Evergreen Representatives Gathering In Baton Rouge
April 14, 2003, For Immediate Release
For More Information, Contact Mary Ann Van Osdell,
Director Of Communications, 318-752-4190

 
Representatives from Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, headquartered in Bossier City, will gather at the Capitol in Baton Rouge at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 15, to meet with legislators in hopes of getting relief from a decree slashing state Medicaid funds.

“The proposed cuts will have a devastating effect on the state’s private providers to people with disabilities, including Evergreen,” said Bernard Wagner, Ph.D., president of the not-for-profit agency that serves over 400 people in Louisiana. “These threatened reductions may shut down some services and put people in state institutions, which typically cost the taxpayer more to run,” he said.

Per day cost in state facilities is $262.32 while comparable clients in Evergreen’s group homes cost $134.12 per day. While rates paid to community homes have increased by 5.9 percent over the last 10 years, the rates to state facilities have increased by over 100 percent during the same time period.

Also, Louisiana receives a federal Medicaid match of 70 cents for every 30 cents it spends on people with disabilities. This cut will mean a loss of approximately $2 million in federal funding to the state of Louisiana between May 10-June 30 this year alone.

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