Action Alerts

Ongoing: An action alert on advocating for long term services and supports during the Independence Day Congressional recess is coming soon. Stay tuned...

Major Events Last Week

Health Care Reform

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), on behalf of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a draft version of the Affordable Health Choices Act, comprehensive legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system. The draft legislation, which is modeled on Massachusetts law, includes:

• A universal mandate requiring all individuals to have insurance, with exceptions for hardship cases;
• Subsidies to enable low-income individuals to purchase insurance;
• Establishment of a state "Gateway" system to assist individuals to purchase private insurance;
• Guaranteed issue with a prohibition on pre-existing conditions exclusions for all plans;
• A prohibition of lifetime caps; and
• The major elements of the Community Living Assistance Services and Services (CLASS) Act, to establish a national long term services insurance program.

The HELP Committee held a two-day hearing on the bill with approximately 20 witnesses representing small and large businesses, medical providers, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and consumer groups, including the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD). The most controversial elements of the legislation, which Republican Committee Members oppose, are its employer mandate and its establishment of a government run insurance plan. The disability community is concerned that the benefits categories set forth in the bill do not include durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs).

In his weekly address, President Obama proposed an additional $313 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid over the next 10 years to help offset the cost of health reform. The President's FY 2010 budget initially proposed a $634 billion reserve fund to pay for health reform over the next ten years. Much of the reserve fund's proposals came from Medicare and Medicaid savings. The new $313 billion proposal includes $110 billion from productivity adjustments to the payments of Medicare providers; $106 billion in cuts to the disproportionate share hospital program for Medicare and Medicaid (that treat many uninsured patients); $75 billion in unspecified reductions to Medicare prescription drug spending; $14.4 billion in cuts to nursing homes, long-term care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals; $6 billion in cuts to physician imaging services (MRIs and CT scans); and $1 billion in savings from reducing fraud and abuse. The President's proposals total $948 billion over 10 years to pay for health care reform, which some estimate may cost $1.5 trillion.

Major Events Today

Transportation

The Co-chairs of the CCD Transportation Task Force held a teleconference with Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy.  They discussed the reauthorization of the major federal highway and transportation law, which includes separate programs to help non-profits that serve the elderly and persons with disabilities to purchase vehicles and to expand local transportation options for persons with disabilities.  The CCD is advocating for expansions of these two programs.  In addition, the 2010 deadline set by the ADA to have all Amtrak stations be fully accessible was discussed during the call.

Major Events Ahead

Health Care Reform

Today, the Congressional Budget Office is expected to release cost estimates of Sen. Kennedy's Affordable Health Choices Act.  The HELP Committee will begin its two-week markup of the legislation tomorrow.

Later this week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) will release his version of health reform legislation, including changes to Medicare and Medicaid.  Many expect Senator Baucus' bill to differ from the HELP Committee bill in an effort to garner bi-partisan support.

On the House side, the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, and the Education and Labor Committee are working jointly on a bill which is expected to be released soon.

ADA

The Disability Policy Collaboration (DPC) of The Arc and UCP will be developing comments in response to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission's (EEOC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the American with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008.  The ADAAA proposed regulations are expected to be released on June 17.

Announcements

ADA/Employment Meeting

On Wednesday, June 17 the EEOC will hold a public meeting to discuss their proposed regulations for the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.  The meeting will convene at 10:00 am and will be held on the First Floor of the EEOC Office Building, 131 "M" Street, NE, Washington, D.C.  For more information, contact Stephen Llewellyn, Executive Officer at (202) 663-4070.

Voting Report

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an interim report on voting accessibility comparing last year's presidential election to the 2000 election. The report shows progress for overall accessibility, but with much smaller gains made for wheelchair accessibility which went from 16% in 2000  to only 27% in 2008. The GAO will release a more detailed final report on the Election Day polling place accessibility findings in September. For the full interim report see:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09685.pdf

Award

DPC Staff Director Paul Marchand received the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) President's Award at the AAIDD annual conference last week.

Please note that you can view previous issues of the Capitol Insider, at UCP.org anytime by choosing "Capitol Insider" under "Public Policy."

Read previous Capitol Insider issues now.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at acosta@thedpc.org.

Sincerely,

Annie Acosta
Director of Communications and Grassroots
Disability Policy Collaboration