Indiana Family to Family

May 9, 2017   Andy Schneider Late last week, the House of Representatives, with one vote to spare, passed a bill to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Among many other things, the bill would radically restructure the nation’s largest health insurer for children—Medicaid—by capping federal matching payments to states starting in three years and continuing each year after that in perpetuity. For over 50 years, the federal government has matched state Medicaid spending on health and long-term care services for children and other vulnerable populations.  Under the House bill, those days would be history, and the federal government would have a new budgeting tool to dial down for “savings” by shifting costs to the states. It’s hard to overstate how damaging this change will be to children’s coverage, to their health, and ultimately to their life chances.  (I’ve tried, but words have failed me).  And even though the 34 million children in Medicaid represent o

By Julie Ward, Director of Health Policy and Nicole Jorwic, Director of Rights Policy. This post originally appeared on  The Arc Blog . They say that if you want to know about a person, look at how they spend their money; to know the values of a nation, the same is true. The current Affordable Care Act and Medicaid fight is showing a side of the political system that is disheartening and shameful. The American Health Care Act, passed by the U. S. House of Representatives, lowers taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations and pays for it by taking over $800 billion from the Medicaid program which serves low income children, seniors, people with disabilities, parents, and other adults. The fundamental injustice of transferring wealth from low income people to businesses and wealthy people is compounded by the fact that these deep cuts in Medicaid will not make private health insurance more affordable or available, the stated goals of supporters of the AHCA. Instead the AHCA d

from National Family Voices: The American Health Care Act On Thursday, May 4, the House of Representatives passed, 217-213, the  American Health Care Act  (ACHCA, H.R. 1628), a step toward fulfilling the Republican promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). All Democrats and 20 Republicans opposed the legislation, giving it only one more vote than it needed to pass. ( See vote tally .) Key provisions.  Among other things, the AHCA would (as of various effective dates): create per capita caps on federal payments to states for Medicaid and allow states to accept block grants as an alternative to these caps (more below*); eliminate the requirement that states provide Medicaid coverage to children ages 6 through 18 in families with incomes between 100 and 133 percent of the federal poverty level; phase out the Medicaid expansion for childless individuals with incomes greater than 133 (effectively 138) percent of the federal poverty level; allow states to im

Dear Medicaid and ACA Advocates:  As you know, the  House passed, by a  217-213 vote ,  the American Health Care Act (AHCA) (H.R. 1628) which would significantly cut and cap federal funding for Medicaid and repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) . The Kaiser Family Foundation created this  summary  which describes key provisions of the AHCA. A CBO score of the bill is expected during the week of May 22 nd . Medicaid is truly at risk right now.   We need you to make our voices heard about how people with disabilities will be devastated by the caps to Medicaid proposed in the AHCA.     Senate Update: The AHCA has now moved to the Senate where a 13-member working group (see attached) has been established to draft a Senate health care bill that will draw 51 votes of support.  We’ve heard that the Senate hopes to pass its bill by the end of June.  A delay is, of course, possible. The next several weeks are critical .  It is during this time period that Republican s

Access to healthcare is under attack & your voice can make a difference in the fight to protect our health care! Share your experiences and tell us why Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (i.e. access to healthcare) matter to you—and we’ll share a book of these stories with Congress. Take Action It’s an all hands on deck moment with health care access under direct attack.  Tomorrow , MomsRising volunteer, Cyndi, will be on Capitol Hill to testify to Congress about why quality, affordable health care coverage is important to her family and our country: “Virtually overnight, we went from being a two-income family with no medical expenses to a one-income family with astronomical medical expenses. I remember standing at the mailbox with my tiny baby—she was still under ten pounds at 11 months old—cradled in my arms and opening an envelope from the children’s hospital with a bill inside for $64,000—more than my husband’s annual salary.” Sad to say: Many members of

The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) wishes to thank stakeholders and members of the public for submitting comment and feedback on the amendment to the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) portion of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Unified State Plan, which pertains to BRS’s request to the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to enter into an order of selection. BRS has reviewed and considered the public comments received. BRS does not anticipate any substantial revisions to the amended section of the State Plan and will move forward with submitting the amendment to RSA. The order of selection will be implemented upon approval of the State Plan amendment by RSA. The timeframe for when BRS might receive that approval is unknown; however, we do not anticipate implementation occurring prior to  July 1, 2017 .  As outlined in previous correspondence, a state VR agency must implement an order of selection when it lacks sufficient staffing or fiscal resources