NDIANAPOLIS — As the final minutes ticked by for the 2024 legislative session, legislators walked back previous proposals to tighten oversight of the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) and increase payments to families caring for disabled children.

Additionally, a priority Senate bill on reducing fines and fees easily passed both chambers.

Earlier in the week, a bill on state funds included several “accountability” reports for the agency, which reported a nearly $1 billion shortfall for the next 18 months of their operating budget.

But not everyone was happy with the final version, which passed the House unanimously.

“We really had an opportunity this session to make a large leap in helping those families. We’re leaving this session without addressing the needs of those needy families,” said Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis. “I will be supporting the bill because we’re doing some things. We’re really not doing enough but I guess a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.”

The bill had a tougher time in the Senate, where it passed on a 42-5 vote. The senators who spoke against the bill didn’t mention attendant care or FSSA oversight as an issue.

Background on attendant care, FSSA

In response to the $1 billion deficit, FSSA announced a series of cost-saving measures that included halting a 2% Medicaid index, or increase.

However, the House amendments on reporting and pass-through payments moved from Senate Bill 256 to House Bill 1120 in the waning hours after the Senate ruled that the additions weren’t germane to the underlying bill.

House Bill 1120 also makes several tweaks to property tax law, including language on deductions and assessments for certain classes of Hoosiers, such as veterans, among other provisions.

Rather than requiring that a specific percentage of funds be passed through to families, the bill now states that FSSA “shall” set a required minimum percentage of reimbursement for personal care services, which includes structured family caregiving and attendant care.

Previously, the House had passed language mandating that 80% of funds paid by FSSA go to families in response to reports of caregivers receiving less than half of attendant care funds.

“I know in the House-passed version … we had 80%. I can tell you right now, (that’s) probably not workable,” Thompson told members of the rules committee.”My guess is in the 50 to 70 (percent) — taking a ballpark guess — of where it would fall.”

Additionally, the agency must prepare and present a plan for monitoring Medicaid expenses to the Medicaid Oversight Committee and not the State Budget Committee. That report must include: monitoring plans, plans to improve transparency for Medicaid expenditures and “an explanation of the issues that led to the deviations in the … Medicaid projections” along with planned improvements.

Lastly, FSSA must include “information concerning the transition” from attendant care to structured family caregiving — a weaker requirement than previously introduced by House Republicans.

In a statement, Rep. Ed Delaney called the cutting of enhanced reporting standards previously in Senate Bill 256 a “cover up.”

“When the Republican administration makes a billion-dollar mistake, the Republican legislature has choices to make. They can try to get to the root of it and hold people accountable, or they can try to bury the issue. They can make sure that families with seriously disabled children are protected from this error, or they can let the poorest among us suffer,” the Indianapolis Democrat said. “… Hoosier taxpayers deserve to know what exactly happened to their hard-earned money. It is telling that provisions to increase fiscal transparency were removed behind closed doors during the least transparent part of the legislative process.”

Other action on SB4

Lawmakers additionally approved Senate Bill 4, a priority for Senate Republicans. The bill would establish a review of unused state government funds and allow agencies to cut fines or fees through an internal process — rather than requiring an appearance before the State Budget Committee.

Rules with a fiscal impact of more than $1 million are subject to additional scrutiny and requirements under the final version of the bill — entirely new language that Democrats noted hadn’t been mentioned in a brief conference committee earlier this week.

“It is really now this session’s poster child for a failing conference committee session,” Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said. “What is the point of having these meetings? How are you supposed to understand as a member of the public — as a fellow member of this body — what are the issues at stake within Senate Bill 4?”

“And so now we have a bill adding in all this stuff that never got a hearing or discussion in the house (and) adding in some new bureaucracy. So now the agencies have to jump through yet another hoop when they’re attempting to do something,” Pierce continued.

Pierce and two dozen of his Democrat colleagues voted against the bill, which cleared the chamber on a 68-25 vote. The bill faced no opposition in the Senate and moved on a 46-0 vote.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

The post Attendant care, FSSA oversight weakened in final hours of session appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — A funding crisis looming in Indianapolis was front and center in Warsaw late Friday afternoon.

More than dozen families of critically disabled children who need 24/7 care converged on Warsaw Friday to meet with Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch to express their concerns over a $1 billion shortfall that has led a state agency considering the idea of slashing a program that pays parents to care for their children — known as attendant care.

Parents learned earlier this month of a plan by Indiana Family and Social Services Agency to eliminate an attendant care program that pays parents to provide care for the children under the age of 18 – a program established in 2017 that they were led to believe would be permanent.

Major changes to the program are set to take effect July 31 and parents are calling on lawmakers to intervene.

They have started a petition and are hosting rallies each Monday for the next few weeks.

A group of parents have begun networking and have 15,000 signatures on a petition to at lease pause the change until it can be more closely examined.

For many of the adults, Friday's meeting was the first chance to meet each other face-to-face.

Some of the parents brought their children to the meeting in expansive mobile chairs.

Parents contend they have quit their jobs to take on the responsibility and that the shortage of specially trained nurses and the lack of space at two institutions designed for children that could care for the children leave them with very few options.

"That's why I drove two hours to get here," said Olivia Ruzic, a parent who lives in Indianapolis. "When I say there are Hoosier children who are going to die, that's not an exaggeration."

Crouch met with the parents and heard an earful while at the American Legion Post 49. She listened and took notes for nearly 45 minutes.

She was asked if the unexpected change in policy represents a crisis.

"For these families, for these children, yes it's a matter of some urgency," she said in a phone call Saturday morning.

A former state lawmaker,  Crouch did not rule out the chance the state legislature could take up the issue in some way during its current session.

"I think the short-term solution, at least for the parents, is that it be paused and let's look at the big picture and let's really figure out how we can arrive at a solution that is not harmful to the children and the families," Crouch said.

Crouch had originally planned to host a meeting with veterans at the American Legion and added time to sit with the parents after they reached out to her.

They sought her out, in part because of her role in state government but also because she chairs the state’s intellectual and developmental disability task force.

Crouch was also joined by State Sen. Ryan Mishler who was there to visit veterans and also met with parents who have been part of the state's attendant care program.

Mishler chairs the Senate Appropirations Committee, which oversees nearly all spending in state dollars.

He declined comment on the issue until he reviews some of the finances.

The 2017 legislation that opened the door for the program was intended to be permanent, according to parents. You can learn more about the program here.

You can also learn more at this change.org page.

The post Parents with critically ill disabled children seek to halt FSSA changes in attendant care appeared first on News Now Warsaw.