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The draft of the 2018–2019 Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (CMHSBG) is now available for comment. This application was developed with stakeholder input from the Mental Health Planning Council; view/download the application here.

The application provides a review of the current strengths and needs in the Pennsylvania Mental Health System and plans priority areas for improvement.

Any comments or questions regarding the 2018–2019 CMHSBG may be directed to Wendy Tucker via email or phone at 717-705-8280. The comment period will close August 31.

In the interest of time, please feel free to submit comments to Wendy Tucker directly; however, we would be very interested in your input into the draft. Please copy Sarah Eyster or Robena Spangler with your comments. Thank you for your anticipated response to this opportunity.

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Governor Wolf announced that he has selected Teresa Miller, current Commissioner for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, to lead the Department of Human Services, effective Monday, August 21. Commissioner Miller’s leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the people of the Commonwealth have been evident during her tenure at Insurance, and the Governor’s Office is confident that she will lead DHS with those same characteristics and commitment. As Commissioner Miller joins DHS, Jessica Altman will begin serving at the helm of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.

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The Federal Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking comments from the public concerning the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions regulations. As you may recall, the Obama Administration wanted to increase the overtime threshold from $23,660 to $47,476. At the time, RCPA submitted comments to the Department of Labor objecting to the increase. RCPA also presented testimony in front of the Pennsylvania State Senate regarding the impact that the DOL’s Overtime Exemption Rule would have on health and human service providers in Pennsylvania.

Before the rule took effect, a federal judge issued an injunction halting the FLSA rule. The judge granted the injunction because the FLSA rule “exceeded its delegated authority and ignored Congress’ intent such that it supplants the duties test.” (The duties test refers to one of the conditions that determines which workers are exempt from overtime rules.)

You may submit comments on the Federal Register’s website. Questions, contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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Today, the Senate sent a package of five code bills back to the State House for their approval. Highlights of the codes bills are below:

Fiscal Code (House Bill 453)

The fiscal code directs how revenue is to be spent and contains local earmarks.

The fiscal code bill will:

  • Transfer $30.4 million from a settlement with Volkswagen to the General Fund. The Commonwealth will receive $30 million from Volkswagen as part of efforts to settle lawsuits stemming from the automaker’s diesel emissions-cheating scandal;
  • Require slot machine licenses issued this fiscal year be paid in full by June 30, 2018, thus generating an estimated $50 million for the General Fund;
  • Require repayment of an earlier $165 million transfer from the Workers’ Compensation Security Fund by July 1, 2019, thus easing General Fund costs this fiscal year;
  • Provide another $25 million for water and sewer projects awarded by the Commonwealth Financing Authority;
  • Authorize a $10 surcharge collected by the Unified Judicial System to be applied to traffic citations, thus generating $10 million for the system.

Additionally, the fiscal code directs spending for a host of community projects identified only as an unnamed education program or health care institution in a county or city with a specific population classification.

Human Services Code (House Bill 59)

The Senate Rules Committee removed a few of its Republican-crafted provisions, though most were left intact. The provisions removed from HB 59 include:

  • Eliminating a premium on disabled children and their families who receive Medical Assistance and have an annual income that exceeds 1000 percent of the federal poverty level;
  • Removing language that would have limited Medical Assistance recipients’ choices for managed care organizations. The House’s version would have required DHS to have a one-year, annual enrollment for medical assistance for an individual who is Medicaid-eligible, so the individual would stay on the MA/MCO plan for one year;
  • RCPA lobbied the Senate relentlessly to have the above provisions removed from HB 59.

The Senate left a provision in HB 59 that could potentially establish employment requirements for certain Medicaid recipients. The bill doesn’t inherently impose a work requirement on able-bodied Medicaid recipients, it would instead instruct the state’s Department of Human Services to seek waivers from the federal government to do so.

Administrative Code (House Bill 118)

The Administrative Code was the place where everyone was expecting the merger of the agencies to appear; however, the Administrative Code bill did not contain such language. Although the mergers are currently missing from the bill, there’s still plenty of time for them to be added.

The bill also:

  • Includes language to transfer $200 million from the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (PPLJUA) to the General Fund in Fiscal Year 2017-18;
  • Includes a proposal to transfer $200 million is to be transferred from the Pennsylvania Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (PPLJUA) to the General Fund. The PPLJUA is a non-profit association created by the state’s MCARE Act to offer medical liability insurance to health care providers.
  • Provides for several hikes in state fees to generate revenue. Some fee hikes include:
    • increasing the fee for a copy of a certified death record;
    • increasing various inspection and permit fees in the department of Labor and Industry;
    • increasing the fee for child welfare background checks from $10 to $13;
    • authorizing the Pennsylvania State Police to increase the fee for criminal background checks; and
    • setting fees on certain higher education institutions when they apply to operate in the state.
  • Extends the sunset date of the Municipal Recycling Fee to Jan. 1 2023 and repeal the transfer to the Solid Waste Abatement Fund;
  • Allows the Office of Attorney General to keep 25 percent of debt, taxes and accounts collected for the state up to $2.5 million per fiscal year;
  • Requires Department of Revenue employees who have access to federal tax information to provide a criminal history record and fingerprints;
  • Allows lawmakers on the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Board to designate staff to be their alternate on the board;
  • Requires the Department of Health to establish a detoxification program in licensed health care facilities;
  • Requires the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to study the feasibility of a state park in Wyoming County;
  • Extends the expiration date for permits issued to water treatment facilities that exclusively treat water from conventional oil and gas well operations;
  • Prohibits the closure of a correctional facility without a public hearing;
  • Establishes alternate contracting procedures for construction and renovation of certain county jails;
  • Exempts Living Independence for the Elderly (LIFE) programs from the Older Adults Daily Living Center licensing requirements; and
  • Sets the dispensing fees for the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) and PACE Needs Enhancement Tier (PACENET) at $10.49.

Public School Code (House Bill 178)

House Bill 178, approved by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday night, doesn’t include any reference to additional funding for the EITC, which could be a sticking point for the House Republican Caucus, which strongly favors additional dollars for the program.

Unlike the House’s bill, the Senate’s version also provides schools with the option to conduct security drills in lieu of fire drills and applies a new truancy law implemented last year to nonpublic schools beginning in the 2018-19 school year.

Tax Code Bill (House Bill 542)

 

The Senate approved a Tax Code bill containing $571 million in new or increased taxes, along with borrowing $1.3 billion. Those funds, along with a $200 million transfer of funds and $200 million from a gambling bill that has yet to be resolved, are directed at closing a $2.2 billion deficit projected for Fiscal Year 2017-18, $1.5 billion of which was rolled over from the recently completed 2016-17 fiscal year.

The proposed taxes include:

  • A severance tax that will be in addition to the state’s existing impact fee paid by unconventional natural gas well drillers, with that fee to remain unchanged. The added severance tax, which is a levy of two-cents-per-thousand-cubic-feet of natural gas (Mcf) extracted for 2017-18, would be applied to the same wells subject to the impact fee and is expected to generate an additional $100 million during the current fiscal year, with that revenue directed into the General Fund;
  • A Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on natural gas consumers, at 5.7 percent, meaning an additional $5.70 cents for every $100 a household spends on the natural gas they purchase. More than half of the state’s households use natural gas for home heating;
  • Increasing existing GRTs on electricity and telecommunications, from 5.9 percent to 6.5 percent for electricity, and from 5 percent to 6 percent for telecom bills. Combined, the planned GRT changes are estimated to deliver an additional $445.8 million in 2017-18;
  • Attempting to have third-party vendors, who sell items through Internet marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, remit Pennsylvania’s sales tax if they don’t currently do so. That idea could generate another $43.5 million;
  • Another $3 million in additional revenue is to be generated from taxing consumer fireworks (not those used by professional pyro-technicians license by the state) at a new 12 percent rate, which is in addition to the sales tax on such sales;
  • Another $200 million from some type of gaming expansion, but that bill will not be considered this week by the Senate;
  • Borrowing against the state’s expected Tobacco Settlement Fund payments. The planned bond, of up to $1.3 billion with no more than a 30-year repayment period, will have its borrowing costs either deducted from the more than $300 million the state receives each year from tobacco companies as part of the settlement, or from the General Fund; and

The bills above are now headed back to the House for their approval. It is yet to be determined if the House will return prior to their next scheduled Session date of Monday, September 11.

Questions contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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For Immediate Release

Delilah Rumburg, Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, announced that she will retire after 23 years at the helm of the longest-standing anti-sexual assault coalition in the country.

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RCPA, along with three other statewide associations, have joined together by drafting a letter to State Senators urging them to oppose House Bill 59 (HB 59). HB 59 negatively impacts Medicaid eligibility and benefits for consumers, specifically limiting the ability of health and human service providers to offer services to the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable population. Consumers and health and human service providers are concerned that HB 59 is on a fast track to passage.

The bill’s language to limit eligibility and access to Medicaid benefits was inserted during budget negotiations without public debate or hearings. After the bill was amended and voted out of committee, it was sent directly to the House in its entirety for an up or down vote. Ultimately, HB 59 passed the House largely along party lines without any votes from Democrats, and fifteen (15) Republicans voted against it. From a good governance perspective this is simply astounding. On process alone, HB 59 should be rejected; therefore, we urge RCPA members to contact their State Senators and ask them to oppose HB 59.

Questions, contact Jack Phillips.

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By Carley Mossbrook
Staff Writer
Capitolwire

HARRISBURG (July 11) – A passionate debate of a Human Services code bill on Tuesday saw a bipartisan effort to oppose Republican-crafted provisions that would potentially impose work requirements on certain medical assistance recipients and charge some families with disabled children Medicaid premiums.

“I rise in opposition to House Bill 59, which will throw a wrench into the operations of public healthcare in this state and fundamentally threaten care for hundreds of thousands of people across the Commonwealth,” said Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny.

Others called the bill “offensive,” “harmful” and “cruel.”

But despite concerns from both sides of the aisle, the House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a vote of 102-91. No Democrats supported the legislation.

It will now move to the Senate for concurrence.

House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said the provisions put into the bill on Monday evening were “98-percent agreed” to by the Senate.

However, it’s unclear if the bill, if approved by the Senate in the coming days (or weeks,) would be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who has concerns about the Medicaid changes included in the code bill.

The chamber also debated public school and administrative code bills, but delayed a vote on them until the Senate acts on other code bills, including a Fiscal Code bill, said Reed.

It’s unclear if a Tax Code bill will be in the mix.

The House recessed Tuesday evening and plan to return in a week, said Steve Miskin, spokesman for Reed.

HB59 House floor comments

Opponents of the bill mostly focused on the provisions that would potentially establish a premium on disabled children and their families who receive Medical Assistance and have an annual income that exceeds 1000 percent of the federal poverty level.

“I don’t think many of us truly realize just how damaging this legislation can be to families who find themselves in huge financial jeopardy to no fault of their own,” said Rep. Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, who said the changes would raise premiums for 61,000 families in the state.

“The vast majority of families who would be affected by this bill face real and significant financial pain. In many cases, their budgets are already stretched well beyond the breaking point,” he continued.

Based on the federal poverty level, only families with an annual income of more than $246,000 would be required to pay the premium, which the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dan Moul, said would total $50 monthly.

Moul said Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that doesn’t factor in a family’s income when determining eligibility for Medicaid.

He and others said the expected premium cost is reasonable for those families and will preserve human services funding for those making less.

Rep. Kristen Phillips-Hill, R-York added: “This measure will help ensure that we protect this benefit for the most-needy and the most-vulnerable residents of Pennsylvania.”

Opponents also took issue with a provision that could potentially establish employment requirements for certain Medicaid recipients.

“We have to be very, very careful with this population. They’re our most vulnerable,” said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bucks, of recipients who are mostly disabled children, severely disabled adults, chronically ill persons and those in nursing homes.

“I don’t see what people in that population are able to work. We’re going to put another level of bureaucracy and paperwork on top of what they’re already going through,” he added.

Numerous disability rights and community provider groups oppose the proposed requirements, he said.

Supporters say the provision would only impact able-bodied Medicaid recipients.

“No change is going to occur to the people who are excluded currently. The intent of this welfare reform is to break the generational recurrence of dependence,” said Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Westmoreland. “It’s to be able to create an opportunity where a person either has to work 20 hours a week or they have to take a class or they have to volunteer.”

“It is incumbent upon this body to help those who can’t help themselves and also we share a responsibility to help those who can help themselves realize they can do so,” Nelson added. “Requiring an individual to have to volunteer their time is not a big ask. Encouraging someone to work 20 hours a week is also not a big ask.”

The Human Service code bill doesn’t inherently establish the Medicaid premium or work requirement provisions, it would simply instruct the state’s Department of Human Services to seek waivers from the federal government to do so.

Ultimately, GOP lawmakers said the changes made in the code bill are needed as human services costs continue to rise and state revenues remain stagnant.

“I keep hearing about the devastating impact to our most vulnerable, but the Human Services budget is growing at a rate of 6 (percent) to 7 percent a year while our revenues are only growing at an average rate of 3 percent,” said Rep. Dawn Keefer, R-Cumberland. “What about the devastation our Commonwealth and the most vulnerable will experience when our Commonwealth is bankrupt.”

Reed said Monday the provisions within the Human Service Code would “provide a couple hundred million dollars in savings, depending on the waivers that are submitted to the federal government and what the federal government tends to approve.”

He explained many of the changes “are a re-enactment of welfare reforms that were actually put into place during the [Bill] Clinton administration [at the federal level] and the [Tom] Ridge administration [at the state level] that fell by the wayside during the [Ed] Rendell administration.”

“With our entitlement spending being one of the major cost drivers in the state right now, until we’re able to bring that under control, we’re going to continue to have billion-dollar deficits year after year,” Reed continued. “This is a movement to continue to try to address that issue in the long-term as well as the short-term.”

He reiterated similar statements Tuesday following the chamber’s floor vote.

The gubernatorial response to HB59

Wolf hasn’t indicated whether he would sign or veto the legislation, however, J.J. Abbott, his press secretary, offered a scathing statement from the governor in an email Tuesday.

“Governor Wolf strongly opposes these backdoor changes that could have widespread and potentially life-changing effects on the health and well-being of millions of Pennsylvanians. Seniors, people with disabilities and low-income working families don’t need their lives to be made even more difficult by politicians in Harrisburg,” wrote Abbott.

“Beyond the substance of these changes, the process flies in the face of good government and these changes would cost millions of taxpayer dollars just to implement. There was no input from stakeholders or families that would be affected and no formal fiscal analysis,” he added.

“Medicaid is not a handout – it is a lifeline. We need to support these families, not create more hoops for them to jump through,” he concluded.

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Questions, contact Jack Phillips.

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Today, the House will vote on HB 59, the Welfare Code bill. In the bill there are many provisions that would have a negative impact on the families that our members serve. RCPA staff has been in contact with House members and have written a letter to legislators explaining why we oppose HB 59.

Once the House votes on the bill today, it will immediately go to the Senate Rules Committee. If the Senate Rules Committee votes it out of committee favorably, HB 59 will go to the Senate floor for a final vote.

RCPA implores providers to contact their legislators and tell them to oppose HB 59. Members can use RCPA’s letter opposing HB59 for talking points. Questions, contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.

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