Policy Corner: March 31, 2023
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Senators Introduce Care for Long COVID Act
Last week, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), along with ten co-sponsors, introduced S. 801, the Comprehensive Access to Resources and Education for Long COVID Act or the CARE for Long COVID Act, to create or maintain regularly updated patient registry of individuals with suspected or confirmed Long COVID and related conditions in coordination with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Participation in the registry would be voluntary and the registry information about an individual shall remain confidential, unless the individual consents to the inclusion of such information.
In addition, the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shall collaborate and coordinate research related to the health care system’s response to Long COVID, including identifying barriers to access for treatment for veterans, older adults, people with disabilities, children and young adults, communities of color, underserved and rural communities and other groups impacted by high rates of COVID-19. The bill calls for public and provider education regarding Long COVID and related symptoms that include cognitive, neurological, psychiatric, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and cardiovascular symptoms.
Senate Special Committee on Aging Holds Hearing on Guardianship
On Thursday, March 30, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, chaired by Bob Casey (D-Pa.) held a hearing entitled, “Guardianship and Alternatives: Protection and Empowerment.” Guardianships are legal relationships created when a court determines that a person is incapable of making important decisions on their own. Most people who have guardians are seniors and people with disabilities. Many Americans with guardians need permission to see a doctor, take or refuse medication, live in in their own homes, spend their own money, and even vote. They also face increased risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by unscrupulous guardians.
The hearing examined these issues, as well as alternatives to guardianship, such as supported decision-making, a less restrictive model that appoints trusted advisors — such as friends, family, or professionals — to serve people who need support making decisions, rather than having choices made on their behalf. Senator Casey also announced the proposed Guardianship Bill of Rights Act, which would promote alternative arrangements to guardianships and create standards that would protect the civil rights of people living under guardianships.
Senator Casey Introduces Three Bills to Address Safety for Students with Disabilities
Yesterday, Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced that he is introducing three bills to make education more accessible to students with disabilities and help ensure their safety at school. These policies are to make transitions to postsecondary education smoother; to make campus emergency procedures more accurate, accessible, and inclusive of students with disabilities; to improve training for school security and staff, and to develop stronger federal oversight and support. The three bills are:
- The Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower (RISE) Act, which will provide students with disabilities more affordable options to establish proof of their disability to secure the accommodations they need to thrive in postsecondary education, adopt transparent policies regarding disability services and improve communication of those policies and services to students and their families, and invest $10 million in training college faculty how best to engage with and support students with disabilities.
- The Safe Equitable Campus Resources and Education (SECURE Act) to strengthen the Clery Act, which requires higher education institutions that receive federal financial aid and funding to maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information, by requiring postsecondary institutions have accessible information and awareness programs about preventing abuse and attacks targeting people with disabilities, and ensuring administrative disciplinary hearings are accessible, and create more inclusive emergency preparedness protocols and resources accessible to all students regardless of age, developmental stage, and disability status.
- The Promoting Responsible Emergency Protocols (PREP) for All Students Act to enable early child care and education settings, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education to develop inclusive emergency preparedness protocols. A federal advisory council would develop guidelines for the implementation of accessible, developmentally appropriate, culturally aware, and trauma-informed emergency preparedness protocols and submit their recommendations to Congress.
Judge Strikes Down ACA Preventive Healthcare Coverage Mandate
Yesterday, federal District Court Judge Reed O’Connor struck down the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive coverage mandate that requires most insurers to cover preventive services that included screenings for cancer, diabetes, and mental health recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which is tasked with determining some of the preventive care treatments that ACA requires. The ACA requires private health insurance plans to cover in-network preventive services at no cost to patients. Private plans are required to cover all preventive services recommended by the Task Force with an “A” or “B” rating. These preventive services include screening recommendations for child wellness; intimate partner violence (IPV); aneurysm among older adults who were smokers; alcohol use; cardiovascular disease; and depression.
The decision is the result of a case known as Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra brought by employers and individuals in Texas. Jude O’Connor said the requirement to cover drugs preventing HIV, known as PrEP, violates the religious rights of plaintiffs under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. It is unclear if the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will challenge this ruling.
Lawmakers Submit Letters Requesting Increased TBI Funding for FY 2025
Congressional Brain Injury Task Force (CBITF) co-chairs, Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) submitted a letter to the House Appropriations Committee in support of increased funding for the TBI Act programs administered by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with nearly 30 Representatives also signing on. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is currently circulating a similar letter among his colleagues. You may reach out to your senators asking for their support by signing on to the letter. They may contact Senator Van Hollen’s office to sign on.
OSEP Releases New Facts on Students Identified with a TBI
The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) released a new OSEP Fast Facts, which looks at Students Identified with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). OSEP reports that less than 1% of school aged students with disabilities are identified with a TBI from data collected through child count, educational environments, discipline and exiting data collections with a lens on students identified with TBI. Highlights from OSEP Fast Facts: Educational Environments of School Aged Children with Disabilities:
- Students with TBI are less likely to be served in the age range 5–11 and more likely to be served in the age range 12–17 than all students with disabilities.
- In school year (SY) 2021–22, White students are more likely to be identified with TBI and Hispanic/Latino students were less likely to be identified with TBI than all students with disabilities.
- In SY 2020–21, children with TBI, ages 14–21, exiting school were more likely to graduate and less likely to drop out than all students with disabilities.
- In SY 2021–22, students with TBI were less likely to be served inside a regular class 80% or more of the day than all students with disabilities.
Congress Recesses for Spring Break
Both the House and Senate will be in recess over the next two weeks for the overlapping period of Easter and Passover. The House is scheduled to return April 17 and the Senate on April 21.