March 28, 2025

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.

Please join us on Capitol Hill

May 12-14, 2025

VOR's Annual Legislative Initiative

Washington, D.C.

We will meet in D.C. on May 12th - 14th

for meetings with

Congressional Staff and Federal Agencies

to discuss issues of critical importance to

individuals with severe or profound I/DD and autism

and their families.

This year's topics are expected to include:

Preventing Cuts to Medicaid

and

Rebuilding and Supporting our DSP Workforce

This event is open to all members of VOR

Please register early, to reserve your spot

Registration is free until March 15, 2025

So please register now!

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Please Click Here

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This is a critical time for our families.

The actions taken by Congress and the Administration

in the next few months could impact the lives of

hundreds of thousands of people with I/DD and autism in the years to come.

Please help us help.

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300+ organizations urge Senate leader to reject House budget calling for Medicaid cuts   

By Kathleen Steele Gaivin, McKnight's, March 2025

A coalition of more than 300 local, state and national organizations is calling Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to reject the House-passed budget reconciliation resolution that includes cuts to Medicaid.

Read the article here.

The letter was initiated by Families USA. VOR is proud to have been among those who signed on to this letter.

Read the letter to here

A Battle of Extremes - Contrasting Opinions on Medicaid Cuts

It is difficult to avoid biases on political matters, especially in this heated and highly divided political environment. Many of the articles we have printed in the last 3 months have had their leanings, even those that make their case by presenting data from respected sources.

This week, we would like to present some of the arguments from proponents of the GOP's possible Medicaid cuts, as well as articles that show the "doom and gloom" side of the issue. We hope these articles will continue to inform our families and friends and help the to better draw their own conclusions about how any cuts to Medicaid might affect their loved ones with I/DD and autism, as well as the repercussions in their own state and throughout our nation.

We start with a statement from CMS and several articles from prominent groups supporting the cuts, followed by articles opposing the cuts. We hope this helps our members better define their own positions and outlooks.

HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again

Press release from the Department of Health and Human Services, March 27, 2025

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a dramatic restructuring in accordance with President Trump's Executive Order, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”

The restructuring will address this and serve multiple goals without impacting critical services. First, it will save taxpayers $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees who are part of this most recent transformation. When combined with HHS’ other efforts, including early retirement and Fork in the Road, the restructuring results in a total downsizing from 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees.

Secondly, it will streamline the functions of the Department. Currently, the 28 divisions of the HHS contain many redundant units. The restructuring plan will consolidate them into 15 new divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA, and will centralize core functions such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, External Affairs, and Policy. Regional offices will be reduced from 10 to 5.

Third, the overhaul will implement the new HHS priority of ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins. These priorities will be reflected in the reorganization of HHS.

Finally, the restructuring will improve Americans’ experience with HHS by making the agency more responsive and efficient, while ensuring that Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential health services remain intact.

“We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said. “This Department will do more – a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer.”

The specific contents of the restructuring plan that have been announced so far are as follows:

• Creation of the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which will combine multiple agencies — the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) — into a new, unified entity. This centralization will improve coordination of health resources for low-income Americans and will focus on areas including, Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, and Workforce development. Transferring SAMHSA to AHA will increase operational efficiency and assure programs are carried out because it will break down artificial divisions between similar programs.
• Strengthening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), responsible for national disaster and public health emergency response, will transfer to the CDC, reinforcing its core mission to protect Americans from health threats.
• New Assistant Secretary for Enforcement: HHS will create a new Assistant Secretary for Enforcement to oversee the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB), Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health programs.
• Research and Evaluation for Health Policy: HHS will merge the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to create the Office of Strategy to enhance research that informs the Secretary’s policies and improves the effectiveness of federal health programs.
• Reorganization of the Administration for Community Living (ACL): Critical programs that support older adults and people with disabilities will be integrated into other HHS agencies, including the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), ASPE, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This reorganization will not impact Medicare and Medicaid services.

Continued

Read the HHS Fact Sheet here

Keeping Medicaid Sustainable While Prioritizing the Vulnerable

With Scott Winship, American Enterprise Institute, March 24, 2025

On March 24, AEI’s Scott Winship was joined by fellow AEI colleague James C. Capretta, Brian Blase of the Paragon Health Institute, Jessica Riedl of the Manhattan Institute, and Avik Roy of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity to discuss ways to responsibly find cost savings in Medicaid while ensuring that those in need keep their health insurance.

The panel discussed Medicaid reform in the context of the reconciliation negotiations happening on Capitol Hill. Several panelists emphasized the federal government’s responsibility to crack down on improper payments and various forms of fraud occurring at the state level, especially when the US is spending more on insuring able-bodied adults than on children and the disabled. There was broad skepticism among the group regarding the effectiveness of Medicaid work requirements. Overall, the experts agreed that cost discipline and subsidy reform are both necessary to keep Medicaid sustainable, effective, and accessible. The discussion concluded with a Q&A.

The unsustainability of future federal budget deficits necessitates reduced entitlement spending. Finding savings from Medicaid will likely be a central part of this year’s budget debate. What are the costs and benefits of various reform proposals affecting children, working-age adults, and the elderly? How can policymakers best prioritize vulnerable populations as they debate ways to make Medicaid spending growth sustainable? In this event, hear experts weigh in on the most promising ways to balance fiscal responsibility and provide health care to the needy.

Watch on YouTube

Link to the article here

The previous article and webinar features Brian Blase, a former advisor in the first Trump administration who is currently President of the Paragon Health Institute. Mr. Blase is an outspoken proponent of making cuts to Medicaid. Below are several articles concerning or written by Mr. Blase:

Conservatives push to cut extra Medicaid payments to hospitals

By Maya Goldman, Axios, March 26, 2025

A think tank with close ties to the Trump administration is making the case for wonky changes to state Medicaid payments that could solve a big problem for Republican lawmakers: They could cut federal spending in the name of simply cracking down on waste and abuse within the program.

The big picture: State-directed Medicaid payments have grown rapidly, and there's been bipartisan support for reining them in.

• But slashing or getting rid of the payments would be a big financial hit for providers, and especially hospitals, who vehemently disagree that the payments are wasteful.

Driving the news: Paragon Health Institute released a report Wednesday characterizing state-directed payments as "legalized Medicaid money laundering."

• States can tax providers or use other means to increase their state share of Medicaid funding, which allows the state to draw down additional federal Medicaid dollars. States can then use that extra money to increase payments to providers.
• "Not only do these programs sidestep the truly needy on Medicaid and favor special interests instead, but all this is financed by growing the federal debt, leading to inflation and higher interest rates," the report says.

Zoom in: State-directed payment arrangements approved as of last August are projected to cost more than $110 billion per year, a nearly 60% increase over cost projections from early 2023.

• A small portion of these arrangements are driving most of the increase, according to independent Medicaid advisers to Congress.

What they're saying: "All of this is fits within waste and abuse in the program," Paragon President Brian Blase, who co-authored the report, told Axios. "Congress, looking at $2 trillion budget deficits, needs to make significant reform to the federal-state partnership" in Medicaid.

• The report advocates for Congress to cap the amount of federal Medicaid funding states can receive, though it acknowledges that such a change is unlikely.
• The report also recommends other policy changes, like prohibiting states from using provider and insurer taxes to finance Medicaid payments, ending or capping state-directed payments and stopping policy consultants from being paid with Medicaid funds.

Continued

American Voters Want Commonsense Medicaid Reforms

By Brian Blase, Paragon Health Institute, March 19, 2025

Congress is considering options to reform Medicaid. In anticipation of this moment, Paragon has spent years developing policy solutions to fix Medicaid and improve Americans’ well-being. We recently commissioned a public opinion survey, representative of the American electorate, to gauge support for various reforms.

We tested the key proposal in our report, Medicaid Financing Reform: Stopping Discrimination Against the Most Vulnerable and Reducing Bias Favoring Wealthy States. We found that American voters overwhelmingly support it. Other proposals, which we will release next week to tackle the extensive money laundering tactics in Medicaid, are also widely supported.

Public Opinion Strategies surveyed a representative group of 1,000 registered voters from across the country. The results provide encouraging news for reformers committed to improving health programs serving the most vulnerable while making commonsense reforms.

Americans across the political spectrum agree that Congress must crack down on waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health care programs. More than nine-in-ten voters support Congress targeting wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive government health care spending—97% of Republicans, 91% of independents, and 83% of Democrats.

Continued

Addressing Medicaid Money Laundering

By Brian Blase, Paragon Health Institute, March 25, 2025

This paper examines how states use Medicaid financing schemes to shift costs from state budgets to federal taxpayers, escalating healthcare costs and distorting the program’s purpose, and offers policy recommendations to curb these practices and refocus Medicaid on efficiency and patient outcomes.

It is rare for taxpayers to lobby the government to take their money, but it is a common feature of the Medicaid program today. In what is best described as legalized “money laundering,” health care providers send money to states through a tax “scam” (former President Biden’s description), states use those funds to grow Medicaid spending using federal matching dollars, and providers (those original taxpayers) benefit from higher payments for services they provide to Medicaid recipients. States support these financing schemes, as they enable them to obtain federal funds without any actual state contribution—and they repurpose these funds for additional Medicaid spending, other state spending, or tax cuts.

Though Medicaid was intended to provide health care for the truly needy, the federal government provides an open-ended federal reimbursement of real state expenditures but also artificial state expenditures. As a result, states, insurers, and providers have used Medicaid to siphon hundreds of billions of dollars from federal taxpayers over the past decade and raise payments well above what can be considered “economical or efficient,” as federal law requires.

This paper reveals how this money laundering dilutes the purpose of Medicaid, raises health care costs for those with commercial insurance, and escalates the financial burden on federal taxpayers. As Congress debates Medicaid reform, we provide policymakers with a menu of options to refocus Medicaid on efficient health care and improved patient outcomes, enhance program integrity, and rebalance the state and federal share of costs.

Continued

‘Painful period’: RFK Jr. eliminates 10,000 jobs at HHS

By Chelsea Cirruzo and Adam Cancryn, Politico, March 27, 2025

Thousands of HHS employees will lose their jobs and the number of agencies will shrink in a massive plan by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reshape the department and realign its priorities to tackle chronic diseases.

The overhaul, which will reduce the workforce by more than 20 percent or 10,000 workers, will affect all HHS agencies.

According to HHS, the department will be downsized from 82,000 workers to 62,000 and reduce its divisions from 28 to 15, with the creation of an office called the Administration for a Healthy America. Regional offices will also be cut in half. The last time HHS had that many employees was 2002.

The FDA will dismiss 3,500 employees, which HHS said will not impact drug, medical device, food reviewers or inspectors, according to a document obtained by POLITICO. About 2,400 employees will be fired from the CDC and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (the two are being merged). CMS will let go of 300 workers, and the NIH will cut 1,200. 

“We’re going to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments and agencies while preserving their core functions,” Kennedy said in a six-minute video explaining the cuts that he posted to X on Thursday. “We’re going to do more with less.”

Kennedy acknowledged that the deep cuts would plunge the department into a “painful period” that requires the culling of tens of thousands of employees and the closure of offices across the country. Trump officials had closely guarded the reorganization plans for weeks, prompting confusion and anxiety at HHS agencies. 

Continued

The Big Secret About Medicaid: It’s a Middle-Class Benefit

By Ron Lieber, The New York Times, March 21, 2025

“I never thought that Medicaid would become an issue in my family, but it has.”

That was the first line of a note I received this week from a retired investment industry veteran whose autistic son receives coverage from the program. A similar email arrived from one of the most affluent towns in California.

Yes, Medicaid primarily serves Americans with the lowest incomes, and you may not count yourself among them.

But now that the program is potentially on the chopping block, as Republicans in Congress seek to make up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, it’s a good time to consider others who qualify.

It could be an aging parent who needs nursing home care, whose significant nest egg has been drained after 20 years of retirement. Or it could be a 26-year-old adult child who can’t be covered on your health insurance anymore but is not yet making much money. Or perhaps it’s a severely disabled child.

Millions of people who are financially comfortable now may be just one bad break away from needing Medicaid for themselves or a member of their immediate family. Without coverage, the cost of care for an aging parent or a sick or disabled child — of any age — can be ruinous.

Medicaid is a shield against anxiety for the luckiest among us. If there is any chance your family could face enormous bills from situations like the ones that follow, the Medicaid policy debate affects you, too.

Continued

Putting $880 Billion in Potential Federal Medicaid Cuts in Context of State Budgets and Coverage

By Elizabeth Williams, Alice Burns, and Robin Rudowitz, KFF, March 24, 2025

Medicaid is jointly financed by states and the federal government but administered by states within broad federal rules. Medicaid accounts for a large share of state budgets and can be central to state fiscal decisions. Following years of robust revenue growth, states are now contending with weakening tax revenues, budget shortfalls, and uncertainty in their long-term fiscal outlook, leaving some states with difficult budget decisions. At the same time, there are several options under consideration in Congress to significantly reduce federal Medicaid spending to help pay for tax cuts, with the recently passed House budget resolution targeting cuts to Medicaid of up to $880 billion or more over a decade. There are not yet detailed proposals under consideration by Congress to achieve federal Medicaid spending reductions. However, any reduction in federal Medicaid spending would leave states with tough choices about how to offset reductions through tax increases or cuts to other programs, like education. If states are not able to offset the loss of federal funds with new taxes or reductions in other state spending, states would have to make cuts to their Medicaid programs. This brief explores the magnitude of federal funding cuts under the House budget resolution and puts the $880 billion in context by comparing the size of the cuts to states’ tax revenues, spending on education, and the number of Medicaid enrollees covered for that cost. The analysis assumes $880 billion in federal Medicaid cuts over a decade, though the amount could end up being more or less depending on what Congress passes.

Key Take-Aways

• Federal cuts of $880 billion over 10 years (or $88 billion per year) would represent 29% of state-financed Medicaid spending per resident.
• States could opt to raise tax revenues to offset federal Medicaid reductions. Proposed federal cuts represent 6% of state taxes per resident.
• States could instead make cuts to other states programs such as education, the largest source of expenditures from state funds, to offset federal Medicaid reductions. Proposed federal cuts represent 19% of state education spending per pupil.
• To further put the proposed federal cuts in perspective, they are equivalent to all Medicaid spending on 3 million seniors and people with disabilities (18% of enrollees in that group), 14 million other adults (38% in that group), or 22 million children enrolled in Medicaid (76% of that group). These figures are meant to put the magnitude of the cuts in perspective, not to suggest that states would achieve savings by eliminating coverage by these amounts. The effects of federal cuts on Medicaid spending and coverage would depend on the specific policies enacted.

Continued

Medicaid cuts rippling through rural America could bring hospital closures, job losses

By Jennifer Shutt, Stateline, March 21, 2025

Americans living in rural communities throughout the country could see their access to health care diminish if Congress changes eligibility for Medicaid or significantly reduces its federal funding.

While rural residents who depend on the state-federal program for lower income people would experience the most substantial impacts, those who have private health insurance or have other coverage, like Medicare, would likely encounter changes as well.

Rural hospitals and primary care physicians’ incomes would likely go down if Medicaid patients are no longer able to afford the same level of health care, potentially leading to reductions in services offered for everyone or even closures, according to experts.

Whitney Zahnd, assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Iowa, said that cuts to Medicaid “will disproportionately hit rural communities,” where 24% of people are covered by the program, including 47% of all births and a majority of nursing home patients.

“This is something that’s going to impact them more than those in urban areas and that’s on top of the already lower access to care, higher need for care, older populations,” Zahnd said. “It’s just going to make things that are already a challenge even more challenging for rural communities.”

The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy categorizes about 20.3% of Americans, or 62.8 million people, as living in rural areas, based on 2020 Census data.

Rural areas have seen hospitals close their doors at higher rates than facilities in non-rural areas and that trend doesn’t appear likely to reverse any time soon.

The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has an interactive map showing where 87 rural hospitals have closed completely since 2010, while an additional 65 “no longer provide in-patient services, but continue to provide some health care services.”

And a report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform released in February shows that more “than 700 rural hospitals — one-third of all rural hospitals in the country — are at risk of closing because of the serious financial problems they are experiencing.”

Losing income from Medicaid patients could lead to a “domino effect,” Zahnd said, exacerbating budget challenges for rural health care providers and potentially communities overall.

“Economically in a lot of rural communities, the hospital is the largest employer,” Zahnd said. “So if you have a hospital close, it’s not just that people are losing access to health care, they might be losing their job or their family member may be losing their job.”

Continued

Report Highlights Necessity of Disability Services, Impact of Potential Cuts

Home Care, March 21, 2025

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) and ANCOR, two national voices for providers of long-term support services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), released the inaugural Case for Inclusion Policy Blueprint for Sustainable Services. The report builds on findings in the latest Case for Inclusion Data Snapshot released in October 2024 and details critical recommendations for policymakers to strengthen community-based services for people with IDD.

As Congress contemplates a spending cut of at least $880 billion that would undoubtedly target the federal Medicaid program, the Case for Inclusion Policy Blueprint also spotlights how home- and community-based services (HCBS) bolster local economies both through job creation and by enabling the family members of people with IDD to maintain employment.

In New York, for example, the positive economic impact of investing in HCBS was more than double the cost—$6.7 billion invested by the state into the disability services system led to $14.3 billion in economic activity. Other states prove that the opposite is also true. Maine, for instance, is estimated to be losing more than $1 billion per year in economic activity due to the national shortage of direct support professionals (DSPs) and the resulting need for family members of people with IDD to leave the workforce in order to care for their loved ones. Without DSPs to provide support for people with IDD, families also face mounting out-of-pocket expenses and are more likely to rely on public assistance.

Moreover, funding and delivering HCBS is far less costly in the long run. As of 2020, the average annual cost to serve a person with IDD in the community was $49,764, whereas the average cost to deliver those same services in a large, state-run institution was $313,188.

In October 2024, the Case for Inclusion Data Snapshot revealed that while community-based providers were able to increase hourly wage averages for DSPs to an average of $15.79 in 2022 (compared to $14.41 the year prior), the national average turnover ratio remains high at roughly 40%. Additionally, 90% of providers have experienced moderate to severe staffing challenges in the past year, and 39% have discontinued programs and services due to staffing shortages, indicating that the modest increases were not sufficient to attract and retain workers.

Long-term underinvestment in community-based services paired with insufficient Medicaid reimbursement rates continue to threaten disability service providers’ ability to raise wages to competitive levels. Without a mechanism to compel states to engage in regular reimbursement rate reviews and increases, providers will continue to struggle to offer wages competitive with employers in other hourly wage industries like fast-food restaurants or retail and convenience stores. As providers grapple with discontinuing existing services and turning away new referrals, individuals with IDD in 2023 spent 50 months on average—more than four years—languishing on states’ waiting lists to receive services.

ANCOR and UCP argue in the newly issued Policy Blueprint that cutting Medicaid would place insurmountable strain on state budgets, forcing them to either cover the gap created by a loss in federal funding or, more likely, cut optional programs and reduce services and hours allocated to people with IDD.

“The lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will be deeply and tragically impacted if we fail to sufficiently invest in home- and community-based services and further cut federal Medicaid spending,” said Barbara Merrill, ANCOR’s chief executive officer. “Investing in the direct support workforce, and in providing care in peoples’ homes and communities, is more cost-effective in the long run, but right now, community providers are so squeezed that the majority cannot accept more referrals. Our national waiting list for services has hovered around half a million for years. Scaling back funding for services now, amid an ongoing workforce crisis, will lead to the shuttering of more services and even further limits on access to support for hundreds of thousands of people and their families that deserve to be active, included and productive members of their communities.”

“Policy change is what we need to impact meaningful change for people with disabilities," said Armando Contreras, president & CEO for UCP. "Congress has the opportunity to reject proposed cuts to Medicaid, stabilize the direct support workforce, and improve access to services for people with disabilities. We urge them and decision makers across all levels of government to enact policies that prioritize dignity, independence and full inclusion of Americans with cerebral palsy and an array of other disabilities.”  

Continued

Trump Says Ed Department Will No Longer Handle ‘Special Needs’

By Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop, March 25, 2025

President Donald Trump said he will move special education oversight to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but the plan is short on specifics and it’s unclear whether he has the authority to do so.

Trump told reporters late last week that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “will be handling special needs and all of the nutrition programs.”

“Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education,” Trump said.

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The announcement came less than 24 hours after Trump signed an executive order aimed at fulfilling his campaign promise to shut down the Department of Education and just over a week after the agency said it would slash its workforce by nearly half. The administration’s changes at the Education Department are already facing multiple court challenges.

The Education Department did not respond to questions about exactly what special education programs would be moving to the Department of Health and Human Services, what the process would look like or when it would take place.

Over the weekend, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was less firm about the plan, telling CNN “the programs for students with disabilities will more than likely rest in HHS.”

Kennedy said in a post on X that his department “is fully prepared to take on the responsibility of supporting individuals with special needs,” but representatives for the health agency similarly declined to comment on details.

The push to move oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act out of the Education Department is now prompting legal questions and other concerns from special education and disability advocates.

“This is not a change that can be made by executive order — it would require Congress to amend the law to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to move the Office of Special Education Programs from ED to HHS,” said Stephanie Smith Lee, co-director of policy and advocacy at the National Down Syndrome Congress, who served as director of the Education Department’s Office of Special Education Programs under President George W. Bush.

The IDEA specifies that “there shall be, within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education, an Office of Special Education Programs, which shall be the principal agency in the department for administering and carrying out this title and other programs and activities concerning the education of children with disabilities.”

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A big change for kids with disabilities is underway, Trump says. Critics say it’s against the law.

By Kalyn Belsha and Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat, March 25, 2025

President Donald Trump made a brief announcement Friday morning of a policy that could upend how the nation serves its 7.5 million students with disabilities.

Offering virtually no details, Trump said he’d decided that the Department of Health and Human Services would handle students’ “special needs” instead of the Education Department.

“Rather complex,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I think that will work out very well.”

But many legal experts and advocates for children with disabilities say the president does not have the authority to move funding or oversight of special education to another agency. That would require an act of Congress, they say.

Many educators, parents, and disability rights advocates worry that the president will try to move forward anyway, and that this plan could end up stripping children with disabilities of legally required educational support and services — and sideline them in an agency that doesn’t have the expertise, staff, or training to properly serve them.

“There was a recognition that the education of students with disabilities should occur alongside non-disabled students,” when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, was signed into law in 1975, said Robyn Linscott, the director of education and family policy at The Arc, which advocates for children with disabilities.

“To be able to say that students with disabilities are this monolith and we can just pluck them out of the general population of students and plop them into a different agency,” Linscott said, “is just bonkers.”

IDEA predates the creation of the federal Education Department by four years, and was enacted when education fell under what was then known as the Health, Education, and Welfare Department.

IDEA would remain on the books even if the Education Department ceased to exist. But advocates said enforcement of the law is bound up in the infrastructure of the Education Department, as the two evolved together. Students with disabilities are part of nearly every other education law, from school accountability to higher education access.

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‘It’s cruel’: Advocates weigh in on Trump’s order to dismantle Education Department 

By Janae' Hancock, KCTV News, March 26, 2025

President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education Thursday has many worried about what could happen next.

For Stephanie Sumulong, her concerns revolve around her son, Owen, and whether or not he will be protected.

“He is a human being just like you and [me].” She went on, “He deserves access to all the things that he would like to try and do.”

Owen, who has Down syndrome, joins nearly 7.5 million children who are protected under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The law keeps students from being turned away from public schools. It also requires schools to provide them with the necessary tools to be successful academically.

When asked about Trump’s effort to dismantle the department, Stephanie said, “When it comes down to it, it’s cruel.”

Special Education needs

For parents of kids with disabilities, advocating for their child can be difficult. For Stephanie, it’s a task she’s willing to take on to keep Owen smiling.

“I’m going to fight for whatever I need to fight for,” she said.

Owen is non-verbal, so Stephanie says she has to be his voice.

Continued

The following article was brought to our attention by staffers on the Senate Finance Committee in a meeting we had earlier this week.

Nevada Republican Gov. Lombardo speaks out against GOP’s possible Medicaid cuts

By Tabitha Mueller, The Nevada Independent, February 26, 2025

It’s Lombardo’s strongest stance yet against his party’s plans, which have already drawn the ire of Democrats in a state that has expanded Medicaid eligibility.

Gov. Joe Lombardo is asking Congress not to slash Medicaid funding, warning that while fiscal responsibility is vital, cuts to the “safety net program” could have “serious consequences” in a state heavily dependent on the federal health insurance program. 

The request came in the form of a letter Wednesday, outlining the Republican governor's concerns about a variety of cuts to the program proposed in a budget resolution passed by congressional Republicans on Tuesday. The letter warned that the cuts could spell financial trouble for the Silver State.

“Nevada has demonstrated that federal investment in the state’s Medicaid program has improved both health outcomes and productivity, yet challenges remain,” Lombardo wrote. “By leveraging federal funding the state has expanded access to school health services, lowered the uninsured rate, and made significant progress in enhancing behavioral health care for both children and adults.”

He noted that as one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Medicaid gives Nevada flexibility to adjust to demographic changes and “limitations on Medicaid funding would clearly hinder that ability.” 

Of the proposals being weighed for cuts, Lombardo highlighted the following issues as “most detrimental for Nevada”: rolling back expanded Medicaid for low-income residents, imposing a per-capita limit on how much the federal government will pay for Medicaid and lowering the matching funds for hospital provider fees, which Nevada intends to use for overhauling the state’s behavioral health care system for children.

“Beyond its role providing coverage for vulnerable populations, hospitals, clinics, and providers across the state depend on Medicaid reimbursements to sustain operations, maintain staffing levels and invest in critical services,” Lombardo wrote in a separate message to legislators."

Continued

Read the letter here

New bill could expand use of cameras at Nevada assisted living facilities

By Darcy Spears, Jarah Wright, KTNV, March 21,, 2025

On Friday, the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee heard a new bill that seeks to end current limits and create penalties for failing to follow the law.

If passed, Assembly Bill 368 would expand the scope of Henry's Law so cameras can be installed in residents' rooms at any type of assisted or supported living facility, including those that offer support for people with disabilities, intermediate care, skilled nursing homes, individual and group residential care, hospital long-term care units, assisted living services in a senior living community, and secure units in a medical facility for patients with dementia.

Read the full article here

Is Iowa doing enough to help direct care workers? 

By Di Findley, The Gazette, March 22, 2025

Over 300,000 family caregivers provide the lion’s share of care for those with disabilities, including children with special needs, and older Iowans. When family caregivers can no longer provide round the-clock support, the direct care workforce becomes an extension of families.

They are Certified Nursing Assistants, Home Health and Hospice Aides, Direct Support Professionals, and other Direct Care Workers (DCWs) in nursing homes, group homes, hospices, and the homes of those served. A state legislator asked me, “Is the state doing enough to address direct care workforce issues?” I replied, “If the state was doing enough, we wouldn’t be having the same conversations we were having when I started Iowa CareGivers 33 years ago.”

In 2019, Iowa CareGivers partnered with Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) to conduct a Direct Care Worker Wage and Benefit Survey. A summary of findings revealed a DCW median hourly wage of under $15 an hour. DCWs make up one of the largest segments of Iowa’s workforce. Most are women whose median hourly wage barely budged between 2019 and 2022.

Over 50% had children enrolled in the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program. Others used the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help them pay for food, child care subsidies, and other supports that enabled them to work. The turnover rate of Certified Nursing Assistants working in nursing homes in 2023 was 77% with a price tag of over $120 million, using a LeadingAge nursing home industry formula for calculating turnover cost.

The high turnover rate is partially caused by poor wages and benefits. Worker burnout is at an all-time high. Iowa now needs to increase wages by requiring employers that participate in the Medicaid programs to pay adequate wages. But other strategies must be explored. Something suggested by both Democrat and Republican legislators, raising the minimum wage or tax incentives.

Increasing the minimum wage to $20 or even $15 an hour for DCWs would be an improvement but it comes with a risk. An hourly wage increase could result in the loss of vital state benefits, doing more harm to these essential workers. The “cliff effect” occurs when a small increase in earnings results in lost benefits.

Continued

Republicans attacking Medicaid will hit North Carolina families hard: Opinion

By Nathan Boucher, Fayetteville Ovserver, March 26, 2025

Of our 100 counties, 78 are rural and suffer from shortages of health services and other limited access. Reducing Medicaid funding would cripple hospitals and healthcare providers.

As House Republicans push for nearly $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade, Medicaid — the critical healthcare safety net for over 80 million Americans — is squarely in the crosshairs. While GOP leaders insist that Medicaid will be spared, the sheer scale of the proposed cuts makes that promise ring hollow. The reality is stark: slashing Medicaid funding will harm older and disabled Americans, deepen economic instability and place an unsustainable financial burden on individual states.

Here in North Carolina, rural individuals and families would be hit hard by planned national cutbacks. Of our 100 counties, 78 are rural and suffer from shortages of health services and other limited access even under present funding. Reducing Medicaid funding would cripple hospitals and healthcare providers, particularly those in rural and underserved communities.

As of March 7, there were 640,297 North Carolinians enrolled in Medicaid expansion. Medicaid cutbacks would jeopardize this covered population. However, people would still need care and that care would still need to be provided — but without an adequate Medicaid program from which to receive payment. This is not just a policy choice— it is a public health crisis in the making.

Medicaid is more than just a health insurance program — it is a lifeline for millions of low-income families, older adults and individuals with disabilities. For many, Medicaid provides the only access and pay for essential medical care, from routine check-ups to life-saving treatments. It also plays a crucial role in paying for our nation’s and North Carolina’s patchwork long-term care options, covering services that Medicare does not, such as home and community-based care that allows older Americans to age with dignity.

Cutting Medicaid is also bad economics

House Republicans argue that these spending cuts are necessary to extend the expiring tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but the math does not add up. The majority of benefits from these tax cuts go to the wealthiest Americans, while Medicaid serves those who need support the most.

Continued

Indiana Medicaid waiver invitations hit capacity, more than 10,000 still on waitlists

By Abigail Ruhman, WFYI, March 26, 2025

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 More than 10,000 people are still on waitlists for home- and community-based services through two Medicaid waivers. But the number of people invited off the waitlist so far would fill all the available slots on the waivers.

Advocates said Indiana won’t invite new people off the waitlist until previous invitations have been declined or rescinded.

Last week, a Family and Social Services Administration official confirmed invitations off the waitlist have depended on other people declining or the state rescinding an invitation since February.

Once someone is invited off the waitlist for the Health and Wellness or Pathways waiver, they have 30 days to accept the invitation. Then, they have 180 days to complete a service plan and several assessments to start receiving services. If they don’t, FSSA rescinds the invitation and offers it to another person on the waitlist.

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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Introduces Measures to Protect Disability Services Amid Budget Cuts

By Steve Wilson, Hoodline, March 27, 2025

Governor Katie Hobbs has introduced new measures to manage expenses and protect services for individuals with disabilities. These actions follow months of discussions with stakeholders, including service providers, health organizations, and advocate parents. The move comes amid a political disagreement with Republican lawmakers pushing for significant budget cuts that could affect services for people with developmental disabilities. Hobbs stated, "It is outrageous that the legislative majority continues to hold Arizonans with autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome hostage to their political stunts," according to the Office of the Governor.

Governor Hobbs has proposed a 40-hour weekly cap on the Parents as Paid Caregiver program, set to begin on July 1. An improved assessment process will also be introduced on October 1, to ensure caregiving meets the standard of "extraordinary care." Additionally, a new billing system will be implemented on July 1, to enhance data tracking and trend forecasting. Hobbs criticized her political opponents, stating, "Now that I have implemented cost-control measures, they need to pass a clean supplemental bill and give Arizonans with disabilities and their caregivers the certainty that they deserve."

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Wisconsin - Opinion: Medicaid has been life-changing for our family. We must protect it.

By Kevin Fech, Up North News, March 27, 2025

Our journey into Medicaid began almost 28 years ago when our son was born with Down syndrome. As a first-time parent you have so many questions. Add in a child who has an intellectual disability and your head really spins. We were told that we should have no expectations for him. Imagine, minutes after giving birth, you are told your child will be a burden to society. Because of the Down syndrome diagnosis, my son automatically qualified for the Katie Beckett program, which was a godsend for my wife and me. We decided that he would be a contributing member of society even before leaving the hospital. 

Medicaid has offered benefits far beyond health insurance. Medicaid provided programs such Birth to 3, Children’s Long-Term Care and Support, and now IRIS, a program for adults with disabilities. These programs have provided much needed physical and occupation therapies. Because of these therapies and support, my son graduated high school with a diploma, not a certificate of attendance. There were speech therapies to help him communicate. While he is not verbal, my son has been able to communicate with his elected officials and he votes. Probably the most important of all the support he received was his work with the Division of Vocation Rehabilitation (DVR). Work experiences through the transition program allowed our son to identify what he likes to do in terms of employment. My son now has his own shredding business. From being told originally to have no expectations, I think this is all pretty impressive and could not have been accomplished without the help from Medicaid.

Medicaid is not just for the benefit of my son, Medicaid creates jobs. I work in a Medicaid funded program. My career has allowed me and my family the opportunity to live a middle-class life. The career allows me to provide health insurance for my family. Insurance is so important now. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and have been fighting ever since. Without insurance, I don’t know that I would still be alive. If something were to happen to me, my son’s sole insurance would become Medicaid. My wife and kids would lose their coverage and then potentially rely on Medicaid for their insurance. 

My wife also works in a Medicaid program. She provides care for our son, helping him brush his teeth and shower and get dressed every day. All basic needs to ensure our son is treated with dignity, he is how God intended him to be. She drives him to the gym six days per week so he can exercise. The gym is a community for our son. A 2023 Surgeon General report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” in 2023, shows that the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

My wife is just one of tens of thousands of people in Wisconsin providing care to our most vulnerable population, people with disabilities and seniors. There is a nationwide caregiver crisis, and we can’t afford to create more barriers for our loved ones. These are just direct caregivers, thousands more would be impacted from providing rides to medical appointments to companies that work with adaptive aids, to home modifications that allow accessibility into and around the home. Living in a home is significantly less expensive than living in a nursing home.

Continued

New Yorkers living with disability face a crisis. We have to protect them | Opinion

By Kathryn Jerian, Special to the USA TODAY Network via Lohud, March 28, 2025

As New York moves closer to finalizing the state budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature must agree on the best funding plan to care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or I/DD. The vast majority of New Yorkers with I/DD are supported by nonprofit agencies that provide everything from daily care to housing, transportation, employment support, medical services, and more. After more than a decade without adequate investment to cover the rising costs of care, we are in the midst of a systemic workforce crisis that threatens the stability and quality of support for New Yorkers with I/DD.New York Disability Advocates advocated for an increased investment in the I/DD system through a 7.8% Targeted Inflationary Increase, which would build on the governor’s proposed 2.1% increase and provide the resources needed to address the rising costs of services. This increase would ensure provider agencies can keep their doors open, pay fair wages, and deliver the essential care that New Yorkers with I/DD rely on. I/DD provider agencies are funded almost exclusively by Medicaid. Ensuring funding in the NYS budget is their only means to close vast budget gaps and make sorely needed investments in services and the staff who provide them.

These complex financial struggles are caused by inflation in food, transportation and housing. The dedicated staff who support our most vulnerable citizens face these same inflationary pressures. They deserve proper compensation for their level of skill, professionalism and responsibility.

We are thankful that all of our elected leaders support increased funding for I/DD services, but they have put forward very different plans. Hochul’s proposed budget includes a targeted inflationary increase of 2.1%. The state Assembly’s proposal provides a 7.8% targeted inflationary increase for provider agencies to support wages and other costs. The state Senate’s proposal includes a 7.8% targeted inflationary increase and mandates that a portion of that increase must be used to provide a 4% wage increase for certain staff. The Senate proposal also includes a Direct Support Wage Enhancement, which would provide an additional $4,000 per direct care staff.

We strongly urge New York to include a flexible 7.8% Targeted Inflationary Increase and Direct Wage Support Enhancement in the final enacted budget. This investment will allow nonprofit agencies to best meet the diverse and growing needs of their unique communities.

The ongoing workforce crisis, highlighted by a recent NYDA survey, shows that turnover rates in essential direct care positions currently exceed 35%, and nearly 17% of these critical positions are vacant across the state. Not only are staff at nonprofit provider agencies paid less than many entry-level positions in other industries, but they are paid significantly less than staff doing the same work in programs operated by the state. This disparity complicates recruitment and retention efforts, further destabilizing an already fragile system and jeopardizing the consistent, quality care that individuals with I/DD depend on. The Direct Support Wage Enhancement would help correct our staffing crisis and improve pay equity for this essential workforce.

The much-needed Targeted Inflationary Increase must be flexible. To best meet the diverse needs of people with I/DD, providers must have the ability to allocate funds where they are needed most. We know our staff and understand the unique needs of our communities, and the people we support. It's essential that agencies can direct funding where it will have the most significant impact.

Continued

Iowa - Protecting Medicaid's promise for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

By Cheryl Plank, Cherokee Chronicle Times, March 27, 2025

In Iowa, over 700,000 individuals rely on Medicaid coverage for their long-term care and support needs, that includes individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These are vital members of our communities who deserve equal opportunities to thrive and grow.

Medicaid-funded support looks different for each individual based on their goals, ability level, and career aspirations. Services including community integration, social skill building, assistance with daily tasks, career exploration and job coaching, and money management skills empower these individuals to reach individual achievement within their lives. 

Proposals to slash Medicaid funding are moving through Congress, meaning hundreds of thousands of Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at risk of losing the system that supports them in all aspects of their life, including their homes and community presence.  

It is important to understand Medicaid isn’t just a line item in the federal budget—it’s a lifeline for our fellow Americans. As lawmakers consider drastic cuts to Medicaid funding, they risk dismantling a system that allows people with disabilities–and the people who care for them–to live, work and thrive in their communities. Medicaid is funded by our state with matching funds from the federal government. Any cuts to federal funding for Medicaid will force our state to make impossible choices about crucial and life-saving programs and services. 

Significant cuts to federal Medicaid funding will place additional financial strain on the Iowa state budget, forcing us to absorb the increased costs. State budgets must prioritize mandatory Medicaid services, leaving optional services like community-based services vulnerable to reductions. When access to community-based services is removed or limited, individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities may go without vital support or be forced to pay high-cost institution prices that offer little support and carry a heavy burden of past support options. 

The idea of reducing Medicaid funding is even more devastating given that our state is already struggling to provide the home- and community-based services promised to people with I/DD due to a lack of workers in the field. Wages for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), who assist with everything from personal care to job training, are directly tied to Medicaid reimbursement rates that have long been insufficient to attract and retain workers to this meaningful profession.

Slashes to Medicaid funding could severely harm supported employment programs, potentially leading to disparities such as closure of programs, insufficient funding for direct support professionals (DSPs), and reduced access to essential services which may hinder these individual’s ability to find and maintain employment.

Medicaid cuts won’t save money—they’ll cause a sharp shift in costs to states, forcing them to cut services or increase the burden on taxpayers. 

Read the full article here

19,000 people with disabilities are waiting for services. NC lawmakers seek funding to help   

By Colin Campbell, HHQR, March 27, 2025

Hundreds of advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities visited the North Carolina legislature this week to lobby lawmakers to provide more funding for a program that has a years-long waiting list.

Ray Hemachandra and his son Nicholas drove from their home in Asheville for the annual lobbying day. Nicholas has autism and other intellectual disabilities, and since he was 10 he's been receiving services through a Medicaid program called the Innovations Waiver.

"Nicholas has his own life, and it's a life of joy, and largely that's because of the Innovations Waiver he received in childhood," Ray Hemachandra said. "He deserves full credit for all of that, but we recognize the gift of incredible direct support professionals."

The Innovations Waiver provides home care and other services that allow people with disabilities to live at home, rather than in institutional environment. For Nicholas, the services have helped him to get a job at an ice-cream shop and volunteer for local charities.

He's one of 14,000 people in North Carolina who receive the Innovations Waiver services. But another 19,000 people who qualify have been stuck for years on a waiting list.

"If we continue creating (waiver slots) at the rate we've been creating them, you're very likely to die before" gaining access, Hemachandra said.

A bipartisan group of legislators is pushing for more funding to reduce that waiting list, including Rep. Sarah Crawford, D-Wake.

"This is a human rights issue, and it's also an economic development issue," she said. "People with disabilities deserve the same rights that all of us have. They deserve the right to make choices about where they live, whom they live with, and where they work." 

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Disability Advocates Worry New Federal Spending Plan Will Lead To More Programs Being Slashed

By Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop, March 27, 2025

After months of delays, lawmakers recently approved a federal funding bill narrowly averting a government shutdown, but advocates say it may bring more questions than answers for disability programs.

The spending measure will fund the federal government through September at largely level amounts. However, in an unusual move, Congress opted to grant agencies broad discretion over where funds are allocated.

Typically, these types of bills detail how much money will go toward special education, vocational rehabilitation, home and community-based services and a myriad of other disability programs. But this time around, lawmakers were far less specific, opting to primarily provide just top-line figures for each agency.

The legislation indicates that funding for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies, for example, was reduced from $1.47 billion to $1.25 billion, while spending on the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies remains level.

Now, it will be up to each agency to determine how much will go toward particular programs.

“With the $13 billion reduction in non-defense spending, there are many unanswered questions surrounding which programs would be impacted due to the lack of any explanatory statements,” said Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America. “Any reduction in funding for disability services, Medicaid and employment supports threatens essential programs that ensure access to health care, education and community inclusion.”

Leaving such discretion to federal agencies could mean that certain types of programs are more vulnerable than others, said Denise S. Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, or COPAA, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families.

Within special education, Marshall said that it would be “politically very risky” to tamper with funding for school-age kids through Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or early intervention for infants and toddlers through IDEA Part C, given that states depend on this money to support millions of children with disabilities. But, she indicated that funding for Part D — which includes preparation for special educators, parent training and special education research — could be at risk since these programs don’t seem to align with the Trump administration’s priorities.

“This sets dangerous precedent in appropriations,” Marshall said. “Without line-item spending details, the Trump administration is now free to maneuver funds as they wish.”

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Opinion - The US right is coming for disabled people. Here’s why that threatens everyone

By Sara Novic, The Guardian, March 27, 2025

Twelve days before Donald Trump took office, Charlie Kirk, media personality and rightwing activist, complained on his eponymous show about the presence of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters at emergency press briefings for the Los Angeles fires. Another rightwing activist, Christopher Rufo, took his cue on X, calling interpreters “wild human gesticulators” who turned briefings into a “farce”. The rightwing theorist and Origins of Woke author Richard Hanania, quote-tweeting Rufo, declared ASL interpretation an “absurdity”.

Around this time, Elon Musk was skulking around the platform, campaigning to bring back the R-word. Use of the slur tripled on X after his post.

To those with less knowledge of disability history, these attacks might read as gross, but ultimately toothless. Activists, though, quickly sounded the alarm: the incoming administration would be coming for disabled people. “To the deaf community, the fight for accessibility is nothing new,” said Sara Miller, deaf educator and community advocate.

However, Miller said she had seen a burgeoning movement against accessibility from conservatives with large platforms, including during the first Trump administration, when the National Association of the Deaf had to sue to have ASL interpreters during 2020 Covid briefings. “But when looking at the history of the first term of [the Trump] administration, and currently how diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) is being targeted, it’s not hard to see the correlation.”

Manufacturing cultural outrage to justify policy that would have previously been considered too cruel or damaging is a staple of the far-right playbook: most recently, the US has seen the move used to bolster book bans and outlaw Black history and gender-affirming care.

The play-by-play is always the same: social media followers take their marching orders, hurling discontent at the specified targets and regurgitating talking points. Eventually, the ideas become so ubiquitous they are adopted by politicians who use them to engage their base. Finally, the talking point becomes the policy itself, and politicians claim they have a mandate from the people to justify stripping away the rights of the marginalized.

Fast forward to 21 January 2025, when the accessibility page and all ASL content were removed from the White House website. Then, real-life interpreters were removed from the White House and across multiple federal agencies whose accommodations divisions were dismantled under Trump’s anti-DEIA orders.

Alongside “diversity” and “women”, words like “accessibility” and “disability” have also been listed as grounds to flag or reject grant applications at the National Science Foundation, sparking concerns at other federal agencies and research institutions. And last week, the Department of Justice, which is charged with enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), began to rescind key guidance, justifying the move by suggesting that accessibility is the reason for cost-of-living increases.

Simultaneously, disabled children’s right to education is under fire. On 20 March, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education. Earlier in March, secretary of education, Linda McMahon, laid off over 1,300 people – nearly half the department – eliminating seven regional offices, large swaths of the department’s office of civil rights, as well as parts of the office of special education and rehabilitative services, though she had previously said those programs wouldn’t be affected. Twenty-one attorneys general filed a suit over the layoffs, arguing they were “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The education department funds early intervention and post-high school transition programs, and organizations like the American Printing House for the Blind and the Special Olympics. It also enforces the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the law that gives disabled kids the right to a “free and appropriate public education”. A child’s needs and services are documented in a legally binding agreement known as an Individualized Education Program, providing services like speech, physical and occupational therapy, and the use of specialized curriculum. Accommodations like closed captions, ASL interpreters, ramps and elevator keys, braille materials, preferential seating, audio books, use of a laptop or notetaker, and movement breaks can also be included.

Without these plans, disabled students may be inside the classroom, but they will not be meaningfully educated. Now the director of the office of special education position is vacant.

Disabled people’s rights in other government spaces are also under fire. The lawsuit Texas v Becerra calls on a judge to declare section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – which prevents the US government, or any entity that receives federal money, from discriminating on the basis of disability – unconstitutional. If the law is struck down, basic rights and services for disabled people, like seeking treatment at a hospital or Medicaid-accepting doctor’s office, being hired to the federal workforce, entering a government building and more will be at risk.

The canary in the coalmine

Historically, the way a government treats disabled people can be an early indicator of its broader social policy intentions.

Continued

Please share this offer with your loved one's

Direct Support Professionals!

VOR ❤️s OUR

DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS!

Our loved ones' caregivers are essential to their health, safety, and happiness.

In appreciation of their good work and kind hearts, VOR offers free digital memberships to any DSP who would like to receive our newsletter.

We encourage our members to speak with their loved ones' caregivers to extend this offer of our gratitude.

If you are a Direct Support Professional interested in receiving our newsletter and e-content, please write us at

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with your name, email address, and the name of the facility at which you work. Please include the name of the VOR member who told you of this offer.

What's Happening In Your Community?

Is there an issue in your loved one's home that you need help with?

Do you have information or a news story you would like to share?

Is there legislation in your state house that needs attention?

Contact us at info@vor.net

[Please click on blue link to view information about the bill]

VOR SUPPORTS:

H.R.1950 - Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)

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. 

H.R.869 - Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV)

To require full funding of part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

H.R.1509 - Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA)

To 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.

S.752 - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Accelerating Kids' Access to Care Act - A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to streamline enrollment under the Medicaid program of certain providers across State lines.

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

VOR OPPOSES:

To date, no bills have been entered that VOR outwardly opposes, though we understand that the budget process is about to begin, and we expressly oppose any attempt to cut $880 billion from Medicaid should that be proposed.