Partnering
to Reach Integrated Competitive Employment (PRICE)
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 was designed to (1) enable individuals to exercise greater choice in obtaining rehabilitation and vocational services; (2) remove the structural obstacles that have required individuals with disabilities to choose between working and health insurance coverage; and (3) lessen the dependence of individuals with disabilities on the public benefits system.
Many states, Nebraska included, have been actively developing programs to promote competitive employment for persons with disabilities. The Nebraska Health and Human Services System (HHSS) contracted the Public Policy Center to undertake a series of studies of programs and supports serving persons with disabilities who work, or want to work, in competitive employment settings. The project was funded through a Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act Medicaid Infrastructure Grant. PPC staff and participating faculty focused on three realms:
Consumer Perceptions and Experiences - The PPC created a survey to gather information from Nebraskans with disabilities about the barriers and supports facing workers with disabilities.
Personal Assistant Services - The PPC developed models and cost projections of systems of delivery (i.e.: brokerage, cash & counseling, other states’ experiences), researched the ability and williingness of a variety of existing organizations to serve as PAS providers, and developed a timeframe and recommendations regarding implementation.
Medicaid Insurance for Workers with Disabilities - The PPC created a calculator to demonstrate individual scenarios of the costs and benefits of employment for persons with disabilities (including valuing a wide array of supports and services and Medicaid), developed multiple policy scenarios that would alter the state’s Medicaid Buy-In program, projected numbers of person with disabilities who may participate in a Medicaid Buy-In program, and developed cost projections of the policy scenarios.
Program Integration - The PPC described the impact of higher earned income on individuals’ eligibility of various other support programs (i.e. food stamps, energy assistance, TANF, housing Section 8, Title XX, Developmental Disabilities System, Ryan White Program, Childcare Subsidy, Behavior Health).
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