Another Battle

Sigh. I'm glad we all enjoyed our Show Low retreat because we're in for another EI fight yet again. I haven't been blogging about it here since I started my EI in AZ blog but I know not everyone reads over there (and truthfully I haven't updated it very much lately). The wonderful state of Arizona has decided that because they are more or less broke the families need to start paying a percentage of the cost of their services. Starting on March 1, '10 to be billed at the end of March. That's right. Less than 2 months. The letters went out to families last week, although we still haven't heard anything official as providers. Now I know in some states there is a co-pay or sliding scale system for EI services but up until now services in AZ have been provided free to families, which has meant that any child who needed services received whatever he or she needed. DDD (Department of Developmental Disabilities) picked up whatever costs weren't covered by insurance. Under this new plan the sliding scale will start at 200% of the federal poverty level (which is quite low), and has families paying 15% of the cost if they are above that line. The percentage that the family is expected to pay increases as the family's income goes up, all the way to families picking up 100% of the costs (for a family of 4 making more than $12,423/month). Unfortunately it doesn't make allowances for other debts or health-related expenses such as health insurance. The letter states that families are allowed to apply for a hardship waiver, but I don't know what the chances would be of them actually receiving one.
Unfortunately, this means that kids who need services will be forced to pick and choose or to go without services because their families can't afford to pay (sometimes due to other medical/insurance bills that the kids have). One of my friends whose child receives services is looking at nearly $1000/month in medical expenses between health insurance premiums and their portion of the cost participation.
You might or might not remember that it was around this time last year that the DDD moved to shut down the Early Intervention program entirely and stop nearly all services for families. An advocacy organization managed to get a court order to stop that from happening, but things have been shaky since then. I'm a bit worried that this cost participation plan might hold, since it IS legal. Part C of IDEA says that states are allowed to charge families for certain EI services such as therapies and evaluations. As usual though they are trying to do too much and start it way too soon.
Truly, if you live in Arizona and this issue matters to you, call or e-mail your state legislators and tell them to find other places to cut the budget instead of taking money from kids.