Managed Care and Supported Living?
Managed care is a term we've all become familiar with, but what will it
mean regarding long-term supports for people with developmental disabilities?
What will it mean for supported living services? No one knows for sure,
but we do know that we need to find out as much about it as we can so that
we can help influence policy and provide meaningful information to others.
The following is an excerpt from a policy statement developed by the Center
on Human Policy at Syracuse University which can be used as a value-base
from which to consider managed care proposals.
"WE, as representatives of associations or as individuals, endorse
the following principles if and when managed care is implemented:
- Managed care must not be used to limit the supports and services people
with developmental disabilities need to live successfully in the community.
- Managed care should discourage placement in congregate facilities and
encourage services that support people with developmental disabilities to
live in their own homes and to participate in the everyday life of their
communities as citizens, workers, and students.
- Managed care must be administered in a manner that permits decisions
regarding allowable services to be made in local communities and by people
knowledgeable about and chosen by the specific individuals to be served.
- Among the options available through managed care must be subsidies and
individual financing options that enable people with developmental disabilities
or their families to purchase services from either certified agencies, generic
service providers, or private individuals.
- People with developmental disabilities and their families must have
access to due process protections and responsive consumer safeguards to
challenge decisions regarding allowable services.
- Funding for services under managed care must be sufficient to support
people with the most intensive needs to live in the community.
- Cost savings realized through the more efficient administration of services
must be committed, first, to addressing unmet needs for long-term support
of people with developmental disabilities and their families.
- Managed care organizations must be evaluated by their interest in and
commitment to the communities they serve and their sensitivity to the racial
and cultural heritage of members of those communities.
- People with developmental disabilities, their family members, and advocates
must be involved in all planning and decision-making regarding the implementation
of managed care.
Proponents of managed care must demonstrate the benefits of this approach
in terms of accessibility, quality, and responsiveness of services and the
achievement of cost-containment goals."
Copies of the complete statement are available from the Center on Human
Policy, Syracuse University, 805 South Crouse Avenue,
Syracuse, NY 13244-2280.
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