HUMAN SERVICE PROVIDERS SUE STATE OVER RATE LAW IMPLEMENTATION By Matt Murphy STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 23, 2014…. A coalition of human and social service providers, who have at times been key allies and supporters of the governor, have sued the Patrick administration for failure to implement a 2008 law designed to update payment rates for providers of rehabilitation, education, and workforce training services for the first time in almost 30 years. The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in late June, seeks to compel the administration to complete its process of setting new contract rates for services as required under a law known on Beacon Hill as Chapter 257. The lawsuit was filed by the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium and the Children’s League of Massachusetts. “It was not a step we took lightly but we feel like we’ve been very, very patient. We tried to work with the Commonwealth,” said Vic DiGravio, president of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare The 2008 law was an attempt by the Legislature and Patrick to implement the first statewide adjustment to human service provider rates since 1987. The law, at the request of the administration, gave the Executive Office of Health and Human Services four years to phase in the new rates in connection with an estimated $2.2 billion in contracted services. In 2012, the Patrick administration went back to the providers and asked for an additional two years to complete the process, which the provider groups agreed to and the Legislature amended the law to reflect the new timeline. According to the lawsuit filed on June 30, the Patrick administration has failed to meet the new benchmarks. As of January 1, 2014, the groups say the administration has set new rates for just 68 percent of the contracted services and has failed to begin paying $52.1 million of the rates set at the beginning of the year. The result, according to the plaintiffs, is that providers can’t keep up with the rising costs of heat, rent and fuel, resulting in lower paid staff and high staff turnover that can impact the quality of services being provided. The Executive Office Health and Human Services says that additional funding included in the fiscal 2015 budget and efforts over the remaining six months of the year will result in the near completion of the rate-setting process. “The Patrick Administration is dedicated to fulfilling our commitment to human service providers in collaboration with our partners in the provider community and the Legislature. This comprehensive effort has led to positive results, and we continue to make progress setting reasonable and adequate rates, which will be 90 percent complete by the end of this year,” spokesman Alec Loftus said in a statement to the News Service. The administration claims that to date $1.68 billion, or over 75 percent of the $2.2 billion purchased services, have been brought under new rates, and the fiscal 2015 budget dedicated $203 million to Chapter 257, including $153 million for rate increases. The final budget approved by the Legislature included $10 million less than originally requested by Patrick for rate increases due to take effect in fiscal 2015. Providers groups met twice with the Patrick administration in June to discuss the situation before filing the lawsuit. Those involved in the talks included Gary Blumenthal from the Association of Development Disabilities Providers; Erin Bradley from the Children’s League, DiGravio, Mary Ann Mulligan, of the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium, and Michael Weekes, from the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. After the first meeting, Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz and Administration and Finance Secretary Glen Shor acknowledged in a memo dated June 11 that the original and extended timelines were “more aspirational than attainable.” In an attempt to avert legal action, the administration committed to setting rates for 90 percent of contracted services by Jan. 7, 2015 and to initiate projects that would make it easier for the next administration to complete another 5 percent of the rate by June 30 of next year. “We really wanted to partner with them as much as possible, but in the end it wasn’t enough,” DiGravio said. “At this point, we’ve been as patient as we can be and the law is the law and we want the Commonwealth to abide by the law. Every day that full implementation is delayed, the imbalance and the unfairness grows.” He continued, “In many ways, we’ve had a very positive relationship with Gov. Patrick and his administration, but we’re very frustrated by this. There was great hope and promise and some of that promise has been achieved, but there always seems to be some other priority as opposed to fully implementing this law.” The administration in 2007 released a report originally commissioned by former Gov. Mitt Romney that detailed the financial constraints faced by human service providers, including the fact that 60 percent of the state’s 1,100 providers had less than 30 days of cash on hand. A new report finalized in April by DMA Health Strategies for the Patrick administration updated that 2007 study in the post-recession economy and found that 50 percent of providers do not receive sufficient revenues from the state to cover the cost of providing services and operate at a deficit in Massachusetts. “The financial health of many Massachusetts Human Service providers in 2010-2012 remains poor,” the report’s authors concluded. While DiGravio said he and other plaintiffs have spoken with several of the candidates running for governor about their desire to urgently finish the rate-setting process, the coalition behind the lawsuit doesn’t want to wait to see who occupies the Corner Office come January. The lawsuit does not seek monetary relief, but rather a judgment from the court that the administration is in violation of statute and a court order that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services set and pay rates “as of the dates required by Chapter 257.” “We would like a judgment that the law is the law,” DiGravio said. “The important thing is that the precedent be established so the incoming administration understands coming in that the law is the law. We don’t want to have to start from scratch with a new administration.” -END- 07/23/2014
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 21:47:39 +0000
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