

States Save with Money Follows the Person

Providing LTSS in the home is more cost effective than institutional care because, among other reasons, it eliminates the need for Medicaid to cover the cost of room and board in a nursing home. On average, per-beneficiary per-month expenditures for those participating in the re-balancing demonstration declined by $1,840 (23 percent) during the first year of transition from a nursing home to home and community-based LTSS, saving $978 million. CMS also found that MFP participants are less likely to be readmitted to institutional care than other beneficiaries who transition but do not participate in the program.

 

The Time is Now: Money Follows the Person Expired in September 2016

Unfortunately, the MFP program expired over a year ago. States can continue to use their remaining grant funding through 2020, but that is not enough to maintain the program at current levels, and certainly will not allow states to expand the number of participants. Overall, states have had to scale back plans submitted to CMS by approximately 40%. This means fewer individuals will be able to transition out of institutional settings into the care setting of their choice. The EMPOWER Care Act solves that problem by reauthorizing the program through 2022.

 

The EMPOWER Care Act Makes Improvements to the Program

S. 2227, the EMPOWER Care Act, improves the MFP program by reducing the number of days someone must be in a nursing home before becoming eligible to transition from 90 to 60 (evidence shows that the longer someone remains in a nursing home, the harder it can be to transition out). The legislation also enhances the reporting and accountability of MFP funding and requires the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a best practices evaluation that covers the most effective state strategies for transitioning beneficiaries from institutional to qualified community settings and how such strategies may vary for different types of beneficiaries.

 

Conclusion: Ask your Members of Congress to Sponsor the EMPOWER Care Act Today!

 

* * *

This action alert was developed with content provided by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD).

Action Alert! The Disability Integration Act has been Introduced in the US Senate and House

May 24, 2017

About a month after Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) re-introduced the Disability Integration Act (DIA) of 2017 (S. 910) in the US Senate, Representative James F. Sensenbrenner (R-WI-5) introduced the US House of Representatives version (H.R. 2472). If passed into law, the DIA will require states to provide people with disabilities with the opportunity of living and participating in the community without discrimination through the strengthened use of long-term services and supports, such as personal care assistants, accessible housing, etc. as an effort to end institutionalization for people with disabilities.

The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. As the Committee reviews the legislation, it is essential that we as a community reach out to Members of Congress to inform them of the importance of the inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of society as well as to encourage them to support the DIA  and become a co-sponsor.

View the American Sign Language (ASL) version of this Action Alert.

 

Current Senate Co-Sponsors

  • Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) [Sponsor]
  • Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA)
  • Sen. Warren, Elizabeth (D-MA)
  • Sen. Baldwin, Tammy (D-WI)
  • Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)

 

Current House Co-Sponsors

  • Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner (R-WI-5) [Sponsor]
  • Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. (D-MI-13)
  • Rep. Slaughter, Louise McIntosh (D-NY-25)
  • Rep. Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC-At Large)
  • Rep. Tonko, Paul (D-NY-20)
  • Rep. Blunt Rochester, Lisa (D-DE-At Large)
  • Rep. Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch (D-MD-2)
  • Rep. Lieu, Ted (D-CA-33)
  • Rep. Cohen, Steve (D-TN-9)
  • Rep. Jackson Lee, Sheila (D-TX-18)
  • Rep. DeGette, Diana (D-CO-1)
  • Rep. Clay, Wm. Lacy (D-MO-1)
  • Rep. Moore, Gwen (D-WI-4)
  • Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. (D-OR-4)
  • Rep. O’Rourke, Beto (D-TX-16)
  • Rep. Davis, Danny K. (D-IL-7)
  • Rep. Doggett, Lloyd (D-TX-35)
  • Rep. Brady, Robert A. (D-PA-1)

 

Take Action

Participate in town halls or other events

You can find public events for Members of Congress all across the country thanks to the Town Hall Project. Make sure that the DIA and the importance of community inclusion for people with disabilities are raised during these events. Sharing personal community inclusion stories can be particularly impactful.

 

Contact your Senators and Representative

Contacting Congress allows you to easily search for your Member of Congress and access multiple methods to contact them (phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

Call your Senators and Representative through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Despite multiple methods of communications, congressional offices respond best to in-person meetings and phone calls.

Tweet your Senator

Tweet your Representative

Sample Tweet:

[insert handle of your Senator/Representative] please support the Disability Integration Act & the right for people w/ disabilities to live in their community! #DIAToday

 

Additional Resources

Information and Resources on Disability Integration Act of 2017
This website provides useful information and resources on how to show support for the DIA and take action.

 

Our Sponsors

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