DEAR COLLEAGUE: Medicaid Community Attendant Service and Supports Act (MiCASSA), rights for individuals with disabilities

September 15, 2003

JOIN OVER 70 OF YOUR COLLEAGUES 
Honor the ADA and the Olmstead Decision by supporting MiCASSA:

A Choice for Individuals with Disabilities

Dear Colleague:

Please join us as a co-sponsor of the Medicaid Community Attendant Service and Supports Act (MiCASSA), a long-awaited legislation that brings our Medicaid System into accord with the principles set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act. At present, Medicaid funding is biased against the financing of individual care in community and home-based settings. As a result, hundreds of thousands of disabled individuals who would prefer to receive care in more integrated settings are currently relegated to living in institutions.

We can do better. This bill will:

• Allow parents of children with development disabilities to obtain support while caring for their children at home, meaning that fewer disabled individuals will be forced into institutional settings;
• Provide community attendant services and supports, including activities of daily living (food preparation and eating, bating and toileting, grooming and dressing, shopping and finances) and health related functions. It will require that services be available in the most integrated wetting appropriate to the needs of the individual.
• Allow States to limit the aggregate amount spent on long-term care in a year to the amount that the State would have spent on institutional services for such eligible individuals during that year.

Numerous studies have indicated that home and community-based services are more cost-effective than institutionalized care and provide a higher degree of consumer satisfaction. It is time for us to give disabled individuals real alternatives. Please join us as a co-sponsor of this common-sense legislation. If you have any questions, please contact either Jennifer Luciano with Congressman Davis (x5-5006) or Mo Zilly with Congressman Shimkus (x5-5271).

Sincerely,

Danny K. Davis Member of Congress
John Shimkus Member of Congress

Jennifer Luciano
Legislative Assistant
Office of Congressman Danny K. Davis
1222 Longworth
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-5006
202-225-5641 (fax)