BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Some Indiana residents with developmental disabilities are waiting more than a decade to receive Medicaid waivers even though the state has more than tripled the number of people approved for such aid since 2001.

State officials acknowledge a long wait for the more than 21,000 people on the waiting list for the waiver but say more than 4,600 are receiving other waiver services while they wait.

“The reason some have to wait so long is that we want to make sure the most needy get the waiver the quickest,” said Marcus Barlow, spokesman for the Family and Social Services Administration. “That forces others on the waiting list to wait longer for services.”

The state is working to reduce the waiting list by going through the 21,217 names on it and eliminating those who are no longer seeking services. Some have moved of state, died or are receiving other help and don’t need the waiver any longer, said Kim Dodson, associate executive director with The Arc of Indiana, an organization that advocates for those with developmental disabilities and their families.

But those who’ve been waiting for years say the process is frustrating.

“I’ve had it with the state of Indiana,” said Rebecca Davis, who calls the wait “outrageous.”

Davis filled out a waiver application in 2008 for her daughter, who has cerebral palsy, impaired vision and microcephaly — a genetic abnormality that causes an abnormally small head.

Her application was approved, but the family has yet to see any money. She found out why when she called to check on it recently.

“I kept asking about the paperwork I’d submitted in 2008 and the woman kept saying the eligibility date for the developmental disability waiver was Nov. 4, 1998. It took several minutes for me to figure out what she meant — that people who applied for a Medicaid waiver in 1998 were just now receiving services,” Davis said.

Davis said the family paid $3,500 out of pocket for Eliza’s prescriptions last year and another $3,000 for a protein supplement that she needs because she can’t chew food.

The Medicaid waiver could have helped with those costs, she said. Insurance has covered most of Eliza’s therapy.

She said her daughter could be 14 before she receives Medicaid services.

“It’s so discouraging,” she said. “In other states, parents are getting the support they need much sooner.”

Barlow said the number of people on the developmental disability Medicaid waiver waiting list has grown from 18,873 in 2005 to 21,217 this year. But he added that the number of people approved for the waiver has grown from 3,231 in 2001 to 11,988 in 2010.

“That shows we have many more people on waiver services, so we have definitely done a good job of getting people on services,” he said.

He said children, and those with the most severe disabilities, are moved higher on the list than older individuals with less severe disabilities.

Posted 8/16/2010