Attendant care fixes in limbo as session enters final days
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Top negotiators in the Indiana Legislature on Wednesday said they still expect a fix for a troubled Medicaid program but they don’t know what shape it will take.
The Family and Social Services Administration’s proposed cuts to the attendant care program, announced in response to a projected budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion, have overshadowed the entire 2024 legislative session. Families with medically complex children have protested weekly at the Statehouse since late January, demanding the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) find a way to keep the program going beyond June 30.
FSSA officials have said they plan to switch families to the structured family caregiving program. Instead of reimbursing provider agencies at a rate of $34.36 per hour, agencies would be paid between $77.54 and $133.44 per day, with a certain amount being passed on to families. Families have told News 8 that is not nearly enough to cover the costs of providing round-the-clock care.
Late last week, state lawmakers floated a proposal that would require at least 80% of structured family caregiving reimbursements to go to families. FSSA would have to verify a person’s need before approving attendant care reimbursement. In addition, the state Medicaid oversight committee would add members who are Medicaid providers. That language was tacked on to Senate Bill 256, which had been a catch-all bill dealing with fiscal matters.
On Wednesday morning, Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, who chairs the legislative conference committee to which SB 256 was assigned, announced the bill had too many unrelated provisions and it will have to be pared down. He said he expected to divide up the language of SB 256 between it and a pair of House bills. Those negotiations will take place behind closed doors.
Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, who is currently one of the four negotiators assigned to the committee, said there is a good chance most of the fixes lawmakers agreed upon earlier will survive, possibly as amendments to other bills.
“In talking to Mishler and (Rep. Jeff) Thompson, they are going to allow leadership to look at that 80% provision and try to see whatever does not get into SB 256 will go over into maybe House Bill 1121,” he said. “So it’s not totally dead but we may have to find other homes.”
The offices of Mishler and Thompson, who are the two Republican negotiators, said they were not available for further comment on the negotiations.
The conference committee stage is the final step in the legislative process, in which House and Senate negotiators agree on a single set of language for a given piece of legislation. Once lawmakers agree on the bill, it has to go back to both chambers for a final up-or-down floor vote. Lawmakers have indicated they plan to wrap up the legislative session on Friday.