September 12, 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.

Watch us On YouTube

Visit our website: www.vor.net

Please click here to Join, Renew, or Donate to VOR

VOR & YOU:

September is

Direct Support Professional Appreciation Month!

Save The Date!

VOR's September Networking Meeting

Monday, September 29, 2025

4 pm ET / 3 pm CT / 2 pm MT / 1 pm PT

On Zoom

Come join us for a lively discussion of matters that affect your family and your family members with

I/DD and autism.

Opinion: People with disabilities are bracing for the impacts of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

While the GOP is working to rebrand the disastrous law ahead of the midterms, there’s no ignoring the impact of $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts on already vulnerable people

By Reina Sultan, Prism, September 11, 2025

During the summer rush to introduce the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), President Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers lauded the bill as transformative for middle- and working-class Americans. The reality of the GOP’s signature policy law is now setting in, including $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that experts say could prove fatal for thousands of already vulnerable people across the U.S.

It has long been unnecessarily burdensome for disabled people to access benefits due to underfunded and understaffed state programs, among many other reasons. Earlier this year, downsizing and rule changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA) only made matters worse. Between eliminating phone identity verification and closing field offices across the country, millions of beneficiaries—many of whom are disabled and elderly—now face additional challenges accessing their benefits, along with longer wait times when issues arise. Experts say that the SSA’s already lengthy processing time indicated a need for more funding, not less. Instead, the Trump administration gutted the federal agency, exacerbating longstanding problems.

Now, many of these same problems will be replicated across state and federal service agencies and providers, thanks to the OBBBA’s Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Adam Hazlett, the public relations director for Self-Advocates of Michigan and a professor of humanities at Henry Ford College, told Prism via email that Trump’s new law is a major concern not only due to the budget changes, but also because it rolls back civil rights.

“It reframes disabled people as costs to be contained rather than citizens entitled to equal access to care,” said Hazlett, who is an autistic adult.

OBBBA’s new biannual Medicaid redeterminations, additional eligibility checks, and 80-hour work requirement all make qualifying for Medicaid more inaccessible. Hazlett said these barriers, along with additional paperwork, will effectively strip eligible people of coverage. The work requirement in particular makes disability a double barrier, “first to work, and then to access the exemption,” Hazlett said.

More broadly, the cuts to Medicaid threaten the nation’s caregiving infrastructure, with rural communities most at risk, as hospitals and clinics in these regions heavily rely on Medicaid reimbursements to survive. According to an analysis this year from KFF Health News, nearly 3 million people in the U.S. live in mostly rural counties that lack both health care facilities and reliable high-speed internet, rendering telehealth services useless.

“These people tend to live sicker and die younger than others in America,” KFF Health News reported. When already limited and overburdened rural providers are ultimately forced to shutter due to OBBBA, it doesn’t just translate to a longer drive or a mere inconvenience to disabled people; it means necessary care becomes wholly inaccessible.

Impossible to stay alive

Nancy Baker Curtis and her 10-year-old son, Charlie, rely on services provided by Medicaid, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and feeding therapy. Commonly referred to as Home and Community Based Services, these services are not federally mandated, making payment optional for individual states.

In Iowa, where Baker Curtis and Charlie live, the state is operating with a budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion, requiring program funding to come from the federal government. The services that Charlie and other disabled people rely on will be the first to get cut. Without them, Curtis will have to spend her time with Charlie caretaking, requiring that she quit her job as a public school teacher—another area for which Medicaid funding is integral.

“School-based therapies are funded by Medicaid,” Baker Curtis explained in an email. “Medicaid is the fourth largest funding source for public schools. Charlie has approximately 11 more years of eligibility for public school. The underfunding of schools and Medicaid will undoubtedly be detrimental to his progress, as well as the progress of other school-aged children with disabilities.”

About 700,000 people—approximately 1 in 5—are on Medicaid in Iowa, meaning that actions at the state level affect large numbers of people, even before the OBBBA’s passage. Iowa’s former governor privatized Medicaid, leading to difficulties and incorrect denials of services. More recently, Iowa lawmakers were considering a work requirement, which ultimately came to fruition with the passage of OBBBA. Access issues in the state are also longstanding, with Iowa ranking 44th in the nation for patient-to-physician ratio, a problem Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds is trying to address with a bill aimed at improving rural health care and addressing health care provider shortages. However, with Medicaid also on Trump’s chopping block, it’s unclear how successful the bill will be if passed.

Medicaid cuts are catastrophic for people such as Alex Watters, who received day-to-day care and was able to pursue his degrees due to Medicaid. Watters is a councilmember in Sioux City, Iowa, and the director of alumni engagement at Morningside University.

“As a quadriplegic, I need assistance bathing, getting dressed, positioned in my wheelchair in the morning, assisted occasionally throughout the day, and helped back into bed in the evening,” Watters said in an email. Considering the cost of Watters’ medication, without Medicaid paying an agency to provide these necessary services, the councilman said he could not have afforded them on his own.

However, Medicaid underfunding has been an issue for far longer than Trump has been president, with disabled people most acutely feeling the effects.

Watters said that in Iowa, longstanding Medicaid underfunding has meant that people with disabilities often lack adequate caregivers, making it almost impossible for them to stay housed, maintain employment, or simply stay alive.

There are only two agencies in Sioux City that offer daily caregiver support, and neither has the staff necessary to meet the needs of disabled people in the area. Burdensome paperwork is often cited as a hurdle.

When speaking to caregiver agencies about their reasons for only accepting private pay, Watters said he’s been told that it would require hiring an additional staff member to become Medicaid certified.

“They feel that they would need an additional staff member just to keep up on the amount of paperwork necessary, that they would not be fully reimbursed for the services, and the delay in those reimbursements would not be financially sustainable,” Watters explained.

As the forthcoming effects of the OBBBA become clear, nearly two-thirds of the public see the bill unfavorably, prompting a GOP rebrand ahead of the midterms. Trump officials urged other Republicans to refer to the bill as “a boost for ordinary Americans.” Conceding that the polls were not in their favor, Republican lawmakers appear unconcerned that the bill cuts necessary resources; their focus is on its marketing.

Continued

Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Were Aimed at ‘Able-Bodied Adults.’ Hospitals Say Kids Will Be Hurt.

By Phil Galewitz, KFF Health News, September 10, 2025

Republicans insist that President Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid were aimed at reducing fraud and getting more of its adult beneficiaries into jobs. But the side effects may include less care for sick kids.

Some children’s hospitals collectively stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue once Trump’s wide-ranging tax and spending law, which Republicans called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” is fully enacted, according to the Children’s Hospital Association. Kids account for nearly half of enrollees in Medicaid, the state and federally financed health program for low-income and disabled people, and its related Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The law will cut federal Medicaid spending by about $900 billion over a decade.

The reduction “cannot be achieved without directly affecting coverage and care for Arizona’s kids, especially the most vulnerable among them,” said Robert Meyer, chief executive of Phoenix Children’s, a pediatric hospital system. About half of the system’s revenue comes from Medicaid.

Trump’s law locks into place much of his domestic agenda, including a massive expansion of immigration enforcement and an extension of tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthiest Americans. The cuts to Medicaid are expected to partially offset the cost of the president’s priorities, which will add more than $3 trillion to the nation’s deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. About 7.5 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage by 2034 as a result, the CBO estimates.

Throughout debates over the measure, Republicans insisted the Medicaid cuts would affect only nondisabled adults enrolled in the program who don’t work and immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status. “Our legislation preserves Medicaid, strengthens Medicaid for the people who actually need it and deserve it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said June 1 on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “And we’re going to get rid of the fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Meyer, though, warned that unless some cuts are reversed, Phoenix Children’s would lose about $172 million a year in payments that supplement the health system’s regular Medicaid revenue, for treating low-income children covered by the program. Medicaid typically pays lower rates for care than commercial insurance or Medicare, the federal program for people age 65 and older.

The supplemental payments, known as state-directed payments, are financed largely by federal taxpayers through complicated tax arrangements adopted by nearly all states. The payments have helped the Phoenix system open additional pediatric clinics, increase mental health staffing, and screen children for abuse and other trauma, Meyer said.

A provision of Trump’s law would cap the amount of directed payments states could make to any hospital, including those for children. But the cap, which doesn’t take effect until 2028, will be phased in over a decade — and hospitals are already lobbying to ensure that never happens. Days after voting for Trump’s law, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced legislation that would eliminate provisions of the measure cutting Medicaid payments to hospitals.

If the law isn’t changed, at least 29 states would need to reduce their payments, according to an analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

Continued

CMS issues guidance on cuts to Medicaid state-directed payments

Bu Susanna Vogel, Helathcare Dive, September 10, 2025

Republicans in Congress cut state-directed Medicaid payments as a part of larger efforts to stamp out what they perceive as fraud, waste and abuse in the safety-net insurance program.

The financing mechanisms allow states that contract with private insurers to deliver Medicaid benefits to direct supplemental payments to providers, despite the additional reimbursement generally being banned in Medicaid managed care. Under the Biden administration, the payment was capped at commercial insurance rates, which is often double or triple what Medicare pays.

Providers say the payments are a critical source of revenue in the face of insufficient reimbursement rates from Medicaid, especially in rural areas. State-directed payment reform has been unpopular among the hospital industry, with providers worrying cuts could force them to close service lines or axe new spending projects.

However, the federal government argues spending in the arrangements has grown out of hand.

State-directed payments were relatively uncommon when they were introduced in 2016, according to the CMS, with only two states using the payments that year. However, by 2024, the CMS received over 300 submissions for payment plans across 39 states. The government said state-directed payment spending exceeded $97.8 billion last year and was on track to exceed $124.3 billion this year.

Some watchdog groups have called for more oversight. In November, analysts for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, which advises Congress on Medicaid policy, called for greater transparency into the program.

“It’s not clear the extent to which state directed payments have made meaningful improvements in access” to care, one MACPAC analyst argued. The group also raised concerns that states could be working to inflate their federal Medicaid funding without having to invest their own financial resources.

Cuts to state-directed payments included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are projected to surpass $140 billion, and will hit Medicaid expansion states the hardest, according to analysts. The changes will begin going into effect Jan. 1, 2028.

Continued

Read the press release from CMS here

RFK Jr. To Link Tylenol Use To Rising Autism Rates, Report Says

By Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop, September 6, 2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will reportedly point to Tylenol use during pregnancy as a potential cause of autism in a forthcoming report on what’s driving rising rates of the developmental disorder.

In addition, the report is expected to suggest that low levels of folate, among other factors, may play a role and that a form of folate known as folinic acid, or leucovorin, could lessen symptoms of autism, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The news comes little more than a week after Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told President Donald Trump that he would have “announcements” on autism soon. Kennedy had promised in April to “know what has caused the autism epidemic” by this month.

“We’re finding interventions, certain interventions now that are clearly almost certainly causing autism and we’re gonna be able to address those in September,” Kennedy said during a cabinet meeting in late August.

The report, which is being prepared by the National Institutes of Health, is expected to be a review of existing research that includes possible causes of autism and a rundown of what is known and unknown, The Wall Street Journal said.

Kennedy has spent years promoting a link between autism and vaccines despite numerous studies discrediting that theory. It is unclear if vaccines will be mentioned in the HHS report.

“We are using gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America’s unprecedented rise in autism rates. Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation,” an HHS spokesperson told Disability Scoop on Friday.

Kennedy’s effort to uncover the cause of autism has been met with skepticism from many researchers in the field who say that increased prevalence rates are largely due to better awareness, improved screening tools and methods and changes to the diagnostic criteria.

The Autism Science Foundation said that autism results from a mix of genetic and environmental factors with genetics playing the largest role.

“It is disingenuous and misleading to boil autism’s causes down to one simple thing. We know that autism is incredibly complicated, and we need to move away from studies that simplify it down to one exposure without any other considerations,” said Dr. Alycia Halladay, the group’s chief science officer.

An analysis published in August in the journal BMC Environmental Health looking at 46 studies found an association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen, which is sold under the brand name Tylenol, and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism. But, Dr. Diddier Prada of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who led the study emphasized that this association does not equal causation.

“We cannot answer the question about causation — that is very important to clarify,” Prada told The New York Times, offering an analogy. “Ice cream sales go up in the summer and also violent crime increases during summer — these are associated, but it doesn’t mean that the ice cream is causing violent crime.”

The Autism Science Foundation noted that one of the studies included in the analysis relied on siblings as controls, mitigating some maternal health factors and genetic influences. In this case, no association between acetaminophen and autism was found. The group said those same findings were replicated in a recent study from Japan that looked at siblings, which was not included in the review.

“Any association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting and inconsistent science and is premature given the current science,” according to the nonprofit.

Continued

State News:

Arizona’s disabled children will pay the price for Trump’s ‘beautiful’ tax cut bill - Commentary

Families face devastation as the state is set to slash payments to parents who care for profoundly disabled children

By Michel Thorne, AZ Mirror, September 9, 2025

When Republicans in Congress rallied to pass President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill over the summer, leaders in the disability community knew there would be consequences. Arizona saw the first of those last week.

Last year, caregivers, disability advocates and self-advocates descended on the state Capitol to save vital services and supports for the disability community. Hundreds wrote letters, attended rallies and testified in the Arizona House of Representatives and Senate, and many spoke directly with Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Their efforts resulted in a supplemental funding package for the Division of Developmental Disabilities, or DDD, and the retention of parents’ ability to work as their child’s habilitation and respite providers, capped at 40 hours per week. This law maintained the Parents as Paid Caregivers program, leaving DDD to shape the policy that would set guidelines for agencies to enact it.

Through these policy changes, families will see a sharp reduction in service hours for their children, as Arizona struggles to rein in spending and prepare for the billions of dollars it will lose when different parts of the Republican federal spending plan are enacted. Many families who currently work 40 hours a week with their disabled children — teaching life skills, helping them learn emotional regulation and keeping a watchful eye on them 24/7 to ensure they don’t run away — will see their hours reduced to just five hours a week, and in some cases to zero.

Many of the leaders of the disability community saw this coming. Throughout history, when a state’s budget needs to be cut, the disability community is among the first to bear the brunt.

The cold, hard, devastating truth is that so many of the Home and Community Based services parents rely on (habilitation, respite, attended care) are optional, even if they are vital to ensuring that children with disabilities grow into adults who can live purpose-filled lives. So, when budgets need to be balanced, disability supports are cut first — because they can be.

So, what will happen when these new policy changes go into effect in October? Agencies that serve the disability community will shutter and close their doors. Children with disabilities will lose vital supports and be less likely to become contributing members of society. Millions of dollars will be drained from the Arizona economy. Many families in the disability community will become homeless.

Elections have consequences. Federal actions that reduce funding to the states have consequences. Policies enacted by those states have consequences.

At the end of the day, when budgets need to be balanced, it is done on the backs of the disability community.

A pound of flesh taken from the most vulnerable.

Read the full commentary here

Connecticut - Their Child Died While On A Waitlist. This Family Is Fighting To Prevent Similar Situations

By Cris Vallalonga-Vivoni, The Hour vis Disability Scoop, September 9, 2025

David Negron thought he had found a lifeline for his terminally ill daughter when he first learned about the Katie Beckett waiver.

His daughter, Chloe, was diagnosed with Tay Sachs, a rare neurodegenerative condition, at 3 years old. She quickly lost the ability to talk, walk and feed herself while also experiencing frequent seizures.

Doctors told the Negron family that they estimated Chloe would only live around two or three more years. Although devastated by the news, Negron said his family was determined to make Chloe’s life as comfortable and happy as possible.

Connecting with other families in similar situations led Negron to the Katie Beckett waiver. This program provides Medicaid insurance coverage for children with severe disabilities or illnesses, thereby improving their access to necessary services and support to prevent hospitalizations. Negron said it’s an entry point into Medicaid’s expansive network, especially for children who previously wouldn’t have qualified.

More than 40 states have some form of the Katie Beckett waivers available to their residents; however, Connecticut is one of the few states that limits how many people can receive the coverage and has created a waitlist. Negron said it would’ve taken more than five years for Chloe to get the insurance access through Katie Beckett.

After learning how many other families face the same barriers to care, Negron turned to advocacy, sharing his daughter’s story with legislators, inspiring lawmakers to action. His efforts, along with those of the other family advocates, led to the creation of a working group and a set of legislative recommendations aimed at eliminating the waitlist over time.

Chloe died earlier this year at 6 years old, still waiting for that additional insurance as the state worked out how to get coverage for her and the 319 children on the waitlist.

“Caring for a child with a severe disability and is medically fragile is a 24/7 commitment. There’s no rest for families,” he said. “The hard reality is that … if she had autism, we would have gotten access to some state programs and support, but because my daughter had a terminal disease, we had no support from the state.”

How does this work?

The Katie Beckett waiver is one of the few programs available to children with rare diseases and is a lifeline for the people who access it, said Lesley Bennett, a member of the state’s Rare Disease Advisory Council.

Bennett noted that some families must choose between rent, food, medications, and medically necessary equipment, which may not be covered by private insurance. This is where waivers like Katie Beckett can provide extra support.

Started in the 1980s by former President Ronald Reagan, the idea was to offer Medicaid insurance to a child with a rare disease to help cover medical care needed to keep them at home, like nursing support, therapies and medical equipment.

Eligibility for the program is typically based on the child’s income, rather than the household income, as with traditional Medicaid rules, making it accessible to families who wouldn’t qualify. The level of care a child would need is also taken into consideration.

Most states use Katie Beckett under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, allowing them to create an additional Medicaid coverage group for the population, without a limit on the number of eligible participants.

A handful of states, such as Connecticut, have established the program using a Medicaid waiver model, which provides residents with access to similar coverage or specific benefits, while also implementing a cap.

The state Department of Social Services, which runs the Katie Beckett waiver in Connecticut, said there’s a maximum of 342 spots. An average of six people apply each month, added to the end of a 319-person long waitlist. It typically takes around five years for families to access Medicaid through the state’s Katie Beckett program.

The wait for these services is excessive, Bennett said, noting that many children born with a rare disease don’t live to see their fifth birthday. At the same time, many of the diseases are degenerative, causing further complicated health needs over time.

Continued on Disability Scoop

Original story on The Hour is available here

Trump administration cuts funding to Oregon disability programs

By Bryce Dole and Kathryn Styer Martinez, OPB, September 11, 2025

The U.S. Department of Education is ending grants to programs across Oregon that support students with disabilities, citing practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The cuts could make it harder for disabled students and their families to access help, especially in some of Oregon’s poorest rural communities.

The Trump administration cut funds for a statewide program that supports deaf and blind students in districts from Portland to Southern Oregon.

It moved to end a grant to Western Oregon University for its DeafBlind Interpreting National Training and Resource Center, pointing to its equity policies and writing in an Aug. 27 memo that the administration “has determined that continuation of the project is not in the best interest of the Federal Government.”

The Central Oregon Disability Support Network, which serves more than 4,000 families, also saw its funding cut because of a “conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education,” according to a memo the nonprofit received. The funding was earmarked for helping students with disabilities and their families navigate special education programs.

The Central Oregon group’s 2021 application noted that it was continuing “to actively pursue professional development related to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Many applications for the federal funding received approval during President Joe Biden’s administration, which often made requirements around equity to receive government funding. The Donald Trump administration has largely opposed those efforts.

The change of course has left some nonprofits like the Central Oregon Disability Support Network in the middle.

“They basically are using the response to the questions that they asked us against us,” said Dianna Hansen, executive director of CODSN.

Hansen said their grant-funded trainings help staff and board members understand deep poverty in their service area, which includes Crook, Jefferson, Deschutes, Wheeler, Harney, Grant, Lake and Klamath counties.

All but two of these counties have a child poverty rate higher than the state’s average, according to a recent study released Tuesday by The Ford Family Foundation and Oregon State University Extension Service.

The federal funding had been approved through 2026, but its sudden end will result in near immediate cuts to staff and office closures, according to Hansen. She expects all of CODSN’s offices will close except for the Bend office, and about 50% of staff will be cut by Oct. 1 unless funding returns.

Read the full article here

Nebraska lawmakers hear how state cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates affect kids with autism

By Cindy Gonzalez, The Nebraska Examiner, September 5, 2025

At least 135 Nebraska youths challenged by autism have suffered interrupted services as a result of cuts the state made in August to Medicaid reimbursement rates, according to preliminary findings of a survey by national advocates.

Mariel Fernandez of the Council of Autism Service Providers offered an early peek at the survey during an interim legislative hearing Friday to hear about possible fallout and benefits of the reductions.

Speaking to the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, Fernandez was clear that she does not oppose an adjustment. Indeed, she said she was shocked to learn how high some of Nebraska’s treatment reimbursements had gotten relative to surrounding states.

However, Fernandez said that the council members believe the changes DHHS adopted amount to an “overcorrection” and requested that the department conduct further study to prevent negative impacts on access to care or an exacerbation of a worker shortage.

She said she knows of a couple of service providers already exiting the state.

Fernandez suggested the state implement an accreditation process to get rid of providers trying to “make a buck because rates are favorable.” Other speakers Friday also suggested better vetting to assist in achieving the committee’s goal: long-term sustainability and elimination of exploitative practices.

Interim study

The three-hour hearing at the Capitol was part of an interim study to inform lawmakers how they might help ensure the viability of the state’s Medicaid-funded Applied Behavior Analysis services. Also known as ABA, the therapy and support helps people with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental and social communication delays function better in society.

The Council of Autism Service Providers has said the Nebraska cuts to Medicaid reimbursement rates range from 28% to 79%, depending on the service or therapy.

Only invited guests only spoke during Friday hearing , which was open to the public.

State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering, the HHS committee chair who said he raised a child with an autism disorder, scheduled the hearing following concerns lawmakers fielded from families and others about the impact of the reimbursement rate changes that went into effect Aug. 1.

DHHS said its review showed Nebraska had the highest reimbursement rates of any state ABA program — leading to an increase in state expenses of more than 2,000% since 2020. Five years ago, Nebraska paid about $4.6 million for ABA services. Last year, the amount soared to $85.6 million.

It was an increase HHS’s Matthew Ahern described as the fastest he’s seen in any single program.

Medicaid-eligible youths served in Nebraska grew from about 169 in 2020 to about 1,150 three years later, DHHS has said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 31 children is affected by autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disability with challenges ranging from social communication to repetitive behaviors.

Hardin said his concerns included “middle men” organizations, which employ people who directly work with the youths, “taking a significant” chunk of the reimbursements. He alleged that some moved to or expanded in Nebraska after seeing a potential for profit-making, fueled by the Legislature’s approval in 2023 of a 17% hike for behavioral health services.

He referred also to a “troubling absence of background checks” for “registered behavior technicians” who work directly with children.

“Shall we say … we didn’t exactly mind the farm?” Hardin said. He later added: “How do responsible adults in the room make decisions that are wise without continuing to pay for bad acting and not face a clawback?”

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

info@vor.net

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.

VOR Bill Watch:

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

VOR SUPPORTS:

H.R.4849 & S.2556 - Rep. Adam Gray (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 Act)

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 indiviiduals 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.

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

VOR SUPPORTS:

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

Accelerating Kids' Access to Care Act -

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)

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

VOR OPPOSES:

Please click here to Join, Renew, or Donate to VOR

836 South Arlington Heights Road #351

Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Toll Free: 877-399-4867 Fax: 877-866-8377

www.vor.net email: info@vor.net

FACEBOOK: /VOR ----- TWITTER: @VOR_NET ----- YouTube