| Action Alerts Tell Your Members of Congress: Fund the Money Follows the Person Program Major Recent Events Education: IDEA Full Funding Act Reintroduced On March 26, Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA), John Katko (R-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), David McKinley (R-WV), Dean Phillips (D-MN), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), and Glen Thompson (R-PA) introduced the IDEA Full Funding Act (S.866/H.R.1878). This bipartisan bill would increase spending over the next decade to bring the federal share of funding for special education up to 40 percent, the amount committed when the law was first enacted in 1975. The federal government currently covers only 14 percent of these costs. The Arc supports this legislation. Health: DOJ to Argue Court Should Invalidate Entire ACA On March 25, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit stating it agreed with the ruling of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas in United States v. Texas invalidating the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this case, the lower court ruled that as a result of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provision reducing the individual mandate penalty to $0, the mandate was unconstitutional. Furthermore, the lower court ruled that the entire ACA was invalid as a result. The DOJ had previously argued in District Court that only the individual mandate and pre-existing condition protections should be invalidated, while the rest of the law should remain intact. The Arc strongly supports fully overturning the District Court ruling and has signed onto an amicus brief. Medicaid: Federal Court Strikes Down Medicaid Work Requirements On March 27, a judge in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia issued two rulings striking down Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky. The opinions direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reconsider the states’ waiver applications with consideration given to possible loss of coverage. The same judge invalidated Kentucky’s waiver last year, and HHS re-approved it without changes after another notice and comment period. Arkansas’s waiver had already gone into effect, and 16,000 had already lost coverage as a result. Read The Arc’s statement on the rulings. Announcements Miscellaneous: Attend the Disability Policy Seminar on April 8-10 The 2019 Disability Policy Seminar is now only one week away! This is the premier event for bringing the issues and concerns of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to Capitol Hill. Join other passionate advocates and professionals from around the country to get up to date on the latest policy issues and legislation and to advocate for the programs that people with disabilities rely on to live and work in the community! Register here. Family Support: NCAPPS to Host Webinar on Person and Family-Centered Planning for Respite On April 3, the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS) will host a webinar titled Person and Family-Centered Planning for Respite. The webinar will focus on the importance of person and family-centered planning for caregivers. NCAPPS is a new initiative from the Administration for Community Living and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories. Presenters for the webinar will be Shawn Terrell, Administration for Community Living; Alixe Bonardi, Human Services Research Institute; and Bevin Croft, Human Services Research Institute. Register here. |