Hello all:

OPRA is pleased to announce that an agreement with the Department of Developmental Disabilities has been reached on the ICF provisions in the state budget (HB 64). As you know the budget as introduced included a number of provisions of particular challenge to ICF providers. OPRA, in concert with other stakeholders , has spent significant time and effort in negotiation with Director Martin and his staff working on an agreement. We believe the final agreement either eliminates or mitigates the most onerous of the introduced penalties but still holds community ICFs accountable for meeting the formerly agreed upon conversions or downsizing.

We want to thank the Department of Developmental Disabilities for their willingness to negotiate on issues of importance to us. We also want to acknowledge and thank members of the Ohio House of Representatives, particularly those on the House Finance Subcommittee on Human Services who took such a keen interest in this issue. This agreement is in no small measure due to their interest and involvement.

Finally we appreciate the patience and understanding of all of our members as we worked through this challenging issue. And for those of you who have committed significant time, effort and expertise in guiding us to this resolution we say to you again: We would not be here without you!

Attached is the letter co-signed by the Director and stakeholders representatives to the Finance Chairs of the House and Senate announcing the agreement. Also attached is the proposed amendment language that contains all the agreed upon changes. Keep in mind that if one intends to decipher the amendment they will need to compare it the budget bill as introduced (HB 64). It can be found on the Ohio Legislative Services Commission web-site. For an easier understanding I will send a summary comparison document out shortly.

Thank you again and best wishes for a wonderful weekend.

Jeff (Davis)

This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain private, confidential and/or privileged information, such as HIPAA Protected Health Information. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender via telephone at 614-224-6772 or by return e-mail. Thank you.

Este mensaje de correo electrónico, incluidos los archivos adjuntos, es para uso exclusivo del destinatario (s) y puede contener información privada, confidencial y / o privilegiados, tales como HIPAA información de salud protegida. Si no es el destinatario, tenga en cuenta que cualquier uso no autorizado, revelación, copia, distribución o la toma de cualquier acción basada en el contenido de esta información está estrictamente prohibida. Si usted ha recibido este mensaje por error, por favor notifique inmediatamente al remitente por teléfono al 614-224-6772 o por correo electrónico de respuesta. Gracias. You are receiving this important information as a member service of the Ohio Provider Resource Association. Unless messages and/or replies are specifically directed, each posting/response is sent to the entire group. This group is open only to OPRA members, a large and diverse body. The views of individual list serve users do not necessarily reflect the view of the OPRA Board or Staff. To send a message to this list serve, please use the reply button. To reply only to the original sender, please respond to the email listed after "on behalf of" in the FROM line of the message header. Thank you.