SRS /CDDO Contract Negotiations

by: Stephanie Wilson

The division of Health Care Policy/Community Supports & Services ( HCP/ CSS) within SRS, and the 27 CDDOs began, at the end of May, negotiating the contract for developmental disability services.   The SRS/CDDO contract includes funding for CDDO administration, discretionary funds to be utilized by the CDDOs, funding for services for adults and children who are developmentally disabled but not Medicaid eligible, funding for targeted case management and HCBS/MRDD waiver funds.   The total statewide contract amount is approximately $240 million.   As Administrator of Governmental Relations, I have attended all of the contract negotiation sessions, to work with the seven CDDOs with whom CLO is affiliated with, on issues within the contract that will affect CLO in the upcoming fiscal year.

The contract includes Performance Expectations of the CDDOs, including the following:

• Reporting how they utilize CDDO administration funds,
• Reporting how they utilize State Aid discretionary funds
• Reporting how many persons are waiting for services in the CDDO area, and how long it takes to serve a person who receives funding,  
• Arranging, in conjunction with local providers, services to persons from institutions who wish to receive community-based services within the CDDO area,  
• Selecting, in conjunction with the local Council of Community Members one capacity building issue to work on within the CDDO area during the contract period, and;
• Managing the local allocation of state funding, and state and federal Medicaid HCBS/MRDD waiver funding.

The CDDOs and SRS continue to work on refining two major contract provisions.   The first, is how to manage the waiting list for services, referred to as the “Service Access List.”   The CDDOs and SRS have discussed whether to manage it on a statewide or local basis, and how to allocate the available funds to serve new persons.   The second refinement being addressed is how to fund case management, both this year and in the future.   Targeted case management is an entitlement service and therefore persons who are eligible, and need the service, must receive it.   Available funding for this service has continued to dwindle as more persons continue to access the service.   SRS and the CDDOs are beginning to look at the option of putting this service into the Medicaid Consensus Caseload Estimating Process.   This would mean taking Targeted Case Management out of the Community Supports & Services budget within SRS, and placing it in the overall Medicaid budget.    The benefit of the Consensus Caseload process is that two “snapshots” of the statewide utilization of case management would be taken each year, for the purpose of projecting future caseload growth and cost.   The Governor’s office and legislature utilize these numbers to plan funding for the following year’s budget.

The SRS/CDDO contract negotiations should be completed by the end of June, with the contract starting July 1, 2004.