Dear Public Policy Leaders:
I am the new Director for Public Policy at NACDD. I look forward to meeting many of you and getting to know more about the work of your
DD Councils. This has been a busy week at NACDD, so I wanted to send this quick email to bring you all up to date.
Defeat of latest attack on ACA and Medicaid
As I am sure many of you know, the I/DD community has been actively working to educate Congress about the harm that would be caused by the Graham-Cassidy-Johnson-Heller
bill to repeal and drastically restructure Medicaid. This latest ACA repeal efforts took on new urgency as the Senate circumvented the regular order of proceedings in an attempt to pass the bill under special reconciliation rules which would allow for a simple
majority to pass a bill as opposed to 60 to overcome a filibuster. The effort caught many by surprise, especially senators on the HELP committee who, after the defeat of ACA repeal efforts earlier this spring, had been working over the summer on market stabilization
– a way to address rising costs of premiums and amend ACA in a bipartisan way.
NACDD staff and DD Councils took collaboratively to review the legislation and found it failed to meet the needs of persons with developmental disabilities
by imposing devastating cuts and placing per-capita caps on the Medicaid program, ending the Medicaid expansion and marketplace subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and allowing states to waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Here are just a few of the steps NACDD and DD Councils took during the past few weeks to educate
senators:
·
NACDD submitted a statement for the record during the Senate Finance Committee hearing; worked in coalition to represent DD councils at meetings with key Senate staff;
participated in rallies and press conferences; and coordinated delivery of personal stories and letters from the DD councils to key senate offices.
·
DD Councils from Alaska, California, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina submitted statements for the record at the hearing.
·
DD Council members shared personal stories on how the bill would hurt people with I/DD on local television in Alaska and Wisconsin.
·
DD Councils from California and Illinois submitted hundreds of personal stories to the committee hearing record.
·
Many DD Council Executive Directors made calls and several DD Councils participated in call-in day to senate offices.
As a result of these efforts and those of like-minded Americans and because of key senators who held to their principles to oppose this bill, the bill was defeated.
Although this defeat was a major win for I/DD advocates, the bill sponsors have vowed to resume their efforts after tax reform bill. Additionally, we need to watch the
tax reform debate closely, as there could be an effort to revisit cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax cuts.
A big thank you to everyone for their efforts to educate senators and the public about the harm the Graham-Cassidy-Johnson-Heller bill would have caused
in our communities!
NACDD Opposes H.R. 2792 and Cuts to Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Today the House is considering a bill (HR 2792) that would prohibit payment of SSI benefits to an individual who is the subject of an
outstanding arrest warrant for committing, or attempting to commit, a felony or for violating a condition of parole or probation. NACDD opposes this legislation because it violates due process and would disproportionately impact persons with I/DD who rely
on SSI income.
NACDD works to ensure that SSI recipients are afforded protection of their due process rights. H.R. 2792 would exact harsh punishment
of cutting off SSI benefits entirely for certain people with disabilities, as well as seniors, who have an outstanding arrest warrant for an alleged felony or alleged violation of probation or parole. Many beneficiaries with developmental disabilities depend
solely on their SSI benefits and related health coverage for basic survival. H.R. 2792 is a step backward in bipartisan efforts towards criminal justice reform.
Thank you for everything you do to ensure due process rights to all persons with I/DD.
Erin Prangley
Director, Public Policy
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006
202.506.5813 Ext. 104 (Phone)
202.506.5846 (Fax)