Disability Policy News In Brief

Budget/Appropriations

On September 8, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the $164 billion draft fiscal 2018 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.  In general, AUCD programs fare well given the continued atmosphere of fiscal austerity.

University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) and Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) programs are level-funded compared to Fiscal Year 2017 (the President's Budget provides no funding specifically for LEND). The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Services (NICHD) receive an increase of $46 million, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) receiving a $2 billion increase.

In addition, the Senate (like the House) contains report language specifically rejecting the Administration's proposal to consolidate and cut the Developmental Disabilities Councils, Independent Living and Brain Injury programs.  See more details on the table below

A more detailed analysis is in the works and will be shared in the next issue of In Brief.

The House is now working to consolidate all 12 appropriations bills into one omnibus bill that will include the L-HHS-ED bill. Significant differences between the House and Senate bills will still have to be worked out.  In addition, the amount provided to discretionary programs currently exceed the caps required under the Budget Control Act.  If these caps are not raised by Congress, sequestration (across-the-board cuts) will go into effect.

Given these and other political challenges, a three-month continuing resolution (CR) was passed and signed into law by the President (through December 8).  The CR was paired with a deal to lift the debt ceiling, and a $15 billion emergency spending package for hurricane and other disaster relief. 

Health Care

The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee held two bipartisan hearings regarding health insurance marketplace stabilization (not about Medicaid) last week with state governors and insurance commissioners.  Another hearing takes place this week with other experts and stakeholders. Chairman Alexander (R-TN) reportedly is anxious to move a bill by the end of this month.  It is possible that the bill to reauthorize the CHIP program could be used as the vehicle. 

The Graham-Cassidy ACA repeal bill is still being discussed by some Republican members of Congress and Republican Governors.  Among other things, this bill would block grant and cut Medicaid. However, during the hearing Republican Governor Baker suggested that the proposal would be bad for his state of Massachusetts.    While, the chances for this bill moving is slim, it is important to continue educating policymakers about the importance of the Medicaid program. (For more information on the bill see reports by the Washington Post, Families USA, and The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

AUCD signed on to a letter, along with the Save Medicaid in the Schools Coalition, urging Senate Finance Committee Chairmen Hatch and Walden and Ranking Members Wyden and Pallone to support a full, clean extension of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years at current funding levels. AUCD also signed on to a statement of the National Children's Health Community urging bipartisan action on CHIP. Also, please see "Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum snapshot" CHIP Essential Coverage for Children of Color.

For more information to help understand Medicaid, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has released a report entitled "Medicaid Works for People with Disabilities." The report outlines the important role that Medicaid plays in providing not only health care, but services and supports for people with disabilities. CBPP is also reprising their Health Reform: Beyond the Basics webinar series. Through the month, they will be presenting four webinars in preparation for the upcoming Open Enrollment. The schedule for these webinars along with links can be found here.

ABLE Accounts

Today, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance to State Medicaid Directors regarding the "Implications of the ABLE Act for State Medicaid Programs." The vast majority of the guidance acts to reinforce the language and congressional intent of the ABLE Act to ensure that ABLE accounts "supplement, not supplant" public benefits being provided to the ABLE account owner, including supports and services provided by the Medicaid program. The contents of the letter are divided into the following topics: Treatment of Funds in an ABLE Account; Contributions to ABLE Accounts; Distributions from ABLE Accounts; Post-Eligibility Treatment of Income; Transfer of ABLE Funds to State Estate Recovery.

Education

AUCD's Director of Public Policy, Kim Musheno, provided oral comments before the Department of Education today on behalf of the CCD Education Task Force in response to a request for input on how to respond to the President's Executive Order evaluating all federal regulations and guidance (see Federal Register notice).  During her comments, Musheno stated that CCD believes the wholesale evaluation of existing regulations is unusual, costly, and redundant. AUCD will also be submitting written comments by the September 20 deadline.  University Centers are encouraged to respond to the request for comments as well. 

Home and Community Based Services

Statewide Transition Plans

As of September 6, Arizona and North Carolina have received Initial Approval of their HCBS Statewide Transition plan. The Initial Approval is the communication CMS sends to the state notifying the state that public comment, input and summary requirements are met, the STP is sufficient, but systemic and/or site-specific assessments are not yet completed.

ADA

On September 7, the House Judiciary Committee held a markup of  the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620). The bill was voted out of committee along party lines and will now go to the full House for a vote. All of the amendments proposed by democrats were voted down, also along party lines. If approved, this bill would weaken the protections for people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and make it even harder to enforce rights under the ADA. AUCD signed onto a letter along with 236 members of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and allies in opposition to H.R. 620. CCD is the largest coalition of national organizations working together to advocate for Federal public policy that ensures the self-determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities in all aspects of society. CCD also created a website with resources to educate the public about the ADA and HR 620. The next step is for floor consideration which has not yet been scheduled. There is no companion bill in the Senate to date.

Public Policy Committee

The next policy committee will take place tomorrow, September 12 at 4pm EST. If you are a member of AUCD and interested in participating, please contact Christine Grosso or Kim Musheno for information.

Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All

In this week's edition of Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, Liz interviews Meg Grigal, Co-Director of Think College, about the importance of educational opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities - specifically post-secondary education. In case you missed last week, Liz interviewed Jerry Alliston (Community Education Director at the Mississippi UCEDD) about his experience and lessons learned during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as well as the importance of emergency preparedness for people with disabilities.

For more from AUCD, follow @AUCDNews and like AUCD on Facebook

For updates from our Executive Director Andy Imparato, follow @AndyAUCD.

For more policy news, follow Kim on Twitter at @kmusheno

For definitions of terms used in In Brief, please see AUCD's Glossary of Legislative Terms