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By Mariah Timms, Nashville Tennessean, August 3, 2021

Five young Tennesseans diagnosed with severe intellectual disabilities and medical conditions sued the state over a possible violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Through their caretakers and attorneys with the Tennessee Justice Center, they say a quirk of health care logistics means they're getting worse care than others enrolled in the same care programs.

Each of them is eligible for Tennessee's Medicaid program known as TennCare and for a waiver through the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

With the waiver, these individuals and similar patients are able to use state funds to support their needs at home with their families, instead of being institutionalized to receive the same level of care.

But depending on which branch of the health care system is handling their DIDD waivers, they might have vastly different access to paid, trained caregivers.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted legislation that required the agencies that contract with TennCare to provide services under the waiver to pay an hourly wage of at least $12.50, including for the type of direct care professionals the patients in this case need.

The legislation did not change the wage requirements for other services under the waiver, which the lawsuit says are "well below" the rates TennCare pays for those services under other circumstances.

By Spencer Maki, KWQC TV-6, August 5, 2021

The state of Illinois is requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for some state employees, according to an announcement made by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday.

“Such as our veterans homes, our correctional facilities, and the Dept. of Human Services Developmental Centers and psychiatric hospitals,” Gov. Pritzker said.

Those state employees are required to get the vaccine by Oct. 1.

The state’s new mandate comes as a growing number of private companies are making their own vaccine requirements.

Walmart announced all employees at their headquarters and managers who travel within the U.S. must be vaccinated by early October.

Meat producer Tyson Foods is requiring office workers to become vaccinated by Oct. 1. All other employees will have until Nov. 1. According to the company, almost half of their workforce is already vaccinated.

“I applaud those employers who’ve taken steps to protect their employees, their customers, and the public from the virus. I hope to see others join them,” Gov. Pritzker said.

A vaccination requirement for employees by the state of Illinois and private companies is completely legal and government organizations such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission make that clear.

By Lindy Washburn, NJ Herald, August 2, 2021

Every health care worker in New Jersey's private and public health care facilities, along with those who work at state prisons and county jails, will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 7, or get tested once or twice every week for the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.

The mandate applies not only to employees of state-owned facilities, such as the state veterans' homes, psychiatric hospitals and developmental centers, but also to privately owned hospitals, nursing homes and behavioral health care facilities.

"This mandate is the floor," Murphy said. "If we do not see significant increases in vaccination rates among employees in these settings, we are ready and willing to require all staff to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment."

By Josh Marcus, Yahoo News, August 1, 2021

Florida doctors say they’re “angry and ashamed” over governor Ron DeSantis’s response to the resurgent coronavirus. The high profile Republican has repeatedly criticized federal public health guidance and vowed not to institute new lockdowns or mask mandates, even as the state becomes the national epicenter of the virus, with the Delta variant ravaging the unvaccinated segments of its population.

“While hospitals in our state were filling up, DeSantis was shouting about ‘Freedom over Faucism,’” Bernard Ashby, a Miami cardiologist who leads the state’s Committee to Protect Health Care, told WLRN. “If DeSantis were as concerned about stopping COVID-19 spread as he was about coming up with these clever jabs about Dr. Fauci, we might not be in this position.”

The governor’s office insists the state is in good shape under Mr DeSantis’s Covid leadership, with the recent spike just a “seasonal” jump, but Florida’s Covid data tells another, far more grim story.

Florida is now the national center of the Delta-fueled Covid resurgence. Cases are up 50 per cent week over week, with 110,000 new ones this week alone, levels not seen since January when the vaccine wasn’t widely available. The state has a positivity rate of 18.1 per cent, and more people hospitalized than any other state in America.

What’s more, the people caring for those in hospital are at risk too: Florida health care workers have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation. An AARP report found that as of last month, just 42 per cent of the state’s nursing home workers were fully vaccinated, well behind the national average of 56 per cent.

“There is no higher risk area in the United States than we’re seeing here,” Dr. Aileen Marty, a Florida International University infectious disease expert, told the Miami CBS affiliate. “The numbers that we’re seeing are unbelievable, just unbelievably frightening.”

Despite the growing threat, Mr DeSantis has held fast to a stance against lockdowns, mandates, and other measures shown to stop the spread.

Roughly 122,000 state employees will be required to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday — the latest in a line of mandates across the country aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus delta variant.

Northam’s spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said the policy will apply to employees and contractors within the executive branch, which includes the Virginia Employment Commission, State Police, and Department of Motor Vehicles. Health care workers for state-run facilities — including psychiatric hospitals operated under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services — are also subject to the new requirements.

By Sam Wilson, Independent Record, August 3, 2021

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in Montana can't require employees or residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to guidance released by the state last week to address lingering questions about a controversial new vaccine discrimination law.

And as the fast-spreading Delta variant has caused COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations among unvaccinated Americans to soar nationally, businesses in Montana also cannot require those who refuse to be vaccinated to wear masks to access their premises — unless they require everyone to wear a mask. Health care facilities are, however, allowed to ask employees, patients and others if they have been vaccinated, and provide "reasonable accommodations," like face masks, for those who are unvaccinated or decline to provide their status.

House Bill 702, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Carlson, R-Manhattan, sought to bar discrimination against unvaccinated people in Montana by prohibiting government entities and most businesses from requiring that staff, customers or others be vaccinated as a condition of employment or to access the premises. Republicans who supported the bill argued refusing services or employment on the basis of vaccination status is a form of discrimination and a violation of individual freedoms. Some supporters of the bill also questioned the safety of vaccines in general and noted the COVID vaccines were approved under federal emergency use authorizations.

Federal and state agencies, as well as medical experts and organizations from across the country, have emphasized that large-scale trials have shown each of the approved vaccines to be safe and effective in adults.

The bill was aggressively opposed by medical professionals, hospitals and other health care groups during the recent legislative session. Republican lawmakers passed it despite universal opposition by minority Democrats in the House and Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed it into law in May.

The law has made Montana the only state in the country that prohibits private businesses from requiring employees to get vaccinated, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, which tracks vaccine-related legislation introduced across the United States. Similar legislation that's been signed into law in other states only applies that mandate to governmental entities.

The new law became effective at the beginning of July. Since then, a sharp uptick in new COVID cases among unvaccinated people in the U.S. has prompted parts of the country to return to restrictions that limit the spread of the virus. Last week, the federal government announced that federal employees will soon be required to either be vaccinated against the disease or be tested regularly for infection.

HB 702 carves out exemptions for vaccines required for attendance in public schools, as well as long-term care facilities, like nursing homes and assisted living centers — but only in the event that the new state law would put them at odds with federal health regulations.

H.R.4761 - A bill to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities.

H.R.4762 - A Bill to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify the definition of competitive integrated employment.

VOR OPPOSES:

H.R.4131 & S.2210 - The Better Care Better Jobs Act - We don't oppose this bill. We object to the fact that it excludes the most vulnerable members of the I/DD population.

H.R. 603 & S. 53 - The Raise the Wage Act - These bills are aimed at raising the minimum wage, but they also have provisions to phase out and ultimately eliminate vocational centers and 14 (c) wage certificates over the next six years and to immediately stop the issuing of any new certificates. VOR believes the issue of employment options for individuals with intellectual disabilities should not be buried in a bill for raising the federal minimum wage. Both issues deserve clean, stand-alone bills.

H.R.1880 - To amend the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to make permanent the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration.

H.R. 2383 - The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act - this bill purports to assist employers providing employment under special certificates issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in transforming their business and program models to models that support individuals with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of these special certificates. We feel that, if enacted, tens of thousands of people with I/DD and autism will still be forced out of opportunities they currently, needlessly, and left without viable alternatives to occupy their time or address their needs and their abilities.

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