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September 30, 2024 | Vol. MMXXVII | Issue 97
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Congress is in recess, so Disability Policy News will also be taking a recess. It will return on November 18, after the AUCD Conference.
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Budget and Appropriations and Autism CARES Act |
On September 25, Congress passed a 3-month long Continuing Resolution (CR) that extends government funding through December 20 – H.R. 9747. The CR includes an extension of funding for the Autism CARES Act of 2019, delaying its sunset until December 20 and teeing up a new vote for the Autism CARES Act of 2024.
Now that Congress has fulfilled its duty to fund the government, Members can return to their home states, and will return to D.C. after the election.
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Plain Language |
Congress has passed a bill to keep the government funded through December 20. The bill includes language that would help the Autism CARES Act of 2019 continue. This means that research and training focused on people with autism and other developmental disabilities can continue until December 20.
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Action Steps |
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House of Representatives Passes Bill to Improve Access to Home and Community-Based Services for Children in Military Families |
On September 23, the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass the Care for Military Kids Act (H.R. 8108), which would ensure children in military families receiving home and community-based services (HCBS) would be able to continue receiving coverage when their families move throughout the country due to a parent’s military service. The legislation is sponsored by U.S. Representatives Jen Kiggans (VA-R-2) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9).
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Plain Language |
U.S. Representatives Jen Kiggans and Marcy Kaptur introduced a bill that would help children who receive home and community-based services keep those services, even when they move from state to state. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Action Steps |
Read Rep. Kiggans’ press release. Read the text of the bill.
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Think Differently Database Act Passes House Committee on Energy and Commerce
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On September 17, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce passed the Think Differently Database Act (H.R. 670). The bipartisan legislation—sponsored by Representatives Marc Molinaro (R-NY-19) and Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11) in the House, and Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in the Senate—would create a comprehensive, national website database of support services and resources for people with disabilities in every state.
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Plain Language |
The Think Differently Database Act is a bill that would create a website that has a lot of information and resources to help people with disabilities. A group of lawmakers, called a “committee,” decided that the bill should be voted on by the full group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, which is good for the bill.
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Action Steps |
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Bipartisan Ensuring Access to Medicaid Buy-In Bills Move Forward in House and Senate
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On September 18, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Buy-In Programs Act (S. 5070). Medicaid “buy-in” enables workers with disabilities to access benefits, including home and community-based services. Currently, workers lose that benefit they turn 65 years old, which forces many to stop working so that they can continue receiving such benefits, which are
not available through private insurance. This legislation would remove that restriction so that people with disabilities can continue to work past age 65 if they wish while still receiving Medicaid benefits.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the bill (H.R. 8107) passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The sponsors are Representatives Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-6) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA-3).
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Plain Language |
Both the House of Representatives and Senate have legislation (legislation means policies from Congress or other parts of government that create or change laws) that would help people with disabilities keep important Medicaid benefits and keep their jobs.
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Action Steps |
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Bipartisan Bill to Extend ABLE Provisions Passes Senate |
On September 20, the ENABLE Act (S. 4541) passed the Senate. The bipartisan bill, cosponsored by U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Bob Casey (D-PA), would extend provisions improving the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act that will expire in 2025. The ABLE Act enables people with disabilities and their families to save and invest in tax-free savings accounts without losing their eligibility for federal
benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The ENABLE Act would make permanent three key provisions of the ABLE program:
- Enable people with disabilities to be employed and continue to save for the future in their ABLE accounts
- Enable people with disabilities who are contributing to their ABLE accounts to qualify for a nonrefundable saver’s credit of up to $1,000
- Enable people with disabilities to transfer some funds from a 529 education savings account to an ABLE account
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Plain Language |
The Ensuring Nationwide Access to a Better Life Experience (ENABLE) Act would make sure that people with disabilities can keep their jobs and still save money in their ABLE accounts or save money for college in their ABLE accounts.
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Action Steps |
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Senate Passes Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act |
On September 25, the U.S. Senate passed the Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act (S. 3698) without amendments by unanimous consent. The bill, sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Bob Casey (D-PA), would update the Washington, D.C. Code by eliminating the phrase, “substantially retarded persons” and replacing it with the phrase, “persons with moderate intellectual disabilities.” Removing this harmful language shows respect to people with disabilities
and ensures the D.C. code is aligned with the federal Rosa’s Law, which eliminated the word “mental retardation” from federal law.
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Plain Language |
The Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act would remove the “r-word” from the official language that Washington, D.C. uses in its laws. On September 25, the bill passed the Senate.
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Action Steps |
Read Senator Moran’s press release on the bill. Read the bill text.
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Administration for Community Living Releases Progress Report on National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers |
On September 17, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) delivered to Congress a progress report on the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, detailing that “nearly all the federal actions committed to in 2022 were complete or are in progress, and federal agencies committed to almost 40 new actions since the strategy’s release.” These 350 federal actions include:
$20 million in new funding for technical assistance to support implementation of the strategy
Dissemination of new family caregiving training through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program and its 2,700 partnerships with academic, primary care, and community-based organizations
Medicare payment for family caregiver training, issued in the final 2024 Physician Fee Schedule
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Plain Language |
The Administration for Community Living wrote a report on how the federal government is doing with its plan to support family caregivers. The federal government has made a lot of progress to help family caregivers and the people they take care of.
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Action Steps
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Read the progress report. Read the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers.
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GAO Issues Report on Child Care Accessibility |
On September 12, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a new report entitled, “Child Care Accessibility: Agencies Can Further Coordinate to Better Serve Families with Disabilities.” The report detailed the challenges that parents of children with disabilities face when trying to access child care, including physically inaccessible facilities, exclusion from activities, and safety concerns. GAO reviewed
services offered by child care providers, who relayed that “staff shortages and funding constraints were among the challenges they faced serving children or parents with disabilities.” The report found that while the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education have information and resources that could help parents and child care providers, many were unaware of those resources. GAO concluded that, “while the agencies coordinate, they could more intentionally leverage HHS's network of state and local child care partners to disseminate information about Education's Parent Training and Information Centers.”
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Plain Language |
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) made a new report that talks about how it can be hard for parents of children with disabilities to find child care for their children. Many children are left out of activities or are not able to go into a child care building because parts of the building are not accessible. There are a lot of helpful resources for parents and for people who work at child care companies, but they usually do not know about them. The report has a version that is in plain
language.
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Action Steps |
Read the report from GAO. Read the plain language, or “Easy Read” version of the report.
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Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Releases New Report on Healthcare for People with Disabilities |
On September 16, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released a new evidence review: “Healthcare Delivery of Clinical Preventive Services for People With Disabilities.” The report sought to review barriers and supports in place for people with disabilities to receive clinical preventive services and better understand the effectiveness of interventions to improve access to preventive services for people with disabilities. By reviewing studies on the
effectiveness of such interventions, AHRQ found that “evidence was lacking for most preventive services and generally limited to one or two types of disability for any given preventive service.”
They also found “limited evidence on barriers and facilitators to receipt of most preventive services among people with disabilities, and especially limited evidence on interventions to improve receipt of those services. Most studies were related to breast and cervical cancer screening. The lack of studies for most preventive services and types of disability underscores the need for research to address substantial gaps in the evidence.”
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Plain Language |
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality studied the research that people have done about the challenges and supports for people with disabilities who need preventive services, which are health care services that help people find health problems early before they become bigger. These services prevent certain diseases. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that there is not enough research about these services, which means there is not enough information about how people with disabilities either face challenges or are supported when they try to get this kind of health care.
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Action Steps |
Read more about the review.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Releases Guidance on Medicaid and CHIP Coverage |
On September 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new comprehensive guidance on Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) requirements. The guidance explains the requirements of EPSDT coverage, provides best practices and information for states implementing those requirements, and aims to help families understand their rights under EPSDT coverage
requirements.
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Plain Language |
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released helpful information to make sure children can get health care services they need, especially preventive services, which are health care services that help people find health problems early before they become bigger.
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Action Steps |
Read CMS’ press release. Read the new guidance.
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General Services Administration Publishes Final Rule on Accessibility Guidelines |
The General Services Administration (GSA) has published a final rule adopting the public right-of-way accessibility guidelines, which went into effect on September 3. This final rule means that new and modified facilities will need to address “travel distances from on-street parking to building entrances,” “sidewalk sizes and widths,” and “audio and tactile warning systems,” among other accessibility regulations.
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Plain Language |
The General Services Administration made a rule that would make it easier for people with physical disabilities to get around.
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Action Steps |
Read more about the final rule.
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Register for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Call on Medicaid Access Rule |
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a series of trainings on the provisions of the Medicaid Access Rule that relate to home and community-based services. The next call is October 9 at 3:00 pm ET. Learn more and register.
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Register for the White House Office of Public Engagement Aging and Disability Communities Call |
The White House Office of Public Engagement regularly hosts calls to discuss any federal updates that will affect older adults and people with disabilities. The next call is October 3 at 2:00 PM ET. Register.
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Check out the latest episode of "Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All" |
“Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All” is a YouTube video series highlighting current issues and hot topics in disability policy. Past guests of Tuesdays with Liz include U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, agency officials, AUCD leadership, and key members of the disability community.
Liz Weintraub is AUCD's Senior Advocacy Specialist and the host of "Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All."
Liz has extensive experience practicing leadership in self-advocacy and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations, including the Council on Quality & Leadership (CQL) and the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council.
Find the full playlist on YouTube or check out the latest episode featuring Michelle Bishop, Manager for Voter Access and Engagement at the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN).
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