From The Executive Director Mary D. Lopez, PhD
In the last issue of Your Power, you learned about Virginia’s Olmstead Plan, based on a Supreme Court decision that requires that persons with disabilities be able to live in the most integrated setting possible and that states support them in this effort. This column provides information about Virginia’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) project. MFP is part of an effort to transform Virginia’s system of long-term supports for people living in their home communities.
Under Money Follows the Person, Virginia will provide supports to over 1,000 people who want to move out of nursing homes and back into the community. The grant will last for four years and the changes it brings about are expected to be lasting ones. Individuals who have lived in a nursing home, intermediate care facility for persons with intellectual disabilities or long-stay hospital for six months or more and continue to need long-term Medicaid support are eligible. Under MFP, up to $5,000 can be provided to cover an individual’s approved expenses to move out of a nursing home - expenses such as rent deposits, furniture, and moving companies. Transition coordinators will be available to help with management of the move. In addition, MFP adds money to Medicaid waivers to cover housing modifications and assistive technology.
Anyone who has an EDCD waiver will benefit from MFP, since these waivers will now also cover housing modifications and assistive technology. While the details of what will be covered haven’t been worked out yet, people on the EDCD waiver who need ramps, grab bars or stair lifts just may be looking at a new way of affording these necessities. MFP services are expected to start in Virginia in July. To find out more about Virginia’s MFP program, see http://www.olmsteadva.com/mfp or call Jane Burnette at our office. Thirty-one states have received grants for MFP projects. Other states that have implemented MFP grants include Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. For more information on the federal program support MFP, see www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/20_MFP.asp. For a look at how some other states are implementing their grants, look at the Money Follows the Person Tool Box at http://www.nashp.org/Files/MFP_tool_box_final.pdf (or again, call Jane Burnette).
From Spring 2008 Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 2
