State Rep. Cerrato Gets First Sponsored Bill Passed

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —State Rep. Melissa Cerrato celebrated her first six months in office by having her first sponsored bill pass the House.

Cerrato, who took over the 151st Legislative District from longtime Rep. Todd Stephens, said her bill focuses on the importance of helping families financially with home care services they provide to loved ones. Watch Cerrato present the bill on the House floor below.

The idea for the bill came up, Cerrato said after a constituent contacted her office in April seeking mobile notary services.

Cerrato said her team, though, realized that they were there to notarize divorce documents.

"This was far from a typical divorce situation and one that truly broke my heart to be a part of," Cerrato said. "This amazingly loving couple was forced to turn to this horrible option to divorce simply because the waiver program does not currently allow spouses to be reimbursed as caretakers under the program."

So Cerrato created H.B. 1218 so no one would have to resort to divorce just to receive the reimbursement.

A widespread shortage of home care aides has made it difficult for families to maintain the freedom and remain comfortable at home for those who live with severe physical or intellectual disabilities, she said.

"While I will continue to strongly advocate for a raise in reimbursement rates for these professionals, until that time, we need to address the more than 4,000 people across our commonwealth who have Physical and Intellectual Disability Waivers and are unable to receive the services that they need," Cerrato said.

She said that family members are often forced to quit their jobs in order to stay home and care for their loved ones.

"This creates not only an extreme burden on families, who now struggle to financially support themselves and their loved ones but also creates an economic impact on the state —as many need to turn to public assistance programs to survive."

Here are the facts and details of H.B. 1218:

• Under H.B. 1218, the Department of Human Services shall seek a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowing for the payment of personal care services provided by a Medical Assistance recipient’s spouse.
• In 2005, CMS amended federal policy to allow states the option of paying legally responsible relatives in extraordinary circumstances under a Home and Community-Based Services Waiver.
• Extraordinary care is generally defined as care that exceeds the range of activities that a legally responsible individual would ordinarily perform in the household on behalf of a person without a disability or chronic illness and which is necessary to assure the health and welfare of the participant and avoid institutionalization.
• Providing payments to legally responsible individuals for such services is not a federal requirement, but it is a state option.
• House Bill 1218 would allow Pennsylvania to offer this federal flexibility for the payment of personal care services provided by a Medical Assistance recipient’s spouse who requires an extraordinary level of care to assure the health and welfare of the participant and avoid institutionalization.
• What H.B. 1218 does not do is require the department to do anything that is not currently permitted by federal law.