Honor promise to disabled

The Brownback administration promised that privatizing the long-term care of Kansans with disabilities would improve service. But parents who spoke at a forum last week say care is worse.

State lawmakers and federal officials need to follow up on these reports and, if they are accurate, demand immediate changes.

Parents of Kansans with severe disabilities begged the Brownback administration not to privatize long-term care. They wanted to keep the previous partnership between state and local governments and service providers, and they didn’t trust for-profit insurance companies to look out for the best interests of their sons and daughters.

But the administration insisted that it knew best, and promised that care and outcomes would improve.

At a forum in Topeka Tuesday hosted by the National Council on Disability, parents described having to fight to prevent significant reductions in care and being bullied by care coordinators.

Johne Green, whose daughter has a brain injury, said she had to hire an attorney and threaten lawsuits to prevent service cuts.

Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, has a son who has a traumatic brain injury. Their care coordinator has a caseload of more than 100 people.

“It’s not the same level of care,” he said. “The services just are not the same and those services are desperately needed.”

Rosie Cooper, executive director of the Kansas Association of Centers for Independent Living, said parents who have objected to service reductions have been told their service hours would be cut more if they appealed. She said one family was warned not to testify at the forum.

“Their care coordinator said, ‘If you testify, I will cut all of your hours,’” Cooper said. “And it scared them to death.”

Kari Bruffett, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, spoke in support of privatization. She cited a 27 percent drop in emergency room visits for people with disabilities who receive home- and community-based services.

Bruffett also pointed to a reduction in the number of disabled Kansans on the waiting list for services. But Nichols countered that the number of people receiving services has plummeted, which he blamed in part on all the bureaucratic hurdles.

“It just seems to be this constant battle to get what you’re entitled to,” Nichols said. “There is a lot of battle fatigue.”

Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, who led an unsuccessful legislative fight to prevent the privatization of long-term care, said the complaints voiced at the forum are not isolated incidents. He has heard similar concerns from area parents and service providers.

KDADS officials say they are looking into the complaints, including the claims of being threatened. But state lawmakers and federal Medicaid officials also need to investigate and make sure the state is honoring its promises.

For the editorial board, Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published July 11, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Honor promise to disabled."