Anna, YOU did it!
After a year of your advocacy—calls, emails, texts—we now have the dedicated Medicaid home and community-based funding necessary to support people with disabilities, their families, and service providers in this crisis.
On Wednesday, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan legislation, which includes $12.7 billion of vital dedicated funding for one year to strengthen and expand access to Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS). HCBS help people with disabilities live as independently as possible in their communities and out of the danger of institutions and nursing homes (read The Arc’s statement here). This funding is what we have been emailing you about for almost a YEAR, and we got it!
This is an incredible victory, thanks to you!
The Arc network has worked tirelessly together to fight for the critical needs of people with disabilities, their families, and the direct support professional (DSP) workforce to be included in COVID-19 relief legislation. Advocates from The Arc have contacted Congress nearly 170,000 times, shared their stories with the media, organized days of actions with partner organizations, and much more – and we made it happen!
In addition to the HCBS funding, other critical provisions in the bill include:
• Including all people with disabilities, including “adult dependents” in receiving stimulus payments
• Extension and expansion of tax credits to cover COVID leave, so that families can support loved ones while care is interrupted.
This has been a difficult year. People with disabilities have been disproportionally impacted by this pandemic. We have lost loved ones, friends, and direct support professionals. We did not give up. Your relentless work to advocate for what we needed to survive this public health crisis made a difference.
Take a moment to celebrate this victory. There will be a lot more work to do to secure long-term funding to make access to the community a reality for all, and I know you will be ready to fight for the human rights of people with disabilities with The Arc.
Peter Berns
Chief Executive Officer
The Arc of the United States
