Medicaid Managed Care - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

26
MANAGED CARE AND LONG TERM
T h e SUPPORTS AND SERVICES
/ , " _ Adopted by the Delegate Body
fIc lThe
_ s
Arc National Convention
~~~~~~~~~~Louisville,
Kentucky
November 16j 1996
WHEREAS, 2.8 million Americans with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities
depend upon long term supports live and participate in their community, and
WHEREAS, long term supports are defined as needing assistance in either activities of daily
living (ADt;s) or instrumental activities of daily living (lADLs), and
WHEREAS, the average costs of community based supports per individual are lower than
yearly costs for institutional care, and
WHEREAS, The Arc firmly believes that institutional care is no longer necessary or appropriate
for anyone, regardless of the type or severity of a person's disabilities and
WHEREAS, nationwide federal and state governments are concerned about the rapidly rising
costs of long term supports, and managed care is being considered in some states as a
methodology to contain the rising costs of long term supports, and
WHEREAS, managed care has only been broadly applied in the areas of primary and acute care
as a possible method of cost containment, and --
WHEREAS, there is very little experience with managed care and people with disabilities, and
most states utilizing managed care have yet to include people with mental retardation and other
developmental disabilities in their systems, and
WHEREAS, data demonstrate that in those few states which have included people with
disabilities in their managed care programs, the involved consumers have-faced major -difficulties,
and
WHEREAS, there has been ample criticism of existing primary and acute care managed care
services and systems, and
WHEREAS, there has been increased public discomfort with managed care due to loss of
choice and consumer control, the inability to access necessary services, and the growing
appearance of excess profits in an industry that generally measures effectiveness based on cost
not quality, therefore