More dollars could be going to those who provide care to people living for Arizonans with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Despite an increase in funding, it’s likely not nearly enough. 

The good news is the Legislature is looking to appropriate $60 million that would increase the provider rate for services to people with IDD.

"So $60 million is great. Nobody is going to look down their nose at it. But it's still not going to fully meet the need. And we have to bear in mind that the need continues to grow every year," said  Jon Meyers, executive director of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

One reason for that, he said, "More people are being diagnosed with disabilities, more children are being diagnosed with autism, there's no question about it. We see reports on this on an ongoing basis."

The other? more people are moving to the state because of its reputation as a leader in disability services, he said.

Meyers says the cost for the state is far greater than any of us probably even realize at this point. That’s because the $60 million is based on figures from 2019. 

A new report, called the rate rebase is due out next year. It will contain updated costs for providing this type of care. 

"And yes, we're operating on numbers that were provided three, four or five years ago. They're out of date," Meyers said. "We have to, we have to prepare ourselves as a state for what we're going to find over the next couple of years and what we're going to learn about what it really costs to do an adequate job of providing services to people with disabilities."