Family Care
Family Care Advocacy Video
to Help Consumers Understand Their Rights
A guide to resolve service disagreements, provider rate cuts, and more.
Madison, Wis. – A new Family Care advocacy video is available online to help people with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, older adults, and their families and guardians understand their rights in the program: http://www.youtube.com/WisFamilyCareReform.
The video guide consists of eight chapters that explain:
- What Family Care is and how it works;
- Understanding and using the language of Family Care;
- The resource allocation decision process in Family Care;
- How consumers can resolve disagreements about service decisions with managed care providers, using the Resource Allocation Decision making process;
- Requirements for changes to consumer services made by managed care organizations;
- How to appeal those decisions;
- Advocacy resources; and,
- How consumers can address provider rate cuts.
Family Care is Wisconsin’s long-term care program that serves people with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and older adults. Implementation of the program began in 2000 and it was intended to provide cost-effective, comprehensive services, promote consumer independence and quality of life, and end waiting lists for services previously operated by Wisconsin counties.
The Family Care Advocacy Guide includes disability advocate and Attorney Robert Theine Pledl and Thomas Cook, Executive Director, Rehabilitation for Wisconsin in Action (RFWiA). A print version of the advocacy video information is also online.
“People with disabilities who depend on Family Care are increasingly concerned about the program’s sustainability,” said Thomas Cook. “In response to these concerns, the State Legislature decided to audit the program. The reason RFW in Action decided to develop this video was because some of the Managed Care Organizations that contract with service providers began making unilateral decisions to reduce services and cut payment rates. The video gives advice to consumers about how to respond to these actions.”
RFWiA, sponsor of the advocacy video, represents the interests of its members, community rehabilitation programs, and other organizations that provide center-based and supported employment, job training, day habilitation, residential, early intervention, care management, and other services. Collectively, these members provide services to more than 75,000 people with disabilities and economic disadvantages, and employ more than 10,000 direct support and other professionals throughout Wisconsin.