I've been delinquent in my blogging lately, but the time has come to try to make up for that. So much is happening nationally that has an impact on disability supports here and across the country, but there still are local developments and initiatives that deserve your attention.
Coming up next week is a hearing on an important bill: the Judith Heumann Memorial Workers with Disabilities Act, introduced by the council's health committee chair, Christina Henderson. The purpose of this bill would be to allow, within certain parameters, people who do not qualify under Medicaid criteria to "buy into" Medicaid in order to receive disability supports. The bill is not perfect, and a number of advocacy groups had hoped for a delay in the hearing to allow for further review. But the hearing will be happening on December 11 at 9:30, and it is not too late to sign up, here (see upper right-hand corner).
The very next day, December 12, DDS will host its monthly community forum at noon - usually to be found at this link, but it's worthwhile to reach out to Charlisa Payne to make sure you get the announcement directly from the source. The central item on the agenda will be a presentation by DHCF about expected changes to Medicaid in the coming year, so I'd suggest you carve out the hour and a half from 12-1:30 on the 12th to tune into this discussion.
Besides these two events on Thursday and Friday of next week, what continues in the background is a series of discussions among DDS and key advocacy groups on potential future measures to continue providing needed HCBS supports (see here for definitions) but in more cost-effective ways. While these discussions are not likely to derail DDS planning for a waitlist, now scheduled to take effect in early 2026, we may begin learning more about the sorts of other changes under consideration when the FY2027 budget season gets under way, starting in February. Unfortunately, in the meantime DDS has reportedly been denying and delaying services at the margins and undertaking other cuts that are placing burdens on provider agencies while not making a significant contribution to budget savings.
So the next few months promise to be full of meaningful discussions and announcements that will surely warrant our close attention. Don't turn away.
- Thanks for reading! And note also that since last May I'm also writing a weekly newsletter, DClives, published each Monday and covering the real DC, where people live and don't just pass through. Here was my recent post about Project ACTION!
