A Message from the President
Tina Seidel
PA HCBS continues to be a viable and recognized association; teamwork, partnership and transparency are entwined within our membership which has made us very successful.
This year proved to be another challenging year due to an exorbitant number of issues the membership needed to expend their expertise and time on, including, but not limited to the following;
- Office of Long Term Living and PA Department of Aging Waiver Policy Changes directly impacting Consumers and Providers
- F/EA Certification
- Case Management Certification
- FMS Rates and CM Rates
As we complete our second year together as an official association, we look towards future accomplishments and challenges we may encounter together with a new administration and another year of strong collective advocacy for Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) in what is projected to be the most challenging budget year we will have to face thus far.
Together, we will need to move forward to continuously advocate for HCBS to individual members of the legislature, but grass roots activity from all segments of our membership is needed to ensure adequate funding is adopted in next years’ budget.
There were a host of challenges (Cost Reporting, Fee For Service Definition, SAS90, Transfer Standards, Fraud and Abuse, OHCDS and National presentations to name a few) that took an extraordinary amount of time on the part of members whose collective effort, expertise and skills were crucial to PA HCBS position papers.
Appreciation and Recognition go to PA HCBS members who exerted an enormous amount of time on behalf of PA HCBS in 2010; Debbie Bacon, Kim Bitner, Linda Bradley, Gary Brandt, Greg Coleman, Joan Hardaway, Beth Hennigan, Tracy Hunt, Roxanne Huss, Cindy Landis, Helen Logan, Greg Manz, Joan Martin, Kris Pate, Marty Puschak, Dot Robinson, Lou Anne Rudy, Margaret Rybinski, Duane Seidel, Marybeth Tearpock, Kim Winhauer, Nadine Yanarella and Debbie Zielinski.
I want to acknowledge the Board and Committee Chairs; William Kepner and Carl Berry, of the Executive Committee; and Donna Boyer, Regina Stewart, Lily Altman, and Mary Lou Knabel; for all of their dedication and commitment throughout this past year.
Our association continues to expect the unexpected, and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise — as it almost always does. We’ll focus on our hopes for a bright future for Consumers, Quality Consumer Fiscal Management Services and Home and Community Based Services -and for us. Then we’ll continue to go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.
