The Survival of Early Intervention is at Stake Now!

Dear Early Intervention supporter. In less than two months the future of our Early Intervention Program will be decided by the State Legislature. After decades of stagnant rates in the face of rising costs and inflation, still the Governor has recommended NO INCREASE in the Early Intervention  Program in spite of an $8.7 Billion SURPLUS going into the states new Fiscal Year on April 1.

In point of fact the EI rates are less in 2023 than they were in 2009. Because of this nearly two thousand rendering providers have left the EI program in the past four years and dozens of service agencies have been forced out of business largely because of inadequate revenue. This is a business model that will doom the EI Program if the State Legislature does not step in and do what the Governor refuses to do which is to provide a rate increase in the state budget so as to align rates of reimbursement with 2023 costs.

But the Legislature will only respond if they hear from you and enough of your colleagues and friends. THEY need to know that YOU CARE in order for them to care enough to amend the Governor’s budget to include an EI Rate increase. The Department of Health’s Early Intervention Coordinating Council (EICC) passed a resolution calling for an 11% rate increase THIS YEAR and we agree. We know that without it more therapists will leave the program, more agencies will close and fewer children will be served. That will be tragic. Our Program, once the envy of the nation is on the verge of imploding because of neglect.

BUT you can do something about that today. TAKE ACTION HERE to send email messages to the key State Assembly Members and Senators urging them to act before it’s too late. If enough of us do this we will win. We will save the EI Program and we will save thousands of children from a lifetime of disabilities. PLEASE act on this appeal TODAY. It costs you no money, just a few seconds of your time to SAVE THE EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM.

 

The Survival of Early Intervention is at Stake Now!

Dear Early Intervention supporter. In less than two months the future of our Early Intervention Program will be decided by the State Legislature. After decades of stagnant rates in the face of rising costs and inflation, still the Governor has recommended NO INCREASE in the Early Intervention  Program in spite of an $8.7 Billion SURPLUS going into the states new Fiscal Year on April 1.

In point of fact the EI rates are less in 2023 than they were in 2009. Because of this nearly two thousand rendering providers have left the EI program in the past four years and dozens of service agencies have been forced out of business largely because of inadequate revenue. This is a business model that will doom the EI Program if the State Legislature does not step in and do what the Governor refuses to do which is to provide a rate increase in the state budget so as to align rates of reimbursement with 2023 costs.

But the Legislature will only respond if they hear from you and enough of your colleagues and friends. THEY need to know that YOU CARE in order for them to care enough to amend the Governor’s budget to include an EI Rate increase. The Department of Health’s Early Intervention Coordinating Council (EICC) passed a resolution calling for an 11% rate increase THIS YEAR and we agree. We know that without it more therapists will leave the program, more agencies will close and fewer children will be served. That will be tragic. Our Program, once the envy of the nation is on the verge of imploding because of neglect.

BUT you can do something about that today. TAKE ACTION HERE to send email messages to the key State Assembly Members and Senators urging them to act before it’s too late. If enough of us do this we will win. We will save the EI Program and we will save thousands of children from a lifetime of disabilities. PLEASE act on this appeal TODAY. It costs you no money, just a few seconds of your time to SAVE THE EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM.