Welcome to Jackson’s Team! Each month Jackson and I will write a blog chapter on a subject of concern to developmentally disabled individuals + Their families + The professionals who care for them. Jackson is a 19-year-old man with Autism and I am his father. I am a pediatrician and family doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disabled individuals.
The biggest problem facing all of us is the attitude and behavior of the Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo. His office controls the activities of all the agencies that provide services for these individuals: Through state agencies like OP WDD + Not-For-Profit Agencies like Person-Centered Services and ARC + Heritage Christian Services + The New York State and Local Disability and Retirement System. He Does this with the tight control of The New York State + Federal Medicaid Budgets. The simple fact is that this Governor does not like people with disabilities or their families or any of the State and Not for Profit employees who care for them. He believes that these individuals + the employees who care for them have been overpaid + all budget money for their care must be relentlessly reduced.
The Code name for this Budget Reduction is “Managed Care”. It means every cent spent on developmentally Disabled Individuals + Their Families + The employees who care for them will be cut every year from now on. The overall managed care effort will be outsourced to Health Insurance Companies whose methodology is well known. First, they take a large slice of the available funding for their own profit + slash expenses for services + apologize that sadly there just is no money left for these particular individuals. Why? Because there are many deserving causes + individuals competing in Albany + Washington for state and federal Dollars. Coincidentally those individuals + The Health insurance companies all kickback cash to the Governor + his political accomplices in the form of Political Campaign Contributions. Unfortunately, our community can not compete with the rich whose primary concern is to get Richer. The purpose of Jackson’s Team is to inform all interested people of this problem and invite you to share your own experiences and opinions for the next month and we ask you to write one letter per month to the Legislations, Congress Men, and the Governor and remind them that they were elected to speak on a daily basis, for these individuals who often literally have no voice. Next month a new topic will appear on the blog platform for your feedback.
Thanks! Jackson