By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-977855.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Agency that helps people with disabilities is rolling out a new system aimed at controlling costs and granting more spending flexibility. Lynn Hatter reports the i-Budget, as it's called, gives a pre-set amount of money to families and people with disabilities on Medicaid.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities says the i-Budget will cut down on the paperwork that was required every time a bill had to be paid to a provider, or a transfer of funds from one program to another was needed. APD spokeswoman Melanie Mowry Etters says the agency will begin rolling the program out in the panhandle, and then gradually to the rest of the state.
"We will begin in the next few weeks notifying families and waiver support coordinators, giving them information. They have to go into the online system and put in their information, so we're going to make sure everyone has enough time, so on October first they can go live."
Etters says the i-Budget goes a long way in helping the agency keep costs under control. Last year the agency found itself with a 170-million dollar deficit due to overspending in the Medicaid waiver program.