Medicaid Waiver Cuts

Situation: During the 2007 Legislative Session in Florida, individuals with

developmental disabilities and their families faced severe budget cuts and reductions to many of the services they receive through the Medicaid Waiver Program.

Action: To bring immediate attention to the issue, RBOA launched an aggressive earned-media campaign that focused on telling the compelling stories of affected individuals.  Key messages, backgrounders and opinion-editorials were developed and distributed to media outlets in major markets and key legislative districts.  During the campaign, RBOA contacted more than 28 media outlets in major markets and key legislative districts and more than 40 members of the Capitol Press Corps concerning the proposed budget cuts and their potentially disastrous impact on individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.  Letters were prepared and sent by FDDC advocates to the editors of 15 different daily newspapers.

Outcome: The Medicaid Waiver campaign resulted in nearly 60 media hits over a two-week period.  But the ultimate success was the survival of the Medicaid Waiver Program: instead of the anticipated $150-million cut in funding, the program received $116 million in funding – a cut of only 23%.