Disability News

HHS Awards Kansas Grant To Help People With Disabilities Maintain Employment

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a $5 million award to Kansas to demonstrate whether additional services and supports to working individuals with serious mental illness will prolong their independence and employment.

"People who are able to work in spite of potentially debilitating disorders should be given the support they need to remain productive and independent for as long as they are able," Secretary Thompson said. "This grant embodies the goals of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative to help people maintain themselves outside of government programs and institutions."

This demonstration, created by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (TWWIIA), will give the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) the opportunity to test whether particular services and supports can assist individuals in maintaining their employment and self-sufficiency, and decrease reliance on cash and other benefits. It supports individuals at risk of becoming disabled and their employers who benefit from improved worker retention.

"Any program that supports the efforts of those with disabling conditions to remain productive, gainfully employed individuals is good both for the people involved and the economy," said Mark B. McClellan M.D., Ph.D., CMS administrator.

Kansas is one of three states getting these grants under today's announcement, which includes Minnesota and Louisiana. Kansas will provide support to people with a number of different conditions who are currently enrolled in that state's high-risk insurance pool while Minnesota and Louisiana will focus on those with serious mental illnesses. Together, all three states could spend up to $75 million on their projects over the next five years. Kansas is eligible to receive up to $13 million over that time if it maintains a demonstration that is approved by CMS.

Under the innovative demonstration, participants will be given a full Medicaid-like benefit package that could be used to supplement any benefit plan the person may have through an employer. Many health insurance plans have limits on certain kinds of treatment and services and this demonstration would supplement those caps. Persons in the program will not have to meet the state's Medicaid eligibility rules because the program is simply modeled on that benefit plan, but is not actually part of Medicaid.

It is estimated that each year over 600,000 individuals leave the work force and enroll in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which entitles them to Medicare coverage after a 24-month waiting period. This program will help policymakers determine whether early intervention and support could keep people on the job. CMS is currently funding two other such demonstrations in Mississippi and the District of Columbia that support workers with HIV/AIDS.

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	Did You Know?
	SSDI stands for Social Security Disability Insurance A system of federally provided payments to eligible workers (and, in some cases, their families) when they are unable to continue working because of a disability. Benefits begin with the sixth full month of disability and continue until the individual is capable of substantial gainful activity.