Action Alerts

Ongoing:

• None.

Major Events Last Week

Health Care Reform

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) released the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, his Chairman's Mark. None of the three Republican Senators who had been negotiating with him for months explicitly support the proposal. Several Committee Democrats stated they have significant concerns with the mark which is anticipated to cost approximately $774 billion over 10 years.

The Chairman's mark includes:

• All the insurance market reforms (e.g. prohibition of pre-existing condition clauses and discrimination based on health status, annual and lifetime caps, and requirements for guaranteed issue) that are in all other Committee reform bills;
• An individual mandate, including State Health Care Exchanges;
• A proposal for a non-profit health insurance "cooperative", to be owned by its members in lieu of a public plan;
• An expansion of Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level; and
• A health disparities provision requiring data collection on health care access and treatment for people with disabilities.

The benefits package to be offered in the new Exchange does not explicitly cover rehabilitation and habilitation services and durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and related supplies. The DPC is working to secure clarification that these critical services are explicitly covered.

With no Republicans in support thus far and push back from moderate and liberal Democratic Senators, the Baucus bill faces many changes during the committee markup.

FY 2010 Appropriations

On September 17th the Senate voted 73 to 25 to pass H.R. 3288, the FY 2010 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill. The bill provides a $15 million increase for the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program. Section 811 is the only federal program that produces affordable and accessible housing units for persons with disabilities who have extremely low incomes. On the transportation side, the bill provides for level funding ($92.5 million) for the New Freedom program which provides funding for projects that expand transportation options for people with disabilities. It also gives $140.7 million for the Section 5310 program which assists nonprofits serving people with disabilities and the elderly with their transportation needs. This is a $7.2 million increase over FY 2009.

Education/ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

The second and last installment of the ARRA funding for education programs has been released to the states. Programs receiving their payments include the IDEA State Grant, the IDEA Early Intervention State Grant and the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grant.

Employment

Members of the CCD Employment and Training Task Force met Friday with Assistant Secretary Kathy Martinez, the new head of the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. Julie Ward of the DPC and the other CCD co-chairs, briefed Martinez on the CCD policy goals. Martinez discussed her priorities for the coming year which included expanding federal employment opportunities for people with disabilities, developing recommendations on the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and working with Employment Standards Administration on issues involving the subminimum wage.

H1N1 Flu

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it has approved four vaccines to protect against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The vaccines will be distributed to all state health departments after the initial lots become available. In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on September 15, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stated that the vaccine may be available for priority groups by October 5th - but no later than October 15th. Priority groups include:

• Infants under age 6 months and children and young adults age 6 months - 24 years;
• Individuals caring for infants under 6 months;
• People age 25-64 with underlying medical conditions (e.g. cognitive, neuromuscular impairments (such as cerebral palsy), respiratory conditions, diabetes);
• Paid and unpaid health care workers including direct support professionals and parents who care for individuals with underlying medical conditions.

For more information, see www.flu.gov

Rights

Last week the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) revising its regulations to implement changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The NPRM is expected to be published in the Federal Register sometime this week and will have a 60 day comment period. The EECO developed a question and answer document that can be found on their website. See:
http://eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda_adaaa_nprm.html

Major Events Ahead

Health Care Reform

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee will begin marking up the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009. The mark-up is not expected to be completed until next week since numerous amendments will be considered. The Finance Committee's website lists, in three parts, the 564 amendments submitted by Committee Members. Below the link to each list is a link to the description of the amendments which will be used during the Committee's mark-up over the next several days. See:
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/legislation.htm.

The mark up sessions will be available on the Internet at:
http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearings.htm

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) submitted an amendment to include the Community First Choice Option in Medicaid in the health care reform bill. This option is based on the Community Choice Act and would give the states an option to provide a wide range of community-based services to people who would otherwise qualify for institutional level of care. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), who is the lead sponsor of the CCA, is not a member of the Finance Committee. There are additional amendments addressing long term services and supports. Cost will be a major factor in whether or not amendments are included in the final Finance package.

Obama Administration

On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will vote on the nomination of Alexa Posny as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Following the anticipated favorable committee vote, this nomination will be considered by the full Senate. Dr. Posny, currently the State Superintendent of Education in Kansas, served as the Director of the Office of Special Education under former President Bush.

FY 2010 Appropriations

With the start of Fiscal Year 2010 less than two weeks away, both Houses of Congress are expected to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the federal government operating on October 1. None of the twelve FY 2010 appropriations will be enacted by then. Four of the bills are ready to be finalized by House and Senate conferees. The House has yet to appoint their conferees. The first CR is likely to expire on November 1. At least one more CR will be necessary before all of the bills, either singly or combined into an omnibus appropriations bill, will be enacted.

Higher Education

The DPC, as part of the CCD Education Task Force, will file comments on the proposed rules to implement the provisions in the Higher Education Act related to providing more access to post secondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities. The comments will be posted on The Arc and UCP's web sites.

Announcements

Employment Partners

The Social Security Administration's Ticket to Work program is recruiting employers to be Ticket to Work Business Partners. Business Partners may showcase their company as a disability friendly employer to gain exposure to thousands of Americans with disabilities. Criteria include: 1) Must be a commercial enterprise or establishment providing goods and/or services to a customer base, and actively seeking applicants to fill current job openings; 2) Have a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Tax ID Number; 3) Possess a public statement of commitment to hire people with disabilities and show proof of such statement; and 4) Provide proof of active membership to a local or national professional or trade organization, such as: Business Leadership Network, Chamber of Commerce, Cooperative Business Association, Human Capital Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, Society of Human Resource Management, National Industry Liaison Group, or Hotel/Restaurant Association. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Susan Samuels: ssamuels@cessi.net, or 703-448-6155 ext. 235, or see:
www.cessi.net/ttw/employer/partners.html

Emergency Management Report

The National Commission on Children and Disasters finalized it's Interim Report which will go to the President and Members of Congress. A final report is due October 14, 2010. The Interim Report includes recommendations in 11 areas: Mental health, Physical health and trauma, Emergency medical services and child transportation, Disaster case management, Child care, Elementary and secondary education, Child welfare and Juvenile Justice, Sheltering standards, services, and supplies, and Housing and Evacuation. The report makes a couple of specific references to children with disabilities. Learn more at:
http://www.childrenanddisasters.acf.hhs.gov/

Civil Rights Leadership Award

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is now accepting applications for the 2010 Hearne Award. The Paul G. Hearne Award recognizes and honors emerging leaders within the national cross-disability civil rights movement. The award is named in honor of Mr. Paul G. Hearne, a pioneer, advocate, activist, and national leader for people with disabilities. Application deadline is October 1, 2009. See:
http://www.aapd.com/DMD/PaulHearneAward.html

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