Press Releases: 2007 Releases

UCP Report Provides Roadmap to Help States Better Support People with Disabilities (6/20/2007)

Washington, DC, June 20, 2007 - United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), one of the nation’s largest health charities, today released The Plan for Inclusion, a roadmap for improving state-level Medicaid services for Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Plan for Inclusion was released in concert with The Case for Inclusion 2007, rankings of how all 50 States and the District of Columbia are serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities under Medicaid. Arizona (1), Alaska (2), Vermont (3), Massachusetts (4), and California (5) topped the rankings with Mississippi (51), Texas (50), District of Columbia (49), Ohio (48), and Illinois (47) at the bottom.

"The rankings and analysis we’ve done reveal a wide variance in how well states are providing community-based supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with every state showing need for improvement," said Stephen Bennett, President and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy. "However, it’s not enough to just document the problem. The Plan for Inclusion puts forth proven policies and strategies that lawmakers and advocates can use to create meaningful change in their states."

The Plan for Inclusion offers direction on how to use data to understand a state’s unique challenges; ideas on how to effectively communicate with state lawmakers, administrators and key stakeholders; suggestions on prioritizing the issues that need attention in each state; and recommended action steps that have proven successful in other states.

"Our reporting and recommendations lend value to both top and bottom performing states," said Tarren Bragdon, an expert in healthcare policy and author of UCP’s Medicaid reports. "As an example, while Arizona tops the overall rankings, the state is below the national average in two categories, competitive employment and waiting lists, which could be priorities in an Arizona advocacy plan."

Nationwide, Medicaid serves almost 545,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, spending $28.8 billion in fiscal year 2005 or almost $53,000 per person per year. While individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities make up just over one percent of all Medicaid recipients, services to the population account for 9.4 percent of all Medicaid expenditures. In addition, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are among Medicaid’s most vulnerable beneficiaries.

The full Plan for Inclusion, United Cerebral Palsy’s state rankings and state-by-state data are available online at www.ucp.org/medicaid. This is the second year UCP has ranked states on their Medicaid-funded services to Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the first time UCP has issued The Plan for Inclusion. Funding for UCP’s Medicaid reports has been generously provided by the Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare.

United Cerebral Palsy is one of the nation’s leading organizations serving and advocating for the more than 54 million Americans with disabilities. Most UCP consumers are people with disabilities other than cerebral palsy. Through its nationwide network, United Cerebral Palsy offers services to individuals, families and communities such as job training and placement, physical therapy, individual and family support, early intervention, social and recreation programs, community living, state and local referrals, and instruction on how to use technology to perform everyday tasks. For more information, visit www.ucp.org.

Send This Article To A Friend