DD funding is NOT in Senate plan

Please take action! Funds for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services are essential ... and did NOT make it into the Senate proposal

BACKGROUND:

The U.S. Senate introduced the HEALS Act Monday, and the news for disability advocates is bad:

• No additional funds for home and community based services. These types services make up the essence of DD, or community, supports.
• Civil rights protections, including some under the Americans with Disabilities Act, would be lost

There are small victories. The Senate proposal ensures adults with disabilities who are claimed as dependents have access to stimulus payments; there are some non-profit supports; and it works to fix the Paycheck Protection Program loans. But broadly, the bill ignores the critical needs of people with disabilities, their families, the Direct Support Professional workforce, and service providers.

The Senate proposal has $1 trillion dollars of relief, while the House HEROES Act included $3 trillion in funding, much in the form of relief for states. The House proposal notably included an increase to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) and new home and community based services funding, also called "HCBS funds."

In the Senate proposal, employees and people with disabilities would lose protections under several labor, employment, and civil rights laws, including:

• Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act
• Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
• The Senate proposal also removes liability under the ADA and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for businesses and employers who cannot offer requested accommodations because doing so will pose serious risk to public health

The Arc's statement: Three Years to the Day Since Senator John McCain’s Thumbs Down: Congress is Still Forgetting #WeAreEssential

The National Disability Rights Network Statement: Senate COVID Bill Protects Profits, Not Lives

New York Times: Here Are the Differences Between the House and Senate Coronavirus Relief Bills

ABOUT "HCBS" and "FMAP":

Home and community based services (HCBS) are alternatives to institutional care. If you or a loved one access services through the state Developmental Disabilities Administration or Aging and Long-Term Supports Administration, chances are they are funded by an HCBS waiver. The Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages (FMAP), meanwhile, determine matching federal funds for certain state medical and social service programs. If the federal government increases FMAP rates, then the state's investment in Medicaid goes further. Apple Health and long-term supports are funded through Medicaid.

The Arc's policy staff in Washington, D.C., says negotiations are ongoing and a compromise is expected. They were still reviewing the text of the bills Tuesday afternoon and providing updates. The House is set to recess on Friday, July 31, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated they will stay until a deal is reached. The Senate is set to recess on August 7.

ALERT & TALKING POINTS FROM THE ARC's NATIONAL STAFF:

WE MUST ACT to keep the pressure on the Senate to include the needs of people with disabilities, the direct support workforce, and service providers in the next federal package. Things will move fast, and right now the Senate proposal does NOT address most of the critical needs of people with disabilities!

Your Senators need to hear from you so that these and other important provisions ,are included in the bill that ultimately passes Congress:

• Dedicated funding for Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS). These funds are necessary to serve people with disabilities in their homes and communities and will provide better wages and support for the direct support workforce. Better wages and support are needed to stabilize and grow the direct support field. Access to HCBS will limit the risk of people with disabilities being put in institutions. Now, especially, people need to avoid congregate care. And all states need robust alternatives to institutions.
  
  
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) for direct support professionals. This is urgently needed to protect the health and safety of this critical workforce. DSPs must be designated as essential workers so that they can get access to the PPE and medical supplies they need.
  
  
• Paid leave for all caregivers. As more people with disabilities lose their usual sources of care, family caregivers are scrambling and need access to paid leave and sick days to help their loved ones. Congress should include all family caregivers in the emergency paid leave provisions.
  
  
• Economic impact payments for all people with disabilities, including adults with disabilities who are claimed as dependents.

You can take action here: https://p2a.co/hy2tD8v

All alert messages can be edited.

If you prefer, you can also email Washington's U.S. Senators directly:

• Senator Maria Cantwell: https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/email
• Senator Patty Murray: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

Alert! Land giveaway comes at expense of supports for people with DD

The House Capital Budget includes a provision that would give the City of Shoreline 6 acres from the Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center (RHC) for a dog park and to create low income housing. This property is worth millions of dollars.

The problem is that the land at the Fircrest RHC, and any proceeds from it, are to be directed to the Dan Thompson Memorial Trust Fund to create a revenue stream for community services for people with developmental disabilities.

Parks and low-income housing are important, but the state should not give away this land at the expense of people with developmental disabilities.

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The following alert was sent from The Arc of Washington:

We need to ACT NOW to avert a catastrophic House Capital Budget proposal that would eliminate critical funding for unserved people with developmental disabilities by taking the only valuable piece of excess property in the DD Community Trust at Fircrest and give it away to the City of Shoreline for a dog park (valued around $25 million)!

Whether you support or oppose the Residential Habilitation Centers (RHC)s does not matter. This decision would not affect the operation of the RHCs, but it would eliminate funding for the unserved!

Contact House Capital Budget leadership now and flood their offices with phone calls and emails and messages TODAY!

1. If one of the legislators below represents you, call the toll-free hotline at (800) 562-6000 and leave a message telling them to “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”
2. You can call the offices of each legislator listed and ask them to “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”
3. Send an email to each legislator below and put in the email header “OPPOSE THE FIRCREST LAND GIVE-AWAY IN THE CAPITAL BUDGET”

Let’s work together to protect what little belongs to people with developmental disabilities in our state!

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• Ranking Chair: Representative Tharinger (24th District), Steve.Tharinger@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7904
• Ranking Vice Chair: Representative Doglio (22nd District), Beth.Doglio@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7992
• Ranking Vice Chair: Representative Peterson (21st District), Strom.Peterson@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7950
• Minority Chair: Representative DeBolt (20th District), Richard.DeBolt@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7896
• Minority Vice Chair: Representative Smith (10th District), Norma.Smith@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7884
• Minority Vice Chair: Representative Steele (12th District), Mike.Steele@leg.wa.gov, (360) 786-7832

Health care policy update: ACA repeal details

The most important health policy news is coming out of Congress, but the impact statewide and locally will be huge.

In their repeal of the Affordable Care Act, leadership in the U.S. House of Representative is also proposing to repeal the expansion of Medicaid, as well as to restructure and cut Medicaid.

In Washington, 600,000 people gained coverage under the Medicaid expansion and uncompensated care was cut in half.

If you are on Apple Health, this will affect you. If you receive services through the state Developmental Disability Administration, this will affect you. Do you or your loved one get services through the Core, Basic Plus, CIIBS, Individual and Family Services, or Community Protection waivers? THIS AFFECTS YOU.