RI Legislation Aims For Greater Accuracy And Transparency In Budgeting BHDDH, DCYF Costs
/By Gina Macris
Companion bills in the General Assembly would require cost estimates for services to adults with developmental disabilities and children in state custody to become part of Rhode Island’s semi-annual Caseload Estimating Conference, a key budgeting guide.
The bills, sponsored by Sen. Louis DiPalma, D-Middletown; and Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi, D-Narragansett and South Kingstown; specify that the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. (DCYF) would submit all their service costs, funded through Medicaid, to the Caseload Estimating Conference.
Both BHDDH and DCYF have been plagued by chronic deficits. At BHDDH, a 2014 federal consent decree enforcing the 1999 Olmstead decision of the U.S. Supreme Court is putting additional demands on the developmental disabilities budget.
The executive branch prepares BHDDH budgets on the basis of “target” figures set by the Office of Management and Budget. In the past, BHDDH officials have said that the targets are not enough to cover actual service costs. This year, Governor Gina Raimondo accepted BHDDH figures in submitting her budget proposal to the General Assembly.
In a statement, DiPalma said, “The legislation is about honest and transparent budgeting. We need an accurate accounting of how many individuals we are serving in these vital programs, so that our budget reflects the associated costs, or makes program adjustments, or both.”
He said about 3,000 children and teenagers are in DCYF care and roughly 4,000 adults with developmental disabilities depend on services from BHDDH.
Tanzi said, “Accurate caseloads will ensure the General Assembly is able to fully understand and appreciate the budgetary requirements of the agency to meet their obligations to our state’s vulnerable children and families. This legislation is about caring for our most vulnerable citizens but doing so in the most responsible way for the taxpayers.”
Medicaid accounts for about 31 percent of the state’s budget, according to the House Fiscal Office. That is roughly $3 billion in expenses annually, with each state dollar matched by slightly more than one federal dollar. Of all Medicaid funds, BHDDH spends 12.3 percent of and DCYF accounts for 1.4 percent.
In addition to adding BHDDH and DCYF to the Caseload Estimating Conference, DiPalma’s and Tanzi’s bills spell out the managed care reporting requirements of EOHHS in greater detail.
Current law allows agencies other than DHS and EOHHS to participate in the Caseload Estimating Conference but does not require them to contribute data. It is not clear why DCYF and BHDDH have not been included in the Caseload Estimating Conference in the past.
The Caseload Estimating Conference runs back-to-back with the Revenue Estimating Conference in November and May. There are three principals; the House and Senate fiscal advisors and the state budget officer, who reach agreement through consensus on the latest estimates for revenue and for expenses in the human services, including Medicaid and a general public assistance program of about $1.5 million.
The governor relies, in part, on the November conference report to prepare the budget that is submitted to the General Assembly in January. The House and Senate use the results of the May conference as a basis for finalizing budget negotiations.
