Policy Corner: June 12, 2020

Senate Committee Advances the Nomination of Julie Hocker for Labor Position

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Executive Committee has confirmed Julie Hocker to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy in the U.S. Department of Labor. This confirmation will advance her nomination to be considered by the full Senate. She is currently the Commissioner of the Administration on Disabilities within the Administration for Community Living in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Senators Introduce Bill to Create Office of International Disability Rights

Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced the Office of International Disability Rights Act, H.R. 3373, which would establish an Office of International Disability Rights within the U.S. Department of State, headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Disability Rights, to ensure the United States is focused on advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities around the world. While the State Department has previously had special advisers on International Disability Rights, the position has not been consistently filled, and resources for programming on disability rights and inclusion have been limited. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Don Young (R-Ark.).

Legislation to be Introduced to Provide Relief for Healthcare Costs for COVID-19 in Children

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has announced that he is introducing the Children’s Health Insurance Program Pandemic Enhancement and Relief (CHIPPER) Act, H.R. 6797, to continue support for state Children’s Health Insurance Programs during the public health emergency. This legislation would extend enhanced federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an extra year for states that take certain steps to bolster their CHIP programs. Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).

Senators Introduce Bill to Assist with Public Health Loan Repayment 

Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced “The Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Act,” S. 3737, which would reauthorize and strengthen the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program to provide loan repayment assistance to eligible individuals who work in a local, state, or tribal public health department for two consecutive years. Under the proposal, an individual could receive up to $35,000 in repayment assistance for each year of service. This would help people who work in public health jobs to pay back student loans, encouraging people to enter into that field.

HHS to Distribute Medicaid/CHIP Provider Relief Fund Payment Forms and Guidance
HHS announced that it expects to distribute $15 billion to eligible Medicaid and CHIP providers, including Medicaid providers offering services to individuals with brain injury. The payment to each provider will be at least 2% of reported gross revenue from patient care; the final amount each provider receives will be determined after the provider submits required data, including information about the number of Medicaid patients providers serve.

GAO Releases Report on Hiring People with Disabilities in the Federal Workforce

The Government Accountability Office just released a detailed report about efforts to recruit, hire, and retain more employees with disabilities in the federal workforce. The report indicated that:

• Federal agencies hired about 143,600 persons with disabilities from 2011-2015, plus 79,600 hires in 2016 and 2017.
• About 39% of those with disabilities hired in 2011-2017 stayed less than a year, compared to about 43% of those without disabilities.
• About 60% of hires – both those with and without disabilities – stayed less than two years.

Read the full report and summary.

OCR Resolves Complaint Regarding State’s Visitation Policies in Short-term Medical Facilities

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at HHS announced that it has reached an Early Case Resolution (ECR) with the State of Connecticut after the state issued an executive order regarding non-visitation policies for short-term hospitals, outpatient clinics, and outpatient surgical facilities to ensure that people with disabilities are not denied reasonable access to needed support persons. As part of the resolution, Connecticut is issuing an executive order to ensure that people with disabilities have reasonable access to support personnel in hospital settings in a manner that is consistent with disability rights laws and the health and safety of patients, health care providers, and support persons. The order includes establishing a statewide policy requiring hospitals and other acute care settings to permit the entrance of a designated support person for a patient with a disability and permitting family members, service-providers or other individuals knowledgeable about the needs of the person with a disability to serve as a designated support person. Where patients with a disability are in such a setting for longer than one day, they may designate two support persons, provided only one is present at a time.

This announcement is in response to a complaint received in my by OCR from Disability Rights Connecticut, CommunicationFIRST, the Arc of Connecticut, Independence Northwest: Center for Independent Living of Northwest CT Center for Public Representation, and The Arc of the USA alleging that Connecticut’s guidance regarding hospital visitation for people with disabilities violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which are enforced by OCR. The complainants alleged that Connecticut guidance concerning hospital “no visitor” policies during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed only narrow exceptions for support persons for individuals with disabilities receiving certain services from the state Department of Developmental Services (DDS), leaving large groups of persons with disabilities unable to avail themselves of the exception. The complainants alleged that without support persons, specific patients with disabilities were being denied equal access to medical treatment, effective communication, the ability to make informed decisions and provide consent, and that they were being unnecessarily subjected to physical and pharmacological restraints.

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action.