Policy Corner: September 29, 2023
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Congress Scheduled to Work Saturday on Appropriations
As funding for the federal government ends at 12:01 am (ET) Sunday, Congress needs to pass a measure to keep government open past that time to avoid a shutdown. The House of Representatives worked on four separate spending bills Thursday night. The House passed the Fiscal Year 2024 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act with a vote of 216 to 212; the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act with a vote of 220 to 208; and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act with a vote of 218 to 210. The House did not have the votes to pass the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bill. Today, the House is expected to try to pass a continuing resolution (CR) along party-line Republicans to temporarily extend federal funding past Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, the Senate has been working in a bipartisan manner and has a bill to fund the government through Nov. 17. The CR should pass in the coming days, although probably not before the weekend deadline. House Republicans have voiced opposition to the Senate bill, while the Senate opposes the bills the House has passed.
In anticipation of the failure to extend appropriations for federal programs, federal agencies have made contingency plans until Congress acts. Federal employees deemed essential will continue to work without pay. Social Security payments to seniors, Americans with disabilities and others would continue to be distributed and the Postal Service will also continue regular service. Benefits would continue under programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Doctors and hospitals could continue to submit bills and get paid. TSA will remain operable along with traffic controllers in order to keep airports open, however, they will work without pay. Certain passport offices — particularly those located inside federal buildings — could close. Other federal programs will be impacted, such as Head Start, and federal parks, which would be closed. Those employees who are furloughed would receive back pay once funding resumes. Federal contractors, such as maintenance workers and food service, do not have a guarantee of receiving back pay.
Lawmakers and Leaders Mourn the Passing of the Oldest Serving Senator
Last night, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the oldest senator in the 118th Congress, died at her home in Washington, D.C. at the age of 90. She has held many positions as the “first” woman to do so. Notably, she was a vocal gun control advocate and authored the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, leading to a 10-year restriction on certain semi-automatic weapons. She also guided the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act to protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault. Recent reports have highlighted the intersection of brain injury and domestic and family violence.
NIH Designates People with Disabilities as a Distinct Health Disparity Group
This week, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) announced that it is designating people with disabilities as a distinct health disparity population, along with racial and ethnic minority groups, people with lower socioeconomic status, and who are underserved rural communities, in recognition that people with disabilities often experience a wide and varying range of health conditions that lead to poorer health and shorter lifespan. People with disabilities who also belong to one or more other populations with health disparities fare even worse.
In the NIH press release, Acting NIH Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak addressed the groundswell of support from the disability community, “To the disability community, we hear you and thank you for sharing your lived experiences with NIH.” BIAA advocated for this decision as a member of the Disability & Rehabilitation Research Coalition (DRRC) and supports the DRRC “thank you” letter to the agency noting the importance of the designation as a critical step in addressing health disparities faced by people with disabilities and ensuring their appropriate representation in research. DRRC also thanked NIH for releasing the Notice of Funding Opportunity entitled “Health and Health Disparities Among Persons Living with Disabilities” to fund research examining the factors impacting the health and well-being of persons with disabilities at the intersections of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
NIMHD supports research programs and initiatives in enhancing the scientific knowledge base and designing interventions to improve health outcomes to reduce and ultimately lead to the elimination of health disparities.
ACL Awards NIDILRR DRRP Program Grants Impacting Persons with TBI
The Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) has awarded 14 Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) grants, which includes a DRRP on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems Centers Collaborative Research Project to the Trustees of Indiana University with an estimated funding amount of $900,000 per year for conducting exploratory research to better understand angry and aggressive reactions that individuals with chronic TBI experience in response to their daily lives.
The DRRP Projects for Translating Findings and Products into Practice includes funding for:
- Building Accessibility in the Community – Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- Employing Knowledge Translation Strategies to Promote Provider Adoption of the AAN-ACRM-NIDILRR Practice Guidelines on Management of Persons with Disorders of Consciousness Across the Care Continuum – Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Corporation.
- TBI@Work Toolkit: Employment Resources for People with Traumatic Brain Injury – American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences.
- Translating Findings on Supports for Community Life Engagement – University of New Hampshire.
- Translating Multifunctional Robotic Assistive Arm for Activities of Daily Living into Practice – Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- Translation of Wheelchair Skills Training to Practice: A Multiple Stakeholder Approach – University of Pittsburgh.
The purpose NIDILRR’s DRRP program is to plan and conduct research, demonstration projects, trainings, and related activities (including international activities) to develop methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities.
Bills Introduced to Address Michigan No-Fault Auto Insurance Flaws
Statewide advocacy groups in Michigan have called on the Michigan Legislature to quickly pass a set of newly introduced Senate bills that would fix a range of problems created by the auto reform package signed into law in 2019. SB 530 and 531 were introduced this week which would provide for a reasonable fee schedule on post-acute providers that is fair and in-line with Medicare standard used for post acute-care services and brings consistency, fairness, and equity to families who choose and/or need to provide care for the injured. The bills provide narrow fixes to the two most harmful elements of the 2019 auto insurance reforms by replacing the nearly 50% cut in catastrophic care with a reasonable and sustainable fee schedule, and by removing the arbitrary 56-hour per-week cap on care provided by family members.
