On June 29, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the state legislature finalized the state budget for fiscal year 2011. The budget contains a range of cuts to close an $11 billion deficit, including reduced funding for some services to people with disabilities, but offers some increases as well.
Among the budget’s provisions is a reduction in the hourly wage for Medicaid personal care assistants from $16.15 to $15.50. This was a smaller drop than in the original proposed budget, which called for a $13.8 million cut to that program and a new wage of $14.05.
The budget totals $29.38 billion, an 8.7 percent reduction from the fiscal year 2009 budget, which totaled $32.2 billion.
The budget contains an increase in funds for home and community based waivers to serve people in communities rather than institutional settings, and retains the benefits provided by Medicaid.
“We are moving towards the reduction in the number of institutional beds in the state of New Jersey as a result of the budget, and I think disability activists are very happy,” said Ditto, noting plans to reduce the number of beds at the Vineland Development Center.
Ditto’s organization serves as the first point of contact for people with disabilities to find services that enable them to live independently in the community rather than in institutions. This includes home and community based services.
“We have not eliminated any services from the state Medicaid program, which is very important. A lot of states have limited services or eligibility and neither happened. Some have instituted co-pays and that did not happen,” Ditto said about Medicaid funding.
But Ditto did point out a lack of new funds for the state division that supports more than 280 community agencies serving people with developmental disabilities.
“The Division of Developmental Disabilities, I’m afraid that while they did not suffer any severe cuts, they also did not receive any additional funding and that’s always an issue,” he said.
Gov. Christie praised the budget’s passage. “This budget addresses the most challenging fiscal crisis in recent history. From the beginning, I said we must confront our problems and challenges and no longer duck the difficult choices needed to restore fiscal order to Trenton,” Christie said in a statement.
“Today, I'm proud to say we have done exactly that - by reducing spending by nearly nine percent, demanding a higher level of efficiency and accountability across state government and protecting the most vulnerable New Jerseyans,” Christie said.
Ditto concluded that the budget overall was not as harsh as expected for people with disabilities.
“For the most part, the budget, although somewhat painful for everybody, I think people with disabilities fared relatively well when you look at the overall picture,” he said.
This article was published in the August 2010 issue of Able News.
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