EQUIP FOR EQUALITY CALLS FOR ILLINOIS GOV QUINN TO AMENDATORILY VETO SB 26 - PROVISIONS OF THE SPECIALIZED MENTAL HEALTH REHABILITATION ACT OF 2013

EQUIP FOR EQUALITY CALLS FOR THE GOVERNOR TO AMENDATORILY VETO SB 26 BY REMOVING THE PROVISIONS OF THE SPECIALIZED MENTAL HEALTH REHABILITATION ACT OF 2013

Putting the Profits of IMDs Above the Needs and Interests of People with Disabilities is Unconscionable

The mental health community has been dealt yet another blow by legislative acquiescence to a wealthy and powerful constituency—the owners of Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMDs). With little time to spare, the IMDs quietly proposed an amendment to the widely vetted and widely supported Medicaid expansion bill, SB 26. The IMD amendment was secretly negotiated and then buried in a 600 page amendment filed just hours before it was heard in committee. The goal of the amendment was simple: to refill IMD beds vacated as a result of the Williams v. Quinn consent decree and enable IMD owners to continue to prosper. The means was to expand authorized IMD functions to include those in which these owners have no prior experience and no expertise, with as little oversight as they could get away with. Disability advocates—and ultimately legislators—were thus forced to choose between supporting Medicaid expansion—and thereby supporting expansion of the IMDs—or opposing expansion of the IMDs and likewise opposing the State’s expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. To so callously disregard—and put at risk—the needs and interests of people with disabilities in order to satisfy the special interests of the IMDs is unconscionable and should not be allowed to stand.

Preserving the IMDs Flies in the Face of the State’s Commitment to Rebalancing and May Subject the State to Further Litigation

At a time when the State has committed to rebalancing the system towards increased community-based mental health services—thus moving the State closer to compliance with the ADA and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision—it makes no sense to enact legislation that would allow the IMDs to expand their role and functions. IMDs are large outdated institutions where people with mental illness have been warehoused and languished for decades. Contrary to the goals of rebalancing, IMDs do not promote the independence and recovery of people with mental illness. They are about keeping clients and maintaining profits. In spite of this history, SB 26 authorizes IMDs to provide an array of services in which they have no expertise, in locations that do not reflect overall need and to do so in the same institutional settings that have failed people with mental illness in the past. Rather than pave the way for IMDs to refill the beds emptied by individuals who have transitioned into the community under the Williams consent decree, the State should focus on increasing the quality and availability of community mental health services in the settings and locations where they will be most effective. Enabling the IMDs to expand in this manner may not only undermine the State’s compliance with the Williams consent decree, it may also subject the State to new litigation under Olmstead.

Foregoing Assured Federal Match Funds for Community-Based Services in Order to Keep IMDs Open and Profitable is Fiscally Irresponsible

Currently, services provided in IMDs are not reimbursable under the Medicaid program, which means that these privately-owned institutions are completely state-funded. It is unknown whether the expanded services the IMDs propose to offer will affect their ineligibility to receive federal matching funds. Yet this change was made without review by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), much less assurances that HFS could, or would, seek approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). There is no question that the State is eligible to receive federal Medicaid reimbursement for mental health services provided in the community. There is also no question that services provided in the community are far more effective in treating people with mental illness. In this time of extreme fiscal crisis, the State must take full advantage of known avenues for receiving federal match funds, not gamble on an unknown and, given Illinois’ recent experience with seeking federal approval of changes to our Medicaid program, the unlikely possibility that the new IMD-provided services will be approved for a federal match.

The provisions of SB 26 to expand the IMDs are intended solely to serve the financial interests of the IMDs, not to address the pressing needs of people with mental illness. This is wrong. Moreover, the State of Illinois cannot afford the legal and financial risks posed by expanding the roles and authority of the IMDs.

We therefore STRONGLY URGE the Governor to amendatorily veto SB 26 by removing the provisions of the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013.
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To take action Contact Access Living: CLICK HERE

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PRESS RELEASE May 30, 2013
Access Living

CONTACT:
Kim Morreale
847-401-8564
kim@morrealepublicaffairs.co

Statement in Response to Federal Judge Issuing Temporary Restraining Order Preventing Residents from Transitioning into the Community and Out of State Institution

“Today’s ruling is disappointing and sends the wrong message about people with disabilities. While the judgment is temporary, it will continue to delay the integration into the community that hundreds of people with disabilities enjoy today. It is not acceptable to segregate people with disabilities by confining them to a state institution, in this case the Murray Developmental Center. We are confident that the judge will ultimately rule in favor of giving people with disabilities the opportunity to live in a neighborhood of choice.”

Going Home is an advocacy campaign dedicated to full inclusion and equality for people with disabilities. The group supports transitioning people from state institutions to a community of choice. Visit www.goinghomeillinois.org to meet people who have made successful transitions into he community and to learn more about the Going Home Campaign.

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