Action Alerts

Ongoing:

• The Fight is On for Long Term Services and Supports. Attend the Community NOW Advocacy Day.

Major Events Last Week

FY 2010 Appropriations

President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations bill for the Legislative Branch on October 1. This is the first FY 2010 appropriations bill to be enacted for the new fiscal year. The bill contains a one month Continuing Resolution which keeps all federal government programs operating until November 1 or whenever a FY 2010 appropriations bill is enacted.

Health Care Reform

The Senate Finance Committee completed its mark-up of the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 after voting on more than 130 amendments. Two amendments to include a public plan in the new insurance exchange were defeated. Proponents of a public option vowed to bring up an amendment when the bill reaches the Senate floor. The Finance Committee will vote on its modified bill, as amended, this week after it receives new cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) cancelled the Columbus Day recess to continue work on health care reform.

In the House of Representatives, the Energy and Commerce Committee, Ways and Means Committee and Education and Labor Committee continued work on merging their bills. The Congressional Budget Office will do a cost estimate on the merged bill when it is completed.

Obama Administration

By voice vote, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee formally approved the nomination of Alexa Posny of Kansas as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the Department of Education. OSERS administers the Office of Special Education Programs, the Rehabilitation Services Administration and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Human Rights/Aversives

On September 30, a coalition of disability organizations sent a letter to government agencies and human rights organizations calling for an end to the use of electric shock, other painful and aversive procedures, seclusion, and unnecessary restraint. The letter is signed by 28 disability organizations, including the Arc and UCP, that are concerned with the humane treatment of people with disabilities.

The letter and addendum were sent to: the Office of Disability, Department of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; the Attorney General of the United States; the House Committee on Education & Labor; Amnesty International; Physicians for Human Rights; and Human Rights Watch.

Employment

On September 30, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation designating October as National Disability Employment Month. In the proclamation the Administration recommitted itself to implementing effective policy and practices that increase employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. For more information about disability employment month see:
http://www.dol.gov/odep

Major Events Ahead

FY 2010 Appropriations

Both Houses of Congress will debate and vote on several FY 2010 appropriations bills this week. None of the pending bills relate to disability. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill has still not been scheduled for Senate floor action while the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill awaits work by a House and Senate conference committee to resolve the differences between the respective bills.

Health Care Reform

The Senate Democratic leadership, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), will continue work to merge the Senate's two versions of the bill. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)Committee's Affordable Health Choices Act and the Finance Committee's America's Healthy Futures Act will be merged into one bill in preparation for consideration by the full Senate, which is expected in late October.

Announcements

Medicaid Survey

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured issued The Crunch Continues: Medicaid Spending, Coverage and Policy in the Midst of a Recession. This annual 50-state survey found sharp rises in Medicaid enrollment and spending leading to program cuts. See:
http://www.kff.org/medicaid/7985.cfm.

Health Care Report

The National Council on Disability published The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities. This report provides a road map for eliminating the pervasive barriers to health care for people with disabilities, highlights the health care disparities experienced by people with disabilities, and makes recommendations to eliminate health care inequities. See:
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/
publications/2009/HealthCare/HealthCare.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