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Disability Voting Rights Week is September 12 – 16
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This year, Disability Voting Rights week will be observed from September 12 through 16. This national initiative is an effort to ensure voters with disabilities are registered, ready to vote, and have access to the ballot.
The November 2022 midterm elections are just around the corner. In preparation for the midterms, people with disabilities and advocates are invited to join Disability Vote California’s four-part educational webinar series on the following dates and topics:
- Friday, September 16 at 1:30 p.m.: Find out everything you need to know about the November General Election.
- Friday, October 21 at 1:30 p.m.: Learn how to make a plan to vote, find your voting location, and receive information on how to access voting support.
- Friday, November 18 at 1:30 p.m.: Tell us about your voting experience and hear what others have to say.
Disability Vote California is a non-partisan coalition of disability rights advocates and organizations who are dedicated to increasing access to and participation in the voting process for people with disabilities.
Click here to register for one or all of the webinars.
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Seizure Safe Schools Act Passed by State Legislature – Now Awaits Governor’s Signature
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Legislation by Assemblymember Marc Levine (D – Marin County) to establish the Seizure Safe Schools Act has been approved by the California State Legislature and is now awaiting action on the Governor’s Desk. AB 1810 was approved by the State Senate on a bipartisan vote of 38 to 0 and approved by the State Assembly on a bipartisan vote of 76 to 0.
With an estimated 60,000 school-age children living with epilepsy, AB 1810 will increase the safety of these children while in school by establishing the Seizure Safe Schools Act. This Act will allow schools to designate one or more volunteers to receive initial and annual refresher training for the emergency use of anti-seizure medication for a pupil diagnosed with seizures, a seizure disorder, or epilepsy, if the pupil is experiencing a seizure.
AB 1810 will provide school districts with training and guidance to make sure that teachers and school employees can identify the symptoms of a seizure and how to appropriately respond when a seizure occurs to keep the child safe. California has enacted similar laws for the use of epinephrine for allergic reactions (SB 1266, Huff 2014) and naloxone for opioid overdoses (AB 1748, Mayes 2016).
Momentum joined more than 90 organizations throughout California in support of AB 1810.
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Advocates Urged to Support the Bipartisan ‘Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act’
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Intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) support providers are in the midst of an unprecedented Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce crisis.
Currently, there are not enough qualified workers to fill this critical need for dedicated DSP positions. IDD providers struggle to recruit and retain DSPs as evidenced by a pre-pandemic study by the National Core Indicators. The results showed DSPs had a national turnover rate exceeding 45 percent. A lack of sound data compounds the problem. Federal agencies use data collected through the BLS Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to analyze workforce trends, but this system does not provide an accurate picture of current DSP workforce challenges because there is no SOC for DSPs. Currently, the system classifies DSPs under the broader category of “home health care aides,” which includes all home health care occupations. As a result, it is impossible to accurately track and report workforce trends for DSPs, often resulting in the underreporting of workforce needs and regional workforce shortages.
S.1437, Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act, would direct the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise the SOC system to establish a separate code for DSPs, ensuring better data on these pressing workforce challenges. By improving data collection, this Bill will:
- Provide states and the federal government with more accurate information about the workforce trends for Direct Support Professionals to help identify workforce shortage areas and report accurate turnover rates;
- Help identify areas to implement targeted workforce training programs for Direct Support Professionals so that trained workers can meet local workforce needs;
- Recognize the unique role that Direct Support Professionals play in supporting individuals who experience disabilities and raise awareness of critical workforce needs.
Click here to add your voice to advocates calling for passage of the Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act.
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CMS Posts Medicaid Provider Resources with Eye Toward End of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has released Creating a Roadmap for the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, guidance intended to help healthcare providers prepare for the eventual end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and the accompanying waivers and flexibilities.
The current expiration for the PHE is October 15, 2022. However, another 90-day extension is expected as HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said he would give states and providers a 60-day notice before ending the PHE. It is increasingly likely that the expected extension in October will be the last, and the PHE will expire in January 2023.
CMS has also released a series of fact sheets to help providers prepare for the end of the PHE. The fact sheets summarize the status of Medicare blanket waivers and flexibilities by provider type. And, as the agency prepares for the end of the PHE, CMS staff are considering making some of the flexibilities permanent.
Click here to access the CMS guidance.
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Proposed Rule Intended to Improve Access to Dental Care for People with Disabilities
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Disability advocates have long expressed significant concerns over the lack of access to dental procedures in hospitals and similar settings for people with disabilities. In response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed an update to the Medicare code that hospitals use to bill for dental procedures in operating rooms. The new code would allow for a payment rate of $1,958.92.
Medicare currently provides a rate of just $203.64, far short of the $2,334.87 average cost for such services. As a result, the dental groups contend that hospitals are reluctant to schedule their surgical cases. And, current Medicare regulations do not allow for coverage of dental surgeries at ambulatory surgical centers, which dentists say could help to alleviate pressures stemming from the lack of access to hospital operating rooms.
Although the proposed rule applies to Medicare codes, it impacts people with disabilities as Medicaid programs often model Medicare rates, and both Medicaid and commercial insurance typically follow Medicare’s lead to determine what to cover.
Dr. Jane Grover, senior director of the Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention at the American Dental Association, said that if approved the CMS proposal “would take a significant first step forward toward improving access to needed dental surgeries for children and adults with disabilities.” In addition, Grover indicated that, “the dental community is continuing to advocate for reforms that would help to ensure there is sufficient operating room capacity to support dental surgical access for disabled patients served by Medicare and Medicaid.”
The proposed rule is up for public comment through Sept. 13.
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U.S. Senator Casey Holds Hearing on ABLE Age Adjustment Act
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Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) recently led a hearing on the need to pass the ABLE Age Adjustment Act.
ABLE accounts allow individuals to open savings accounts for their disability expenses, without the risk of losing disability benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. Individuals are eligible for ABLE accounts in 43 states and the District of Columbia and can save up to $15,000 per year ($100,000 total) without losing SSI benefits. The savings can be used for disability-related expenses, including home modifications, education, transportation, and assistive technology.
The ABLE Age Adjustment Act will expand the number of individuals with disabilities eligible to open ABLE accounts. Under the current law, only individuals with an age onset of disability prior to turning 26 are eligible. This Bill would increase the age limit up to 46 years of age, providing any individual whose disability onset began prior to turning 46 the opportunity to open an ABLE account. This important change will not only expand access for individuals with disabilities but improve the long-term viability of ABLE programs by increasing the number of active accounts.
The hearing included three witnesses who shared stories about how their ABLE Accounts helped them save money for things such as cars, rent, travel, and necessities to make their homes accessible. One spoke on how an ABLE account could improve her financial freedom, but she became disabled after 26 so she is not able to take advantage of the program.
Click here to join advocates throughout the country calling for passage of the ABLE Age Adjustment Act.
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Money Follows the Person: Updated State Transitions Annual Report
The Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration enables state Medicaid programs to help Medicaid beneficiaries who live in institutions transition into the community. It also gives people with disabilities and older adults more choice in deciding where to live and to receive long-term services and supports. From the time transitions began in 2008 to the end of 2020, states had transitioned 107,128 people to community living through MFP. The brief shows how MFP transitions varied by state and target population over time.
Click here to access the report.
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Administration for Community Living Announces New Resources to Expand Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities
The Administration for Community Living (ACL), along with partners from the U.S. Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, and Social Security Administration have developed two new resources to help expand opportunities for competitive, integrated employment for people with disabilities.
The first resource, Resource Leveraging & Service Coordination to Increase Competitive Integrated Employment for Individuals with Disabilities, provides guidance on how state and local governments can utilize streams of funding to maximize resources from a range of federal programs to improve competitive integrated employment outcomes for transition-age youth and adults with disabilities. The guidance focuses on the techniques of blending, braiding, and sequencing resources to expand opportunities and boost outcomes.
The second resource, A Framework for Community Engagement – A Pathway to Competitive Integrated Employment, is intended for both policymakers and service providers and offers an overview of community engagement strategies that will improve employment opportunities through collaborative and coordinated service planning and delivery. The guidance stresses the importance of community engagement efforts that build relationships and social networks, sharpen workplace skills, and teach new workplace skills. It also describes how employment opportunities should be individualized, interactive, and supported.
Community Supports in Crisis: No Staff, No Services
The Institute for Community Integration at the University of Minnesota released a report on Community Supports in Crisis, focusing on the national shortage of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), in collaboration with the Human Services Research Institute and National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Service. The report focuses on what DSPs do, why the shortage exists, and policy solutions at the national and state levels.
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