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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The number of Minnesotans with disabilities who have to wait a long time for critical social services has fallen sharply in recent months as the state removes long-standing barriers.
State officials are pressuring counties to spend more of the money allocated annually for a form of Medicaid assistance known as a waiver, the Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1SJXw4M ) reported. It helps people with disabilities build independent lives, and much of the money has gone unspent in recent years.
A court report issued last week shows hundreds of people who have been on waiting lists for community services for months and years are now getting help. About 1,100 people were moved off waitlists in the last nine months of 2015, cutting the overall backlog by 23 percent statewide. Nearly 4,000 applicants remain on county waiting lists for assistance.
"We are making great progress," said Alex Bartolic, disability services director at the state Department of Human Services. "A lot more people are receiving services than in the past, and that should be celebrated."
The state has received more pressure in recent years from federal courts and advocates to reform its county-by-county system that administers waivers. State lawmakers passed legislation last spring that requires counties to spend at least 97 percent of waiver funds.
Minnesota also loosened a requirement that counties reimburse the state of waiver funds that were overspent, a big reason why the funds were conserved by counties. Hennepin County held back 7 to 8 percent, or more than $20 million, of allocated funds each year recently, but it expects to reserve around 1 percent of its waiver allocation in 2016.
Michael Herzing, program manager at Hennepin County, said the county has "a lot more wiggle room" than in the past to get people off the waitlist "without worrying about financial constraints."
"That's hugely important," Herzing said.
The state Department of Human Services also last summer began moving Medicaid waiver funds from counties that routinely underspent them to ones that had long waitlists. The agency has moved funds between counties 18 times since new legislation took effect in July.
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
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