Family Voices Indiana

United Way campaigns are underway all over the state again! Did you know that you can support Family Voices Indiana through your United Way campaign? United Way has a designated donation program, where you can direct your donation to a specific organization. To select Family Voices Indiana for your designated donation, just write our full legal name, Family Voices Indiana, in the lines available on your pledge card. If you have questions about how to direct your donation, you can contact your United Way campaign chairperson or Family Voices Indiana at 317 944 8982 . We would be happy to help you. Add your voice to help get the word out to more families, reach out to new partners, and provide extended support to families raising children with special health care needs and/or disabilities. Your gift of $25, $50, $100 or more will speak volumes about your commitment to Indiana families Please give now – together we can impact the lives of families who need assistance. Our services

Family Voices Indiana is partnering with Family Voices, Inc. and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to learn more from families about their experiences with the flu and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. To help with this project we ask that families complete a brief (15 minutes) survey. Your knowledge, opinion, and experiences are very important and will help CDC in their work to improve the health and well-being of all children with special healthcare needs. Your responses will remain anonymous. To access the survey in English, please go to : http://www.orau.gov/caregiver-flu-survey/ To access the survey in Spanish, please go to : http://www.orau.gov/caregiver-flu-survey/Spanish-Version/ More information about this survey may be found in the CDC Invitation letter at http://www.fv-ncfpp.org/files/5413/1548/8799/CDCInvitationSurvey.pdf. Thank you very much for your help.

Members of Family Voices Indiana attended the DD commission meeting yesterday. Here are highlights from the meeting: Agenda Presentation from Ms. Julia Holloway, Director, DDRS and Mr. Shane Spotts, Deputy Director, DDRS – a handout was distributed to commission members, but no discussion on items transpired. Update on First Steps Program Dawn Downer presented information on changes to the First Steps program: Prior authorization required for high frequency therapies Tightening developmental therapist requirements Eliminating follow up for newborn hearing Modify reimbursement for staff IFSP meetings (at parent’s discretion who attends) Consolidated providers New legislation-non ERISA plans-First Steps can now bill monthly rate Of particular interest to the commission was the impact of cost participation on families: 30% of families now have cost participation Families face suspension of services after 60 days of no payment Ms Downer stated that approx 40 families each month ar

FV Indiana recognizes that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act requires learning about the new rules and systems families will need to navigate. As part of our ongoing efforts to explain the ACA, we will be posting regular articles. This one, written by Family Voices Health Information Specialist Emily McKinley, highlights several of the new provisions : In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act (ACA), healthcare legislation meant to regulate healthcare and insurance while minimizing the number of Americans without or denied coverage. Additionally, the ACA, includes measures intended to improve the overall quality of healthcare while minimizing fraud, waste, and other sources of exorbitant costs. The legislation is quite extensive and is being implemented in a stepwise approach. Provisions of the law were enacted beginning in summer 2010, and new provisions will continue to take effect throughout 2015. In 2010, twenty provisions of the law co