Long Term Services & Support

1. Protect Medicaid and reject proposals to block grant, institute per capita caps or significantly cut the program so that people with MS have access to the health and long-term services and supports they need.
2. Protect and improve access to Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Complex Rehabilitation Technology (CRT) and related “accessories” so that people with MS can remain healthy and independent.

Approximately 20-25 percent of individuals with MS will need long-term services and supports at some point, and approximately 5-10 percent will require residential care. People with MS need choices across the full range of age-appropriate and affordable home-based, community- and facility-based health and social service options to meet individual needs and preferences.

Some people with MS rely on assistive technology and/or medical equipment like wheelchairs to remain healthy, independent and active. CRT are medically necessary and individually configured manual and power wheelchairs and seating and positioning systems for those with progressed MS. Many times, CRT products have “accessories”—such as tilt-and-recline systems and customized seat cushions—that make the chair usable and beneficial.

1. Medicaid: There have been proposals to block grant or place per capita caps in the program—both of which the Society opposes. Under either of these models, state-run Medicaid programs would receive a fixed amount of federal money, shifting costs to states and likely leading to service or eligibility cuts. Medicaid currently operates as a federal-state match, with each putting in a percentage of costs to operate the Medicaid program. If costs to the program are higher than anticipated, than both the federal and state governments are required to increase their proportional share.
2. CRT and Related Accessories: 
   • In late June 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services issued guidance that averts significant cuts and protects access to power CRT accessories. This was a significant victory achieved through MS advocacy, coalition partnership and bipartisan support. S. 486/H.R. 3730 have been introduced in Congress to protect access to manual CRT accessories. 
   • The Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act (H.R. 750) which would create separate recognition for CRT, promote community living by exempting CRT from Medicare’s “in-the-home” policy and enhance quality standards for CRT products.

Urge your elected officials to support long term services and supports for people living with and affected by MS.