"Capitol Hill Update,
From The Disability Policy Collaboration, info@thedpc.org :
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 6
FEBRUARY 7, 2005
MAJOR EVENTS LAST WEEK
* President Bush gave his State of the Union Address. He
did not mention disability at all. He spent most of his
time during that part of his speech on domestic issues
defending his plan to partially privatize Social Security.
He reiterated his pledge to reduce the federal deficit by
one half over the next five years and to broaden the
coverage of the No Child Left Behind Act into the high
schools. He also pressed the Congress to expand health care
coverage while at the same time making huge cuts to
Medicaid.
* In his State of the Union address, President Bush
revealed some of the details of his proposal for
privatizing part of the Social Security trust funds by
creating private accounts for individuals. He indicated
that, under his plan, workers would be allowed to put 4
percent of their wages into private retirement accounts
rather than into the Social Security trust funds. He did
not indicate how the losses from the trust funds would be
paid for and he made no mention of what would happen to the
benefits of the more than 1/3 of beneficiaries who are not
retirees. A senior Administration official indicated to
members of the press that the losses of trust fund dollars
from the diversion of funds into private accounts would
result in benefit cuts for those workers. In addition, the
official admitted that the private accounts would do
nothing to restore solvency to the trust funds over the 75-
year period. Over the weekend, Vice President Cheney
acknowledged that the proposals would cost trillions over
several decades. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
has released analyses of these and other aspects of the
proposal, which are available online at: www.cbpp.org.
* The Administration released some details of its FY 2006
budget proposals for the federal/state Medicaid program.
The budget reportedly will include a provision to give
states more flexibility by capping optional beneficiaries
and services. Documents released by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) late last week
outlined proposals to save $60 billion over 10 years by
restricting the use of intergovernmental transfers and
other accounting mechanisms that states use to fund their
state match, reducing the targeted case management match
rate to 50%, as well as other administrative savings. The
budget will include provisions to expand Medicaid and State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) acute health
care services by approximately $16.5 billion over 10 years.
In the area of long term services and supports, the
proposals are similar to those put forward last year but
not enacted. They include proposals for a Money Follows the
Person rebalancing demonstration; community alternatives to
residential treatment facilities for children with mental
illness; respite care for caregivers of children with
substantial disabilities and adults; and protections for
the Medicaid coverage of spouses of individuals who
participate in the work incentives of the Supplemental
Security Income Section 1619(b) program. Beyond Medicaid,
health care expansions include tax credits, health savings
accounts, and community health centers.
* House and Senate Appropriations Committees continued to
negotiate over proposals, mostly emanating from the House,
to consolidate and shift appropriations subcommittees. One
proposal would reduce the number of subcommittees from 13
to 10 and shift the Housing and Urban Development
appropriations jurisdiction from the current subcommittee
that also does Veterans and NASA to one that does Treasury
and Transportation. This reorganization is primarily aimed
at streamlining the annual appropriations process which in
the last few years has resulted in the need to enact a huge
multi bill omnibus appropriations bill well after the
fiscal year has begun.
* The House and Senate pretty much finalized Congressional
subcommittee assignments. This will allow the DPC to
relaunch the One to One Network. This Network is
intended
to be one strategy to fend off Medicaid cuts. Thirty one
states have at least one member of the Senate Finance
Committee or the House Health Subcommittee of the Energy
and Commerce Committee which have jurisdiction over
Medicaid. Look for One to One Network materials next week
on The Arc and UCP web sites.
* A bipartisan class-action bill is said to be likely to
pass when it moves to the Senate floor this week. Advocates
plan to fight for amendments addressing civil rights,
employment protections and other issues. In particular, an
amendment by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), stating that
federal judges would have the authority to certify class-
action cases based on state consumer laws and a possible
amendment by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) to exempt
civil rights and wage-and-hour cases from the bill would
help protect certain types of suits. The class-action bill,
which the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to mark up this
Thursday, would move many class-action lawsuits from state
courts to federal courts, where more stringent rules would
govern the cases. Supporters, including the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and other business groups, contend the current
class-action system mainly benefits trial lawyers and is
unfair to defendant companies and consumers. Opponents
argue the class-action bill would make it more difficult
for potential plaintiffs to seek redress against corporate
wrongdoers.
* S. 271, introduced last week by Senators John McCain (R-
AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), is being watched closely by
non-profit organizations. It is a bill that redefines most
527 organizations as political committees under federal
election law. Of concern to a wide range of non-profit
organizations, however, is the fact that, although the
current version of this bill is limited to 527
organizations, 501(c)s conduct many of the same
activities.
For example, both 527s and 501(c)(4)s can conduct targeted
voter registration or "get-out-the-vote" activitiesthe
difference between them is the amount of political activity
each may conduct, not the kind of activity. Targeted
activity can be the primary work of 527s but has to be the
secondary work of a 501(c)(4). Also, 527s can conduct
get-
out-the-vote drives to support or oppose state or local
ballot measuresthe same activity that 501(c)(3)s such
as
UCP and The Arc can conduct. Under S. 271, a 527 that
conducts this activity in a year when there is a federal
candidate on the ballot will need to register as a federal
political committee. The concern for 501(c)s is that
other
tax-exempt groups conducting the same activities as 527s
will be the next target. S. 271 represents a trend
with
serious implications for the nonprofit sector. Despite
assurances that the 501(c)s have nothing to worry about, it
is thought that Congressional supporters of this bill want
to extend these restrictions to 501(c)s.
* IDEA regulations regional meetings brought out hundreds
of parents, advocates and professionals to meetings held in
Delaware and Ohio. The U.S. Department of Education is
seeking input from interested parties on which issues to
regulate in regards to the 2004 amendments to IDEA. Another
hearing is scheduled for
comments is February 28.
* The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
issued guidelines to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs)
to
identify and clarify ways in which PHAs can assist
people
with disabilities to find safe, decent and affordable
housing under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.
HUD's implementation suggestions to PHAs include
allowing a
longer search term for people with disabilities, providing
referral services, providing housing search assistance and
cooperating with other governmental agencies. This notice
also provides clarification to PHAs administering
special
purpose vouchers for people with disabilities (i.e.
"Designated" vouchers, Mainstream Vouchers"). The DPC and
other members of the Consortium for Citizens with
Disabilities Housing Task Force have been advocating for
the issuance of this guidance for several years. The
guidance can be accessed at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/publications/notices/05/pih2005-5.pdf.
* Late last week, just after closing the recent comment
period on the Interagency Wheelchair Work Group's (IWWG)
recommendations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) released a draft National Coverage
Determination (NCD) for mobility assistive equipment (e.g.
wheelchairs and scooters) covered under Medicare. Despite
pressure from advocates and beneficiaries to address the
"in the home" restriction, the agency's draft NCD proposes
no changes to the rule. The restriction, which essentially
limits approval for many mobility devices to use within a
person's home, was originally intended to ensure that
Durable Medical Equipment (DME) was provided outside of an
institution and therefore, warranted separate reimbursement
under Medicare. Over the years, however, this regulation
has been interpreted to restrict coverage only to DME that
is "reasonable and necessary" within the four walls of a
beneficiary's home, a requirement that many believe has
little medical or social justification and only serves as a
barrier to a person's ability to live her/his life to the
fullest. The Arc and UCP, along with the ITEM coalition and
a number of other advocates, commented to CMS that this is
an "antiquated restriction, from the dark days when people
with disabilities were expected to stay home and not
participate in society." Advocates remain hopeful that as
the NCD process moves forward, CMS will reconsider and
broaden this restrictive rule.
MAJOR EVENTS AHEAD
* President Bush releases his Fiscal Year 2006 budget
proposal today. Each federal department will hold briefings
on the budget late this afternoon. DPC staff will attend
those that are relevant to disability policy. Defense,
foreign aid and homeland security are expected to receive
large increases while domestic programs are expected to be
held well below inflationary rates. The President had
announced last week his intention to eliminate or reduce
over 150 programs. The next edition of Washington Watch
will detail the major budget proposals as they impact on
people with disabilities.
* Numerous Congressional Committees will hold hearings this
week on the Adminitration's FY 2006 budget. Treasury
Secretary Snow and Office of Management and Budget Director
Bolten will testify at most of these hearings.
* On Wednesday, February 9, the House Subcommittee on 21st
Century Competitiveness will hold a markup of H.R. 27, the
"Job Training Improvement Act of 2005", which proposes
changes to the workforce investment system by strengthening
one-stop career centers, as well as reauthorizes the
Vocational Rehabilitation Act. The bill contains provisions
strengthening the role state VR agencies play in the
transition of youth from school to employment. In the 108th
Congress this language was part of the Senate IDEA bill but
was removed during the conference committee negotiations
with the agreement that it would be part of the VR
reauthorization.
* The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House
Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing to review
welfare reform reauthorization proposals on Thursday,
February 10th. Earlier last month, the Personal
Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2005 was
introduced by senior Members of the House, and would
provide funding for Temporary Assistance For Needy Families
(TANF) and similar programs past the expiration date of
testimony.
* The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee will mark up legislation to create protections
against discrimination based on genetic information this
week. The bill, sponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe
(R-ME),
would, like last year's legislation, bar employers and
insurers from using genetic information to discriminate in
employment or health coverage. In the 108th Congress, the
Senate unanimously passed similar legislation, but it never
received action in the House.
* DPC and UCP Staff are participating in an invitational
conference on voting this week, co-sponsored by United
Cerebral Palsy, the American Association for People with
Disabilities, and a number of state-based disability
organizations. Participants, all active workers and
volunteers in state and national level voting projects
aimed at accessibility for people with disabilities, are
meeting this Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, DC to
debrief how the November, 2004 elections went for people
with disabilities and to initiate strategies around the
U.S. leading up to the mid-term 2006 elections.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute has
released Medicaid Cost Pressures for States: Looking At the
Facts, by Cindy Mann and Fouad Pervez.
This policy brief
looks at the different measures used to report Medicaid
spending and provides state-by-state data. It can be
accessed at
http://jonesd.ihcrp.georgetown.edu/%7ejonesd3/hpi/medstatebudget.pdf
* According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL), states may be looking at brighter
budget pictures than in recent years, but are wary of more
clouds on the horizon. After years of belt-tightening,
states are starting to reap the benefits of a brightening
economy, but some of the fiscal remedies states used to
pull out of tough times might come back to haunt them,
especially as they try to keep up with rising healthcare
and education costs. According to NCSL, while only three
states report shortfalls this year -- down from 31 just two
years earlier -- big deficits could resurface in the near
future, and most quick fixes have been exhausted. Pointing
out that Medicaid and education continue to put a strain on
state coffers, with their costs outpacing even the rosiest
revenue forecasts, NCSL reports that some states compounded
the problem by delaying school construction and other major
projects during the lean years. This year, NCSL believes
that most state lawmakers and governors will be reluctant
to cover rising expenses by raising taxes. Instead, some
state budgets are calling for level funding or cuts in
some
programs to keep shaky budgets on track. Already such
strategies have surfaced when Tennessee Governor Phil
Bredesen proposed a preliminary annual budget
eliminating
more than 300,000 beneficiaries from the state's Medicaid
program.
[The original version of this capitol update has been
edited for JFA. To access the original, visit the website
below.]
For more information about The Disability Policy
Collaboration:
The Disability Policy Collaboration
1660 L Street, NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 783-2229
(202) 783-8250 - Fax
info@thedpc.org
http://www.thearc.org/governmental-affairs.htm