Help reform Medicaid
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services and the Department of Human Services are seeking interested parties to serve on the RI Global Consumer Choice Compact Waiver (Global Medicaid Waiver) Implementation Task Force to provide input on the planning and execution of Medicaid reforms through the waiver.
Rhode Island recently received approval for the RI Global Consumer Choice Compact Waiver, or Global Waiver, from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Jan. 16. The Global Waiver establishes a new federal-state compact that provides the state with additional flexibility in the Medicaid Program in providing services to meet the needs of Rhode Islanders. The waiver is effective from January 16 through December 31, 2013.
Gary D. Alexander, Acting Secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, will appoint members of the task force that include individuals who represent different populations, who are knowledgeable about the needs of these populations and the services currently provided to them. The groups are to include children and youth with special health care needs; adults and children with developmental disabilities; adults with serious and persistent mental illness and/or addiction, disorders and children with severe emotional disturbance; adults with disabilities; adults age 65 and older and low-income children and families.
The members of the task force will include: consumers or family members of consumers; members of advocacy or policy organizations; representatives from organizations that either provide services to or represent entities that provide services to Medicaid beneficiaries (including but not limited to health plans, hospitals, community health centers, community mental health organizations, licensed substance abuse treatment providers, licensed health care practitioners, nursing facilities, and home and community-based service providers) and members of the general public.
If you are interested in being considered to be a member of the task force, send an e-mail or letter by March 13 to Gary D. Alexander, Secretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, 600 New London Ave., Cranston, RI 02920 or at Galexand@dhs.ri.gov.

NIFF teams up with MoMA
We thought our readers who are into the arts might appreciate this tidbit: The Newport International Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art have teamed up to feature a special selection of films from the Museum’s annual exhibition To Save and Project: The MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.
The NIFF will present its annual Claiborne Pell Tribute Award –in honor of the senator who established the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities –at the 2009 Festival. The Honoree of NIFF’s annual Claiborne Pell Tribute Award will be presented with a $10,000 contribution in their name to be given to The Museum of Modern Art for its internationally renowned film preservation program. The honoree, in consultation with NIFF and MoMA, will take part in choosing which film the Museum will preserve.
The 2009 NIFF will also feature a special film series based on the past six years of MoMA's To Save and Project preservation festival, selected by Associate Curator Joshua Siegel and Assistant Curator Anne Morra from the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art. Representatives from MoMA's Department of Film will present selected titles in this NIFF series and also participate in a panel discussion on film preservation.
“We are extremely honored to work with The Museum of Modern Art,” said new NIFF Artistic Director Tom Hall. “As an historic community, we’re excited that Newport can support the preservation of our cinema’s important history. We are eager to not only show these rarely screened films to our audiences but to partner with our festival’s honoree to make a contribution to the MoMA’s ongoing efforts to save films from extinction.”
“Our To Save and Project program is one of the centerpieces of the Museum’s archival efforts,” said MoMA Chief Film Curator, Rajendra Roy. “To be able to share our archive with the Newport International Film Festival as well as broaden the awareness in the program is a wonderful opportunity for us. We look forward to a long collaboration with NIFF.”
For more information on the Newport International Film Festival call 846-9100 or visit www.newportfilmfestival.com. For more information on MoMA’s “To Save and Project” program visit http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?id=10344.