June 26, 2026

VOR's Weekly News Update

VOR is a national non-profit organization

run by families of people with I/DD and autism

for families of people with I/DD and autism.

Save the Date!

VOR Annual Members Meeting

June 28, 2026

2:00 - 5:30 pm Eastern / 1:00 - 4:30 Central / Noon - 3:30 Mountain / 11 am - 2:30 pm Pacific

• Board of Directors Open Meeting
• Report on recent DOJ interpretation of the Integration Mandate
• Guest Speakers:

................Rhonda Butler - Louisiana State Assembly

................Nancy Brown - Pinecrest Center (Louisiana ICF) Administrator

................Irene Tanzman - President, Saving Wrentham & Hogan Alliance

• Annual State Reports Forum, Networking, and discussion of the DOJ's recent reversal of opinion on the integration mandate.

You must be a member of VOR to attend

Please submit your State Reports to info@vor.net or hdwyervor@gmail.com

Trump administration targets disability integration mandate in DOJ memo

Memo runs counter to the long-standing position of helping people with disabilities live in their communities

By O. Rose Broderick, STAT News, June 22, 2026

The Trump administration released a memo last week that seeks to upend landmark disability laws and court rulings that prioritize people with disabilities receiving care while living in their community instead of at institutions like nursing homes.

The memo — written by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel in response to an inquiry from White House officials — breaks with decades of disability law and practice and argues that the “integration mandate” is not actually a mandate, especially for people with “severe mental illness or disabilities.”

The memo does not change existing laws or decisions that have laid the groundwork for the integration mandate, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision. Courts still must abide by their precedents and these three legal pillars if a lawsuit hits their dockets. 

However, the memo publicly signals the Trump administration’s stance on the rights of people with disabilities, especially their right to be not segregated in institutions to receive necessary care, several legal experts say. They expect the Justice Department to pull back from its longstanding role as the federal enforcer of the so-called Olmstead claims that place institutionalized people with disabilities back into their communities, and they also worry that the memo tees up an attempt to dismantle the Olmstead decision.

The memo arrives a year after the Republican administration significantly slashed state Medicaid allocations, one of the key funding sources of home and community-based services. States have already started cutting their own home care budgets in response. Ohio and Maryland are proposing wage cuts for disabled caregivers, while Idaho considered discontinuing all community care. 

The DOJ memo acknowledged its unusual position, especially given that community care is cheaper than institutional care and that the federal government already has a long-standing position of favorability towards integration. The author writes, “we recognize that this view of Olmstead’s import is out of step with the common understanding of that decision within the federal courts.”

Disability law experts were generally unimpressed with legal arguments laid out by Lanora Pettit, the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, who wrote the memo. Pettit came to the position in 2025 after spending several years in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office. A few months after Pettit left for the federal DOJ, Texas filed a lawsuit against the federal government challenging the federal integration mandate. A final decision is still to come, but it is one of several lawsuits that the Supreme Court could take up, should the DOJ decide to try and target the integration mandate through the court system.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the memo, but some advocates believe a motivation behind the memo could be providing the federal government with more flexibility in how it tackles rising rates of homelessness, which has already been the subject of a sweeping executive order. The memo seems to suggest that an increase in chronic homelessness in the last decade is due to de-institutionalization, even though the statistic cited does not mention de-institutionalization as an inciting cause.

The timing of the memo particularly stung for advocates. Yesterday, the disability community celebrated 27 years since the Olmstead decision. 

Read the full article here

Stephen Miller Said to Drive DOJ Memo Eroding Disability Rights

By Ben Penn and Celine Castronuovo, Bloomberg Law, June 23, 2026

White House adviser Stephen Miller was the driving force behind the Justice Department’s recent memo authorizing states to institutionalize people with disabilities rather than fund community-based care, said people briefed on the situation.

Miller, the president’s powerful deputy chief of staff, was frustrated that the department’s Civil Rights Division was still reaching settlements compelling states to transfer those experiencing mental illness out of institutions, added the individuals, who spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation.

They said Miller felt DOJ’s agreements—including one reached with South Carolina in December—would increase homelessness and didn’t adhere to President Donald Trump’s July executive order pressuring cities and states to move homeless people into treatment centers.

The June 18 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion concluded states may disregard decades of Supreme Court precedent and ensuing regulations mandating integration of individuals with disabilities into home or community settings.

Spokespeople for both the White House and DOJ denied Miller played a role in the memo.

The DOJ legal counsel’s office has long held an outsized function advising the president and executive branch agencies on thorny legal questions. As is typical in similar OLC memos, the author of last week’s disability rights memo noted a request from an executive branch official—in this case the counsel to the president—triggered the office’s exploration of certain questions.

The office has traditionally taken the view that the White House shouldn’t be influencing the legal analysis conducted by DOJ lawyers, a former OLC career attorney said.

The former attorney, who was granted anonymity to provide candor, said OLC underwent a shift at the start of Trump’s second term from carefully interrogating facts provided by the White House to a culture that restricted its independence.

Another administration official said in an interview that the memo’s author, No. 2 OLC official Lanora Pettit, had considered the issue before entering the administration. Pettit, who arrived at DOJ last year directly from serving as Texas’ principal deputy solicitor general, didn’t speak with Miller while writing the opinion, the official added.

The Cicero Institute, a conservative Texas-based think tank with ties to the Trump administration, also appears to have informed DOJ’s decisionmaking. The institute advocates against housing and community-based care requirements to give states flexibility in the treatment of mental illness to address homelessness.

Devon Kurtz, the institute’s public safety policy director, said the White House took an interest in this topic as a policy matter following outcry from state lawmakers and health secretaries “saying these federal rules are out of step with our needs in our community for people with serious mental illness, the highest need individuals.”

“The administration certainly reads what we write about this issue, and we’re certainly always happy to talk to them about the issues we’re writing about,” Kurtz said in an interview.

Read the full article here

‘Confounding and heartbreaking’: Provider groups decry Supreme Court decision that could see the departure of immigrant workers   

By Kimberly Bonvissuto, McKnight's Senior Living, June 26, 2026

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the federal government to strip Temporary Protected Status from Haitian and Syrian immigrants, senior living and care providers will be left to make difficult decisions, including limiting community admissions or even closing units until they can fill vacant staff positions previously filled by immigrants, according to industry leaders. 

One industry executive called the ruling “confounding and heartbreaking.”

The nation’s high court Thursday morning upheld the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke humanitarian protections for approximately 350,000 Haitian and 6,100 Syrian immigrants, ruling that federal courts do not have the authority to weigh in on the administration’s judgment. TPS is a form of humanitarian parole that allows people facing urgent humanitarian crises to enter the United States legally and for a specific time period. 

The decision in Mullin vs. Doe not only affects thousands of direct care workers, but also the care organizations that employ them.

The justices voted 6-3, holding that federal courts cannot review the determinations by then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Neom to end TPS designations for those countries. 

The court also ruled that Haitian TPS holders likely would lose their claim that then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end their TPS status was based on the country’s citizens being overwhelmingly Black, violating the US Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment. Federal judges in Washington, DC, and New York barred the Trump administration from ending the TPS program for Haiti and Syria. 

Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling. 

Industry reaction

LeadingAge said the decision puts older adults and senior living and care providers in an “untenable position.”

“Staff and caregivers who support older adults every day — legal employees who in some of our communities represent 8% or more of the entire workforce — can now lose their jobs overnight,”

LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a statement. “There is no workforce waiting in the wings capable of replacing the long-standing relationships, in some cases built over years and even decades, that are so vital to quality care.”

Sloan urged the Senate to immediately take up the House-passed Haiti TPS extension, “because the alternative is an unnecessary hobbling of our country’s care system at a time when our population is aging rapidly and demand for care and services is growing.”

The American Seniors Housing Association said that the decision creates “immediate workforce uncertainty” as many TPS holders are legally authorized employees in healthcare and long-term care roles.

“The most significant impact is the potential loss of experienced caregivers and front-line staff,” ASHA Vice President of Government Affairs Jeanne McGlynn Delgado told McKnight’s Senior Living. “If affected workers lose authorization to work, providers may face deeper staffing shortages, increased use of overtime or agency labor, higher costs, and greater pressure on remaining employees.”

Stable caregiver relationships, she added, are important to the safety, dignity and daily routines of residents. 

“This decision underscores the need for meaningful immigration reform, which ASHA supports and is working with several coalition partners in an effort to move legislation that addresses the long-term care workforce needs,” McGlynn Delgado said.

Read the full article here

Trump Administration Issues Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver Financing Guidance Which Goes Far Further Than H.R. 1 (Again)

By Joan Alker and Edwin Park, Georgetown University, June 25, 2026

On Friday, June 11 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance on the Secretary’s approach to implementing Section 1115(g) which was added to the Social Security Act by H.R. 1 – the President’s signature budget bill enacted last year.

The statutory language merely codified the concept of budget neutrality in Section 1115 waivers for the first time – a policy which has been in effect for many years but was not previously in the statute – and added a requirement that the CMS Chief Actuary certifies that waivers are budget neutral. CMS estimates that nearly 1/3 of all Medicaid spending flows through Section 1115 agreements.

Continuing an emerging pattern as CMS issues its interpretation of Medicaid provisions in H.R. 1, the Trump Administration goes beyond H.R. 1 and makes clear that their intent with their new approach is to ensure that the federal government spends less on Medicaid by significantly modifying and restricting the budget neutrality requirement for section 1115 Medicaid demonstrations, rather than just codifying the existing policy that the federal government does not spend more under the waiver than it would have in the absence of a waiver. The new guidance states:

CMS’s intended approach to implementing Section 1115(g) is tied to CMS’S current policy goals…This includes an approach to budget neutrality that is expected to reduce overall expenditures in Section 1115 demonstrations thereby reducing federal outlays (p. 2, emphasis added).

Applicability: The new approach will apply to all new demonstrations, renewals, and amendments that are issued on or after January 1, 2027. This conforms with the statutory language. The guidance also makes clear that the concept of budget neutrality will not apply to Section 1115 demonstrations related to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which operates under a different, capped financing structure and has commonly used a concept of “allotment neutrality” in waivers. CMS also states that a proposed regulation will be issued in the future that will be modeled on the methodology described in the guidance, so that states should anticipate this new policy will be in effect even if the forthcoming regulation is not finalized by January 1, 2027.

Continued

Last week, the Department of Education announced its intention to close down and to move Special Education services to two other agencies - Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and IDEA programs are to be overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, while the civil rights of special education students will be overseen by the Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights.

Disability Groups Fear RFK Jr.’s New Special Education Role

By Michael C. Bender and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times, June 20, 2026

The Trump administration’s decision this week to put Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in charge of special education programs has sparked a sharp backlash from advocates for students with disabilities, who say the move will hurt children and that his views on autism make him unfit for the job.

Mr. Kennedy said earlier this year that children with autism would never hold a job, play baseball or go on a date. He quickly walked back the remarks, saying he was only speaking about the most severe cases — only to insist the next day that special education should be moved into his department. “They’re health-related programs rather than particularly educated programs,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Advocates for students with disabilities said that Mr. Kennedy’s comments show how the change puts disabled students at risk of being viewed as medical conditions to be treated instead of as boys and girls to be educated.

“It shows a fundamental lack of understanding of who kids with disabilities are, how they can be successful in school and how their futures can be very bright,” said Katy Neas, chief executive officer of The Arc, a national support group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The move is part of an extraordinary effort from the Trump administration to dismantle the Education Department, which supporters have said would improve government efficiency, lead to better results for students and satisfy a decades-long promise from Republicans to shutter the agency.

Closing the department entirely requires approval from Congress, which has focused on other matters this term. In the meantime, the Trump administration has transferred tens of billions in Education Department programs to the six different federal executive agencies, which includes health and human services.

Congress could block the changes, which some members oppose, but such a move does not appear to have broad support.

Advocates for disabled students battled for decades to convince local schools, state leaders and federal lawmakers to educate children with a range of disabilities, including physical limitations like deafness and blindness and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, alongside other students. That effort culminated with changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which took effect in 1998, that guaranteed disabled students the opportunity for a free, appropriate public education.

But the advocates said they have lately had to redouble their efforts to protect the rights of disabled children to receive quality public education.

Last year, in an interview on Fox News during her first week as education secretary, Ms. McMahon failed to come up with the name of the landmark law for disabled students. For many, the moment underscored the lack of experience that Ms. McMahon, a former pro-wrestling executive, brought to the job.

Edward M. Kennedy Jr., a civil rights advocate for people with disabilities and cousin of Secretary Kennedy, said in an email that he shared concerns about shifting special education programs to the Health and Human Services Department.

His biggest worry, he said, was “the policy and philosophical shift away from viewing children with disabilities as having strengths, potential and a right to be integrated into classrooms.

“This shift to HHS reverts toward an antiquated, ‘medical model’ of disability policy that views disabled children as ‘sick’ and in need of health care, not an education,” Mr. Kennedy, a health care regulatory lawyer, said.

Continued

Senate panel considers vote to shield special education from RFK Jr.'s agency

By Zachary Schermele, USA Today (via AOL), June 21, 2026

A Senate committee is considering a vote in July to prevent the Trump administration from transferring core functions of federal special education programs to the Health and Human Services Department, which is overseen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The move – one of the most dramatic changes in President Donald Trump's yearlong crusade to dismantle the Education Department – immediately set off alarm among disability rights groups, who fear it could eventually disrupt services for students with disabilities. Critics pointed to RFK Jr.'s pattern of controversial past statements about autism in particular (he said during a press conference last year that the condition "destroys families").

Though federal officials have not yet provided a clear timeline for the bold shift – even in internal communications to employees – they've promised that students' rights will continue to be protected. A summary of the new interagency partnership says it "will not impact students, parents or families."

In a statement, Kennedy said the change will "deliver more effective support for individuals with disabilities and their families."

One key Republican lawmaker, however, doesn't share that view. And that strategically placed opposition could spell trouble on Capitol Hill in the coming weeks for both Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who has hardened his opposition to Trump's policies since losing his primary election earlier this year, said he opposes the seismic change.

"I agree that that should not be moved to HHS," he said during a June 17 meeting of the Senate's education committee, which he chairs. "Let me just put that on the record." If the special education division has to be moved to another agency, he said he would prefer that it go to the Labor Department.

Cassidy publicly promised Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, a committee vote next month on a measure that would prevent HHS from administering programs in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. With several moderate Republican senators, including Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins, also serving on the panel, Kaine's effort has the potential to gain momentum in the Senate.

Kaine said he was confident that members on both sides of the aisle could support his measure, calling the Education Department's special education office the "core" of the agency that lawmakers care most about. And he criticized Trump's campaign to functionally get rid of the department without official congressional approval.

"He's treated the Department of Education as if it's a going-out-of-business sale of a discount furniture outlet," Kaine said.

Read the full article here

Families of kids with disabilities warn Education Department changes could break a flawed system

By Heather Holloingsworth, Annie Ma and Moriah Balingit, Associated Press via KUNC, June 21, 2026

For months, and sometimes longer, parents of kids with disabilities say they have waited for the Education Department to make progress on their complaints of bullying or other discrimination.

Now that the department is offloading civil rights enforcement and special education, some parents and advocates warn a process that has largely been stalled since President Donald Trump took office will see only more chaos and roadblocks.

"It's to the point I don't even check in anymore with the attorney," said Nicole May, an Ohio mother. May filed a complaint in spring 2024 with the department's Office for Civil Rights, alleging her teenage daughter was bullied over her hearing aids and was getting in trouble in class because she couldn't hear her teachers. More than two years later, the case lacks a resolution.

Under the changes announced Tuesday, the Department of Justice will take over civil rights enforcement in schools, and the Department of Health and Human Services will oversee special education. The moves help fulfill Trump's campaign promise to dismantle the Education Department. Linda McMahon, the education secretary, pitched the changes as a way to get more help to families of kids with disabilities.

Advocates said special education doesn't belong in a health department, which usually treats disabilities as conditions to manage, instead of differences in how children learn. The top Republican on the Senate education committee agreed, saying he'd pursue legislation to keep special education out of Health and Human Services.

Some families already are taking discrimination cases elsewhere

For many, though, the response to the announcement was a sigh of resignation.

The Education Department's civil rights office had long been the last resort for parents who believe their child is facing discrimination at school, with a mandate to review all complaints. Under Trump, the backlog of cases has ballooned, and resolutions have dwindled. Increasingly, attorneys say they are turning elsewhere to try to obtain justice for children.


The reaction is a marked change from a year ago, when parents and attorneys were in a panic as Education Department staff and attorneys were slashed.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services has shrunk by roughly a third since 2024, and the Office for Civil Rights is roughly 40% smaller. Meanwhile, in the Department of Justice, the Education Opportunities Section has shrunk by half, according to estimates provided by Justice Connection, a network of department alumni.

Continued

RFK Jr. is now in charge of helping some of the students he has publicly insulted

By Eric Garcia, MS Now, Jun 19, 2026

Earlier this week the Department of Education announced a series of “partnerships” with other U.S. government agencies, as the Trump administration attempts to effectively dismantle the department. Among the many changes, the Education Department announced a plan to shift away the responsibilities of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. 

OSERS helps people with disabilities achieve competitive integrated employment, which is to say jobs that pay at least minimum wage with the same benefits as those for nondisabled employees, and allows them to work with nondisabled employees. Under the Education Department’s plan, its core functions would shift to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

This should not be surprising. The Trump administration — and Republicans writ large, going back to Ronald Reagan — have called for the abolition of the Department of Education, arguing that education should be determined at the state level. And during last year’s government shutdown, the Trump administration fired almost all OSERS employees. 

Though the announcement didn’t come out of the blue, it nevertheless alarmed many disability rights advocates. Katy Neas, the CEO of disability rights group the Arc of the United States and a former acting assistant secretary at OSERS, warned in a statement: “A student who is denied services, disciplined for disability-related needs, or blocked from an accessible classroom needs one federal education system that can see the whole picture and act.” 

Even the proposal’s legality is dubious. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s most recent reauthorization — signed by President George W. Bush in 2004 — says the office must exist within the Department of Education. The Trump administration’s move is reminiscent of the president’s executive order to eliminate the Education Department entirely — which would actually require an act of Congress. 

Under any circumstances, this proposal would be terrifying for people with disabilities. But it is especially alarming given that OSERS’ core functions will now be under the purview of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy’s conspiracy-mongering about the false link between autism and vaccines is well known. Having him atop the nation’s health agency has done incalculable damage from his undermining the credibility of vaccines. He holds risible and deeply wrong views of autistic people and people with disabilities. 

In April, for instance, Kennedy said, “These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.” Of course, many autistic people wind up doing all of these things. But — and I want to underscore this with every molecule of my existence — even if they never do, they deserve to be protected, and they deserve to have the best services possible.

Autism isn’t even the only disability that Kennedy has ideas about that will put students at risk. When Kennedy ran for president, he said that “every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence.” Kennedy continued, “those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get reparented.” 

Kennedy was wrong: Black children are less likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder than their white counterparts. A 2017 study found that Black children with ADHD are more likely to go off medication than their white counterparts. If Kennedy has the opportunity to manifest his ideas, these kids will not get the services they need to succeed, but instead will get sent away and treated as a problem. 

Read the full article here

Preschools Disproportionately Kick Out Kids With Disabilities

By Shaun Heasley, Disability Scoop, June 23, 2026

Children with disabilities as young as 2 are being suspended and expelled from school often for behaviors that are related to their diagnoses, according to a new report detailing their experiences.

In one case, a parent was called to pick up her daughter with autism less than two hours into her first day of pre-k. And, a different family shared that their 3-year-old who is on the spectrum has been tossed out of four preschool programs.

The report from the Education Law Center-PA focuses on families in Pennsylvania affected by what’s known as “preschool pushout.” In some cases, that means children are formally suspended or expelled, but it can also include informal efforts to sideline a child like frequently asking parents to pick them up early.

Preschools nationwide suspend an estimated 174,000 students each year, the report notes, and pushout disproportionately affects children of color and those with disabilities. The report cites data showing that preschoolers with disabilities are suspended or expelled at a rate that’s 14.5 times higher than that of their typically developing peers.

Parents describe the experiences as heartbreaking, dramatic and unfair and experts warn that the trauma from being pushed out of preschool has lasting impacts on children.

“Preschool pushout is not about children failing to meet expectations — it’s about systems failing to meet children’s needs and violating their rights,” said Rose Wehrman, an attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Education Law Center-PA, which advocates for education access in Pennsylvania. “When very young children are pushed out of early learning settings, it is a clear signal that programs lack the investment, resources and accountability to support all children.”

Continued

Kentucky Gov. Beshear announces renewed funding for Lee Specialty Clinic after outpouring of support

By Sylvia Goodman, Kentucky Public Radio, June 25, 2026

Just two weeks after announcing a $4.5 million cut to the state-owned Lee Specialty Clinic, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said he had found funds elsewhere in the budget to reverse the slash that would have left more than 1,000 Kentuckians with intellectual and developmental disabilities without services.

Beshear has continuously blamed the state budget, set by the Republican-led legislature, saying it didn’t provide enough money to maintain services. GOP lawmakers meanwhile argue Beshear should focus on finding waste and inefficiencies and should not cut essential programs, like the clinic. The top Republican in the state House accused Beshear of creating a crisis “just so he can appear to save the day.”

The governor said he would pull the money from a totally different budget unit — the funds currently allocated to renovating the Kentucky Capitol Annex, which sits across from the Capitol and holds committee rooms and the offices of lawmakers and their staff. Beshear said the project wouldn’t be able to start for years anyways while the main state Capitol remains under construction.

“In other words, that's millions of dollars that are sitting there in bond payments that will not otherwise be used, so I'm using the flexibility that they claim that I have to move that funding for the annex, and it's going to be used to fund the Lee Specialty Clinic for the next fiscal year,” Beshear said.

Beshear emphasized it was a short-term “band-aid solution” and called on the General Assembly to return with more funding in January, when they are back in session. Democratic Rep. Lindsey Burke, from Lexington, joined the governor to call for higher funding levels.

“We don't need building projects nearly as much as disabled Kentuckians and their families need Lee's Specialty Clinic to remain open, to have the [Cabinet for Health and Family Services] cuts reversed and Kentucky's Medicaid program fully funded,” Burke said.

In a statement, Republican House Speaker David Osborne of Prospect said the situation was “unwarranted” and of Beshear’s own making, needlessly causing anxiety among Kentuckians who rely on Lee Clinic’s services.

“Funding for the Lee Clinic has been included in the budget passed by the General Assembly from the very beginning. That is why the Governor's claims are so troubling. They created uncertainty for patients, families, caregivers, and providers who depend on these services every day,” Osborne wrote.

The announcement came the day after hundreds of Kentuckians flooded committee rooms in Frankfort, begging lawmakers and the administration to work together to solve the funding snafu. Caregivers, disabled Kentuckians and a doctor at the clinic testified that no other provider in Kentucky is able to provide the same specialized care to the vulnerable and medically complex population.

Kim Thompson, whose 29-year-old son finally received a diagnosis for his developmental disorder thanks to the clinic, asked not to be treated as “political pawns.”

“We know that the support is coming from the legislature and I know it's coming from the cabinet, but for some reason a ball got dropped, and for some reason the patients became the ball in whatever game was going on, I just ask that it stop,” Thompson said. “This is really about human lives. We have people who rely on this clinic.”

Read the full article here

Arizona's generous benefits for people with intellectual disabilities at risk from federal cuts   

By Amy Silverman and Athena Ankrah, June 23, 2026

For years, people who care for loved ones with intellectual or developmental disabilities have known that Arizona offers some of the most generous Medicaid benefits in the U.S. So generous that people have re-located from other states because the services they need are too expensive for them to pay out of their own pockets.

But with state spending on support for the disabled soaring, and the federal spending cuts mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act set to begin in January, 2027, big changes in Arizona look inevitable.

That's because the Medicaid benefits states provide are jointly funded by state and federal governments. So when federal payments are reduced, in some cases states can either choose to cut services, or increase their own spending to make up for federal reductions.

Those choices matter to people like Patricia Huber in Phoenix.

Her days begin with a lift.

Each morning, her mom steps into Tricia's suite – a living area, bedroom and bathroom, all decorated in hot pink – and helps her daughter prepare for the day.

On a recent spring afternoon, Cindy Middlestadt walks through the average morning routine while Tricia and her dad, Mark Huber, look on. A machine whirs across the ceiling with a hook and straps that can lift Trish from bed and into her motorized wheelchair, or to a mesh shower chair. 

Tricia has cerebral palsy. For the lanky, short-haired 39-year-old, that means limited mobility and speech. She depends on her mom and other caregivers to help her out of bed, into the shower, into fresh clothes, to eat. And that's just the morning.

"I need help 24 by seven," Tricia says.

Tricia and her family relocated to Arizona from Alaska several years ago, in large part because Arizona's Medicaid benefits are more generous than Alaska's.

Still, Tricia and her family have struggled to get the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) they thought would be abundant here.

The state's long-term Medicaid services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities include paying for healthcare; caregiving - ranging from simple respite to skilled medical care; supplies like wheelchairs and the lift that gets Tricia out of bed; occupational, speech and physical therapies; and housing if one's not living with family, which will likely be necessary for Tricia when her parents are gone.

The litmus test for qualifying for HCBS in Arizona is whether an individual would need to be institutionalized if they didn't receive any government assistance. Even though Tricia requires 24/7 care, her family had to apply several times before Arizona's system accepted her.

The Medicaid services are a lifeline — and not just for Tricia.

In Tricia's case, "if she loses her Medicaid, then it's all out of pocket [costs]," her father says. "She's not insurable at this point."

Mark turns to Cindy.

"Honestly, we'd be poor, right?"

And even with the benefits, decades of caregiving have taken a toll on Cindy, who is 56, and Mark, 65.

"From a physical capacity, my body is shot," Middlestadt says. 

Continued

Montana - Facing budget shortfall, state health officials will withhold Medicaid provider pay increases

By Aaron Bolton, Montana Public Radio, June 19, 2026

Gov. Greg Gianforte and state health officials have agreed to withhold a pay bump for Medicaid providers. The move will resolve a budget shortfall for the public health insurance program.

The state health department earlier this year told lawmakers that current Medicaid funding would fall short by around $7 million.

Officials were able to move some funding from different accounts to help fill that gap to prevent the state from dipping into the general fund.

Health officials told lawmakers they were considering eliminating some optional Medicaid services, but foregoing the 3% pay increase for Medicaid providers was enough.

In a statement, the state health department said, “To be clear, these aren’t cuts. DPHHS is not implementing a second year of provider rate adjustments due to the Legislature not adopting the Department’s request for Medicaid funding during the 2025 session.”

Health care providers are dealing with rising costs and Medicaid already falls short of what it costs to provide many services. Some providers may be forced to eliminate services if they become financially unsustainable.

Read the full article here

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H.R.6137 / S.3211 - Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-NJ) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) - Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals - A bill to require the Office of Management and Budget to consider revising the Standard Occupational Classification system to establish a separate code for direct support professionals

H.R4849 / S.2556 - Rep. Adam Grey (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act of 2025 - To repeal health-related portions of An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14 (Public Law 119-21, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act)

H.R.8736 - Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) - Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act - To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities. 

H.R.6766 / S.3492 - Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) - Essential Caregivers Act - To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities to permit essential caregivers access during any period in which regular visitation is restricted.

H.R.4796 - Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) - Restoring Essential Healthcare Act -To amend Public Law 119-21 (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act) to repeal the prohibition on making payments under the Medicaid program to certain entities.

H.R.4807 - Rep Greg Landsman (D-OH) - Protect Our Hospitals Act - To amend Public Law 119-21 to repeal certain changes to provider taxes under the Medicaid program. 

H.R.1262 & S.932 - Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) "Give Kids A Chance Act" - To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations. This bill would renew research into pediatric cancers and includes increasing funding for rare diseases, some of which cause Intellual and developmental disabilities and autism.  

H.R.1509 & S.752 - Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) & Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Accelerating Kids' Access to Care Act -

This bill would amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to streamline the enrollment process for eligible out-of-state providers under Medicaid and CHIP, and streamline enrollment under the Medicaid program of certain providers across State lines.

H.R.2598 & S.1277 - Rep Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) The IDEA Full Funding Act

To amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full Federal funding of such part.

S.2279 - Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)

A bill to repeal the changes to Medicaid State provider tax authority and State directed payments made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and provide increased funding for the rural health transformation program.

H.R.1950 - Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) - Protect Social Security and Medicare Act

To protect benefits provided under Social Security, Medicare, and any other program of benefits administered by the Social Security Administration or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

S.779 & H.R.1735 - Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) & Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX)

To amend title XIX of the Public Health Service Act to provide for prevention and early intervention services under the Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services program

H.R.2491 & S.1227 - Rep Kat Cammack (R-FL) & Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) - The ABC Act

To require the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Commissioner of Social Security to review and simplify the processes, procedures, forms, and communications for family caregivers to assist individuals in establishing eligibility for, enrolling in, and maintaining and utilizing coverage and benefits under the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security programs



VOR OPPOSES:

H.R.2743 & S.1332 - Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) & Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Raise the Wage Act - A bill to provide increases to the Federal minimum wage and for other purposes. VOR opposes the provision in this bill that would phase out section 14(c) and sheltered workshops for individuals with I/DD and autism.

S.2438 - Transformation to Competitive Employment Act (Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) - A bill 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 people with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of such special certificates, and for other purposes. 

H.R.9401 / S.4865 - Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) & Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) The Latonya Reeves Freedom Act of 2026 - A bill to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities who need long-term services and support. The bill is heavily biased against institutions (without specifying ICFs) and fails to acknowledge the importance of ICFs and SNFs in a full continuum of care. 

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