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Voters with Disabilities Urged to Review Their Rights and Participate in the November 8 Election
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During the 2022 midterm election, 38.3 million voters with disabilities will have the opportunity to utilize the most effective advocacy tool at their disposal: their right to vote.
However, voters with disabilities often face unique obstacles when casting their ballots. The Help America Vote Act ensures that all voters with disabilities have the right to mark, cast, and verify their ballots privately and independently.
The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) helps voters with disabilities register to vote and understand their options to cast ballots. As the November midterms approach, here are some important rights people with disabilities have when it comes to voting and fully participating in our democratic process:
As a voter with a disability, you have the right to:
- Vote privately and independently.
- Vote in an accessible polling place with voting machines for voters with disabilities.
- Seek assistance from workers at the polling place who have been trained to use accessible voting machines.
- Bring someone to help you vote.
You can also ask your local election officials ahead of the election to tell you about available voting aids, voting assistance, and mail-in or absentee ballot procedures.
If you, or someone you support, feel that your right to vote is being threatened you are encouraged to call the Disability Rights California (DRC) voting hotline at (888) 569-7955.
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Commission Looks to Reduce Disparities and Increase Access to Services for Californians with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
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On October 28, the Little Hoover Commission held an advisory committee roundtable on California’s developmental disabilities support system. The intent of the roundtable was to identify creative solutions to reduce disparities and increase access to services for Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). You can view a recording of the event by clicking here.
The Little Hoover Commission, formally known as the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy, is an independent state oversight agency created in 1962. The Commission’s mission is to investigate state government operations and policy, and, through reports and legislative proposals, make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature to promote economy, efficiency, and improved service in state operations.
The Commission’s upcoming study on this issue will assess the extent of current disparities in service access within the state, identify the underlying causes of these disparities and the current state efforts to address them, and consider how state government can improve the consistency and timeliness of service delivery for the individuals and their families who rely on the state’s developmental services programs.
All stakeholders in the California IDD service system are encouraged to attend the commission’s next public hearing to be held on Thursday, November 10 at noon. The events will also be live-streamed on the Commission’s Facebook page.
During the hearing, members of the public may indicate to staff that they wish to make a public comment by using the “raise” hand feature in Zoom or by sending an email to littlehoover@lhc.ca.gov with questions and the phone number from which you have joined the event. Public comments will be heard at the end of the event and will be limited to three minutes per speaker and to a total of 30 minutes. For more information and to register for the hearing click here.
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California to End the COVID State of Emergency in Early 2023
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On October 17, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced California’s COVID-19 State of Emergency will end on February 28, 2023, nearly three years after it was first declared.
The State of Emergency gave the Governor broad powers to issue masking and vaccination mandates and temporary stay-at-home orders in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
“The State of Emergency was an effective and necessary tool that we utilized to protect our state, and we wouldn’t have gotten to this point without it,” Newsom said in a statement. “With the operational preparedness that we’ve built up and the measures that we’ll continue to employ moving forward, California is ready to phase out this tool.”
Newsom has extended the State of Emergency five times over the course of the pandemic, most recently in June 2022.
The federal government recently extended its own COVID-19 public health emergency through January 11. Federal officials have said they will give states a 60-day notice before the federal emergency order is lifted. Some pandemic-era expansions and protections that Californians have benefitted from come from the federal order, like expansions in telehealth services and Medi-Cal’s renewal freeze, which has helped keep thousands insured throughout the pandemic.
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Social Security Announces 8.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2023
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The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2023 will be 8.7 percent, which will mean an increase of approximately $144 a month in Social Security benefits for program beneficiaries.
Millions of beneficiaries will get this increase because of the increase in the national rate of inflation. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The increase will affect beneficiaries of Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The new increase will take effect in January for retirees and on December 30 for SSI beneficiaries. Last year, the COLA was 5.9 percent, which was, at that time, the largest increase in decades.
For more information on 2023 changes in the Social Security system click here to access the Social Security fact sheet.
While the SSI program provides critical support for millions of people with disabilities and their families to be able to afford necessities like food and rent, it has many rules that make it hard for people to save money and get out of poverty. SSI has an asset limit that has not been updated since 1989. Assets include money in bank accounts, property, and savings. Right now, individuals who get SSI can only have $2,000 in assets. Married couples can only have $3,000.
These asset limits mean that people cannot save money, and they force people with disabilities into poverty to qualify for needed benefits. To address this long-standing problem, the bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (S.4102) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. S.4102 would raise these asset limits to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples.
TAKE ACTION: Urge your U.S Senators to support people with disabilities and their families by supporting the bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (S.4102) which would raise these asset limits to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples by clicking here.
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KFF Report Finds Significant Increases in Medicaid Enrollment and Spending in FY2022 and FY2023
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Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report that analyzes Medicaid enrollment and spending trends for state FY 2022 and FY 2023. The report notes that increases in total enrollment and spending, as a result of that enrollment, is due to the continuing COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration, which provides a 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal Medicaid match rate (FMAP) for states that meet certain “maintenance of eligibility” (MOE) requirements, including a continuous enrollment requirement, during the PHE.
According to the report, Medicaid agencies expect total Medicaid spending to reach a peak growth rate of 12.5% in FY 2022 and slow to 4.2% in FY 2023. While enrollment has been the driving force of increased spending, state Medicaid agencies surveyed identified several factors beyond enrollment that were driving total spending growth, including provider rate or cost increases, rising inflation, and spending on home and community-based services.
This report is significant to people with disabilities and disability service providers who continue to deal with a direct support professional (DSP) workforce crisis. This crisis continues to worsen as disability provider rates fail to keep up inflationary pressures in an economy that continues to push wages up in other sectors making it difficult to attract quality staff. With increasing Medicaid expenditures putting pressures on state resources, it will make it difficult to secure disability service rate increases.
You can view the full report by clicking here.
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ACL Launches National Center to Strengthen the Direct Care Workforce
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The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has awarded a five-year grant totaling over $6 million to establish a national center to expand and strengthen the direct care workforce across the country. In support of the Administration’s goal of strengthening the nation’s care economy, this initiative will provide technical assistance to states and service providers and facilitate collaboration with stakeholders to improve recruitment, retention, training, and professional development of the direct care workers who provide the critical services that make it possible for people with disabilities and older adults to live in their communities.
With demand for community-based services increasing, due in part to the rapidly growing populations of older adults and people with disabilities, more than 1.3 million new jobs for direct care workers will be created by 2030. A coordinated, national effort to improve the U.S. capacity to recruit, train and retain quality staff is critical.
The national Direct Care Workforce Capacity Building Center will serve as a hub, providing tools, resources, and training to assist state systems and service providers and to support the development and coordination of policies and programs that contribute to a stable, robust direct care workforce. The center’s website will share resources from the federal government, highlight state and local model policies and best practices that can be replicated or adapted, and share training and technical assistance materials.
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Advocacy Action Needed on Bi-Partisan ABLE Adjustment Act
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The Able Age Adjustment Act (S. 331 / H.R. 1219) has been introduced by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) in the Senate and by Representative Tony Cardenas (D-CA-29) and Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA-5) in the House of Representatives.
The Senate Finance Committee added S.331/H.R.1219 to the Enhancing American Retirement Now Act (EARN Act), which is a part of a larger retirement reform bill, during mark-up.
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 including California 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.
TAKE ACTION: Click here to visit Momentum’s Voter Voice Advocacy Center to urge the House and Senate to pass the ABLE Age Adjustment Act now!
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ANCOR Releases 2022 State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis Survey
In a newly released report, ANCOR, a national organization representing more than 2,000 disability service providers including Momentum, finds that a significant shortage of direct support professionals (DSPs) has reached unprecedented levels, in turn threatening access to community-based services.
This is a key takeaway from ANCOR’s newest research, The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2022 which summarizes the findings of ANCOR’s survey of providers. The survey, which was a follow-up to 2021 research, garnered 718 member responses.
Key findings from ANCOR’s 2022 State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis survey include that:
- 83% of providers are turning away new referrals, a 25.8% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
- 63% of providers are discontinuing programs and services, a staggering 85.3% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
- 71% of case managers are struggling to find available providers, citing difficulty to connect families to long-term services and supports due to a lack of available providers.
Click here to download the report.
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