Proposed Medicaid waiver changes would impact disability therapy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana officials are proposing changes to Medicaid waivers that would significantly cut therapy options for people with disabilities.
The move could impact multiple waivers, but two waivers are of special concern to therapy providers: Family Supports, and Community Integration and Habilitation.
“Does not meet the needs of the individuals,” Lori Schweyer, a recreation therapist and co-owner of New Leaf Recreation in Fort Wayne, said.
As a recreation therapist, she spends her days putting the “fun” in fundamental, helping people with disabilities.
“We use a recreational activity, like a game with Uno to work on some numbers, sportsmanship, behavior, color recognition, number recognition, patterns,” she said. “They have really good outcomes with our service, because of the tools and modalities that we use.”
Schweyer and her team spend hours with their patients. Advocates like her say some people using the waivers receive about 14 hours of therapy a week.
“Right now, budgets are open to individuals to choose the services that they want, and they’re able to choose how they would like to spend that budget,” Schweyer said. “So, if they would like more recreation therapy, to have that therapeutic skill-based service for community integration, they can do that.”
The cuts would cap music and recreational therapy services to six hours a month.
The state says it’s making the cuts because some of the hours are not being used for service, like the time it takes to travel to and from patients.
“These proposed caps would then would set hard limits that are not person-centered, that everybody would have to follow, and so it does not meet the needs of the individuals,” Schweyer said.
She worries it will vastly impact care.
“If somebody has a higher level of need and needs more of a skilled individual, a trained therapist, to assist them in the community, they should have access to more hours than someone that has, you know, maybe less of a need,” she said.
In addition to how the move could negatively impact care, Schweyer says fewer hours mean therapists will be forced to take on more for less.
“Therapists will either extend their work day well beyond full hours or take home less pay. That kind of pressure leads to burnout,” she said.
The state says it’s reviewing public comments before sending the proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be approved.
Schweyer wants the state to provide more accessible options for people with disabilities to make their voices heard.
“If the state wants to hear more from individuals, there should be opportunity to have face-to-face conversation with them, not written communication for feedback,” she said.
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