Family Voices Indiana

                                                                                Weekend Action to #SaveMedicaid SUMMARY : The Senate released its bill, the  Better Care Reconciliation Act , to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to make deep cuts and caps to the Medicaid program.   This bill, if it becomes law, would have the biggest and most devastating impact on health and community services for people with disabilities in 25 years.   The Senate could pass the bill as soon as  Thursday, June 29 .  If this terrible bill is passed by the Senate, it could easily and quickly be passed by the House and signed into law! AUCD must join in coalition with other disability and civil rights groups in your states to educate Senators this weekend,  Monday  and  Tuesday .  Time is of the essence! BACKGROUND: The Senate bill continues the deep cuts to Medicaid (by more than $800 billion over 10 years).  In addition, Medicaid funding would be allocated based on a per capita c

The Senate Leadership is reportedly including a cap on federal Medicaid payments to states in its version of legislation to “repeal and replace” the ACA.  That cap will apparently look a lot like the cap that  narrowly passed the House in early May , but with some tweaks to accommodate concerns of individual Senators. One tweak under consideration has to do with “carving out” medically complex children from  the cap.  Because no bill text is available, it’s not possible to know for sure how the bill would define medically complex children or how they would be “carved out.” That said, two points are clear. First, like all of the other 37 million children enrolled in Medicaid, medically complex children need to be protected from the loss of federal funds for needed care. Second, the only way to protect them is  not  to cap federal Medicaid payments to states for any population—children and families, seniors, persons with disabilities, or pregnant women. Here’s why carving

from National Family Voices: The Senate released its version of the health care  bill  this morning. Family Voices Policy staff has taken a first look.  A few notes: ·           This bill has no winners  and puts at risk coverage and care for children and youth who have special health care needs, whether they get their insurance through the ACA marketplace, an employer, or through  Medicaid. ·           The “carve out” for blind and disabled children does not help .  It would apply only to a small number of children with special health care needs until they turn 19, and will not even protect them for the effects of the drastic cuts in Medicaid funding. In short kids and families are losers in this bill.    Call  your Senators offices NOW. (1)     Urge them to oppose the Senate version of the American Health Care Act.  As a parent/relative/provider of a child with special health care needs, you appreciate the effort to protect some of these children, but the carve-o

from National Family Voices: Health Care Legislation - Update As reported in  the  May 10  Washington Update , the House approved the  American Health Care Act  (AHCA, H.R. 1628) on  May 4  with only Republican votes. In addition to replacing significant parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), that bill would fundamentally restructure and cut the Medicaid program. (See the  May 10  Update  and the list of articles and resources below.) Status of Bill.  Although Senate Republican leaders have indicated that they would like to hold a vote on their version of the AHCA by the end of June, just before a congressional recess for Independence Day, it remains unclear whether that will happen. Since no Democrats are expected to support the bill, at least 50 of the 52 Republican Senators will have to support it to secure passage. (Vice-President Pence can cast a tie-breaking vote.) Yet several Senators have been expressing concern about the legislation, in part because many of them have