ARTICLE
Every year, INARF staff travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with our Federal Congressional Delegation. The trip usually coincides with an ANCOR Conference. This year, INARF hosted our own DC Fly-in with members of the INARF Executive Committee. Rick Adams, Jim Allbaugh, Randy Hall, and Allison Wharry accompanied Steve Cook, Katy Stafford-Cunningham, Sarah Chestnut, and Grant Waggoner to D.C. and met with ten of the eleven Federal elected officials and their staff. Many of the meetings included the Senators or members of Congress themselves. The INARF group met with: • Senator Mike Braun and staff • Senator Todd Young and staff • Congresswoman Jackie Walorski and staff • Congressman Jim Banks and staff • Congressman Andre Carson and staff • Congressman Greg Pence’s staff • Congresswoman Susan Brooks and staff • Congressman Larry Bucshon and staff • Congressman Trey Hollingsworth and staff • Congressman Jim Baird’s staff Each meeting began with an overview of the data relative to incidence of IDD and spend on Medicaid services in their district. INARF then focused on four main topics for updates and discussion: • Medicaid Block Granting • DSP Crisis • EVV Implementation • 14C Certificates A copy of the talking points are here. Each topic came with an “ask” and all asks were met with interest. We heard from multiple offices that Medicaid Block Granting was not being discussed and were pleased to know that was not a likelihood for our industry. Although the Congressional offices have heard from many industries about their workforce crisis, the Executive Committee was able to articulate that our workforce ensures the health and safety of people with disabilities and link workforce issues with low Medicaid reimbursement, which was very impactful. Multiple offices acknowledged the additional administrative burden and unfunded costs EVV is imposing on providers and were pleased that Indiana is requesting a good faith effort exemption to delay full implementation to January 1, 2021. Regarding 14c certificates, several offices expressed their opposition to eliminating 14c certificates as an employment option for people with disabilities. In follow-up to our meetings, INARF staff will be drafting a letter of support to be circulated to the entire delegation urging the Bureau of Labor Statistics to create a new Standardized Occupational Classification for DSPs. By doing this, our industry’s vital employees will no longer be lumped in with CNAs and Home Health Aides that do not have similar job responsibilities, allowing more accurate data collection on wages, number of positions needed, and number of positions open in Indiana. This is a small, but important step forward, with little fiscal impact, which can make a big difference. We hope to make DC Fly-ins an annual event in order to provide many more opportunities for Members to grow their relationships with their federal legislators and grow the legislators’ knowledge of and engagement in our industry.