The Messenger
A Newsletter From The Arc Dane County
Supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for over 65 years


February 16, 2017 

Let's stop "tolerating" or "accepting" difference, as if we're so much better for not being different in the first place. 
Instead, let's celebrate difference, because in this world
it takes a lot of guts to be different.

~Kate Bornstein
 
Headlining Events
Family Care/IRIS Transition Learning Series - 
Will I keep my support (or get additional assistance)?
Learn how rate setting works and get tips to make sure you get the supports you need in Family Care/IRIS.

Monday, February 20 from 6:30pm-8:30pm
Alliant Energy Center - Exhibition Hall (Free Parking) 
Pre-session: 5:45-6:15 
If you have not attended a previous Family Care/IRIS event or just want a review please attend the pre-session. 

RSVP to  

Save the date for our next FC/IRIS learning event on April 17, 2017

The Arc 2017 Spring Ball
Get your dancing shoes ready for this year's Spring Ball.  We will be dancing the afternoon away at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor's Club on Sunday April 30th from 2pm - 5pm.  We hope you can join us for a fun  afternoon of dancing, friends and celebrating the spring season. 

Tickets are available on a first come first serve basis.  Don't wait to get yours, they sell out fast!  Ticket Request Forms are due on or before April 10th. 
PACE Forum Will Be Rescheduled
Please note that the PACE Forum originally scheduled for February 21st has been cancelled.  Because the content is so important (Financial Planning for Families with Children under 18), this meeting will be rescheduled for a future date.  The Arc Dane County will send out information as soon as we have a new date.
Governor Scott Walker's biennial budget proposes work requirements for childless adults enrolled in BadgerCare
The Governor's proposed budget would provide $9.9 million GPR over the 2017-'19 biennium, matched by the same amount of federal dollars, to refer 49,200 childless adults in Medicaid to job training and employment assistance services.
 
For those who are disabled and not working perhaps the state would have more of a vested interest in helping them get employment. We just don't know at this juncture. What the impact will be ..
they're requiring able-bodied childless adults who are unemployed or underemployed to participate.
 
"As the Governor said, we will help our fellow citizen when they are down and out, but public assistance should be a trampoline, not a hammock. "
 
Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, predicted that the proposal would "significantly reduce BadgerCare participation," resulting in an increase in the state's uninsured rate and uncompensated care. He cited the state's experience with a similar requirement for able-bodied childless adults in the FoodShare program.
 
A Department of Health Services report released last year found that 11,971 people found jobs, while 41,149 lost FoodShare benefits after not meeting the requirement between July 2015 and March 2016. 
 
"In the long run, we think restricting BadgerCare participation and impeding access to healthcare could actually reduce workforce participation, rather than boost it," he wrote in an email. "We are especially concerned that this change could undermine our state's efforts to improve access to drug treatment."
 
Walker calls for $279.4 million more GPR into Medicaid
 
Governor Scott Walker's budget would put an additional $279.4 million in general purpose revenue into Medicaid next biennium, a lower amount than the Department of Health Services requested last year. 
 
DHS in its budget request last fall asked for an additional $452.6 million GPR for Medicaid. Walker's budget, released last week, attributed the lower request to re-estimates of enrollment, service utilization and inflation.
In This Issue
The Arc Dane County Events
The Arc National Events
The Arc Dane County | (608) 833-1199
6602 Grand Teton Plaza | Madison, WI 53719