MARCH 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 23
PRESS BUSINESS
NYS BUDGET CUTS GROUP HOME CONCERNS
BY SELIA MERCADO
New York State's plan to implement
managed care for nonprofit service
providers for people with special needs
runs the risk of repeating a similar
model's failure in Wisconsin, a Long
Island nonprofit group home leader
warns.
Managed care is a form of health insurance
that contracts with certain health
care providers and facilities in order to
provide care for patients at a reduced
cost.
Charles Evdos is the executive
director of RISE Life Services, a
Riverhead-based nonprofit organization
that seeks to provide support,
housing, and services that enrich the
lives of the physically and mentally
challenged and their families. He
said that the use of managed care, in
response to state funding cuts, is expected
to have detrimental effects on
mental health services and the people
that the services provide for.
“Managed care is going to be a touchy
situation,” says Evdos. “It was tried in
Wisconsin and it was a failure. So, I
don’t understand why New York can’t
learn from that experience.”
Reforms to the New York State Fiscal
Year 2021 Enacted Budget include
new eligibility requirements that
enhance the oversight of managed
care. These reforms are also addressed
by statewide enrollment in
managed long-term care, according
to ny.gov.
RISE Life Services was originally
established as Aid to the Developmentally
Disabled in 1980. Evdos
fears that the state’s funding cuts and
push for managed care will hinder
the agency by forcing it to trim its
workforce.
“These are essential workers,” Evdos
says. “How do you really punish essential
workers for doing a great job,
you know? It’s just ridiculous. These
workers should be paid a lot more.
When you look at a nonprofit and
other agencies, such as our agency,
we do things more cost effectively
and better than the state does.”
With RISE Life Services having
30 residences across Long Island,
the company has prepared to compensate
for losses brought by the
funding cuts through fundraising,
food pantries, and an endowment.
The nonprofit has also opened up a
Day Program Without Walls, which
allows the enhancement of services
at the agency by providing day care
for individuals that the company
serves.
Evdos made note that advocating in
support of these services can play a
big role in shedding light on the problems
that will arise from the funding
cuts.
“Lives are gonna be lost,” said Evdos,
“Making these cuts in this field, on
individuals that really require extensive
care, is a big mistake.”
RISE Life Services Executive Director
Charles Evdos at a 2019 fundraiser.
(Photo by Ed Shin)
Every day in NYS
up to 50,000 cars
unlawfully pass
stopped school buses*
STOP FOR THE SCHOOL BUS.
IT’S NEW YORK STATE LAW.
Suffolk County is keeping our students safe
by equipping school buses with automated
enforcement technology. Endangering children
by unlawfully passing a stopped school bus
will lead to a violation.
New enforcement tools will be active on May 1, 2021
at NO COST TO TAXPAYERS.
Source: NY State - Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee
For more info visit suffolkcountyny.gov/schoolbus
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