COLORADO SPRINGS — Cuts to Medicaid benefits for hundreds of developmentally disabled people in Colorado take effect today, a move that will be devastating, caretakers and advocates say.
Annual payments for services such as transportation and work programs are being cut by at least half for about 700 Coloradans with developmental disabilities.
Others will lose a lesser percentage, but some stand to gain financial assistance, said Timothy Hall, deputy executive director for veterans and disability services for the Colorado Department of Human Services.
“There are a lot of difficult challenges now, including this one,” he said. “And while some people will receive more money, some will receive less, and it may be viewed as controversial.”
The change was set into motion by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, which required that Colorado’s reimbursement system be standardized after an audit found discrepancies in how Medicaid dollars were being spent.
“Nothing was consistent, and there were questions of how Medicaid dollars were being used for salaries. It was a complete disaster, according to CMS,” said Teddi Roberts, executive director of Arc of the Pikes Peak Region, which provides guardianship and advocacy services for the developmentally disabled and acts as a watchdog agency for them.
The state’s developmental-disabilities division created a new model that bases benefits on a person’s level of disability. The system also places limitations and caps on spending.
Previously, the amount had been individually negotiated between the agency providing the service and the agency coordinating services.
Read how the changes impact a Colorado Springs woman at .
