Today's deep dives: New Jersey DDD will stop taking new provider applications after Dec. 31 and move to two enrollment windows a year, and North Carolina's Innovations direct care raise now starts Oct. 1 instead of July 1. Here is the rest of today's news.
Missouri is one of 3 states turning down Medicaid work-rule hardship exceptions Missouri, Iowa and Indiana are the only states declining all of the optional short-term hardship exceptions in H.R. 1's Medicaid work requirements, which take effect nationwide Jan. 1, the Missouri Independent reported Nov. 10. Those exceptions cover stays in a hospital, nursing facility or intermediate care facility, travel for medical care, and counties with disasters or high unemployment. Missouri's social services department says its mandatory exemptions for medical frailty and caregivers, including people who regularly care for someone with a disability, will cover most cases, but policy experts told the paper that someone hospitalized for a short-term condition may not count as medically frail. Our Oct. 5 story covered Missouri's original decision. Source: Missouri Independent
Lucas County, Ohio, commissioners send a 3-mill DD levy toward the ballot Lucas County commissioners voted Nov. 10 to send the county Board of Developmental Disabilities' request for a new 3-mill continuing levy to the board of elections, WTVG reported. The money would help pay for in-home care for people with developmental disabilities. It would be the board's fourth levy and would cost homeowners about $105 a year per $100,000 of home value. The board's superintendent said the number of people it serves and the complexity of their needs are rising; part of the money would go to the local Medicaid match, and the station reported the county would lose about $94 million without that match. Our Nov. 9 digest has the board's budget gap. Source: WTVG 13abc
Justice Department sues Lyft over rides denied to riders with service dogs and wheelchairs The U.S. Justice Department sued Lyft on Nov. 9 in federal court in Northern California, alleging under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act that drivers routinely refuse riders who use service animals or stowable wheelchairs and that the company charges cancellation fees on rides it unlawfully denied. The suit seeks $53 million for people who complained to Lyft or the department, a civil penalty and policy changes. Lyft told Disability Scoop it disagrees with the allegations and that drivers who violate its accommodation policies face consequences, including permanent deactivation. Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Disability Scoop