Cuts to the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities are likely to go through in the final budget agreement, with about $30 million being restored to the initial $120 million decrease.

The money was cut from OPWDD’s budget in order to cover costs after a $500 million hole was blown in the state budget over a dispute with the federal government over Medicaid overbilling.

Some lawmakers were hopeful earlier this week that a $598.7 million comeptitive federal grant won by New York over the weekend from the Centers for Medicaid Services could help restore some of those cuts.

But a senior Cuomo administration official confirmed today the money cannot be used to restore or replace the developmental disability cuts, which will impact service providers.

“The reduction is going to be a real reduction,” the official said.

Broadly, the money from the federal government, announced in a letter made available to some lawmakers last weekend and addressed to Cuomo’s Medicaid czar Jason Helgerson, says the funds are earmarked for long-term care that is an alternative to institutionalization.

The money is being made available between April 1 of this year and Sept. 30, 2015.

The official was hopeful, however, the money will be used to fund “new, good programs” for long-term care as alternatives to institutionalization.

As for the final OPWDD spending cut, the governor has said he wants to seek administrative overhead reductions at service providers and not impact direct care.

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