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Dear Florida ARF Member,

We live in a world that is changing rapidly and the speed of communications is instantaneous.  Often, as with the well known “telephone” exercise, a statement or action of one person gets passed from person to person and evolves into a “reality” that does not compare to the original statement or action.  Our world is also characterized by intense competition.  As in war, the techniques of misinformation can be used to create speculation, anxiety and fear, which is intended to cause the “enemy” to misunderstand reality or to act precipitously.  Under such conditions, we need to be disciplined about how we interpret and act upon what we hear from others.  The time tested methods used by reporters to verify the facts by checking the source and validating by checking additional sources helps to verify whether what we hear is accurate. 

One of our current fears is how federal and state Medicaid reform will affect our clients and our agencies.  There is much speculation about who is doing what, and who is positioning to take over or be taken over.  By now, each of you should fully understand that Florida ARF supports the continued "carve out" of DD waiver and ICFDD programs from Medicaid Reform (managed care).  In actuality, current state plans do not call for these DD services to fall under managed care for several years. We have not wavered from our position to support the "carve out" at any point in time.
 
Concurrently, we have been responsive to your requests to remain informed about Medicaid Reform trends and how they could affect the industry.  Florida ARF has complied with your wishes by providing training sessions at our quarterly meetings and arranging special training sessions on this topic.  These sessions have always been open to all provider agencies (Florida ARF members and nonmembers) and we plan on continuing this open relationship with all who want to be involved.
 
We write today because individuals have obtained materials developed for our winter training session without clearing the context or intent of the materials with us.  Also, conclusions are being drawn about our intent that do not reflect our actual position.  If any of you have questions about our position, we ask that you call and discuss them with us.  Further, we are open and willing to discuss our actions and intentions with any community agency or interested party that may have questions about our positions regarding the "carve out,” Medicaid Reform, or Predictable Cost Models.  We encourage you to refer anyone to us who may be confused or concerned about our intent or actions.  We remain committed to dealing with these issues openly and with transparency.  Unfortunately, others want to speculate and react to perceived intent without verifying the facts.
 
As a word of caution, we ask that you not be swayed into knee-jerk reactions that are not in your best interests or of those you serve.  We do not believe that the DD service system that you have built should be discarded or in any way minimized.  We fully support seeking efficiencies and improvements and believe these can occur within the system without turning it over to HMOs or provider service networks that do not understand the unique needs of this population.  That is the reason for our support of the predictable cost model within the current structure in lieu of HMO operated managed care. 
 
As members, we ask that each of you join the dialogue and decisions that need to occur in the next several months.  While we will not always agree, we will attempt to identify common ground that represents each of your interests and we can agree where to disagree.  United we stand!
 
Please feel free to contact me or Suzanne Sewell if you have questions about the above.

Sincerely,