North Carolina recently went through an 18-month planning process to develop a new document outlining the steps that the state should take to ensure that people with disabilities are able to live, work, learn, and enjoy their lives alongside everyone else in their communities. Plans like this set meaningful goals to address the barriers people…
Public Policy Update
No progress on State Budget from House members State Budget Update: The NC House budget is now not expected until late July or early August. House budget leaders are sorting out the implications of billions in federal funding and its impact on the state budget. Some federal funding, like that for health and human services,…
North Carolina General Assembly Update – State Budget
State Budget Update: The NC Senate passed SB 105, their version of the state budget bill, on Friday, June 25. This year’s budget contains a mix of state appropriations and allocations of federal funding that has come to North Carolina through several “recovery act” bills. The NC House is expected to release their budget bill sometime in mid-July. The House and Senate will have to reconcile differences between their budget bills though the conference committee report before sending the final budget to the…
June 9: Legislative Day of Action for Direct Support Wages
ASNC and a coalition of groups across IDD, aging, and home and community-based health services will be rallying at the General Assembly on June 9 in support of increased wages for direct support workers. Legislators have heard our decade of advocacy for increased access to services, and we expect to see more waiver slots in the upcoming budget. Access to waivers must go…
Policy Pulse Update
Federal Actions HR 2373 Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (H.R. 2373), a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress on April 6th , phases out the use of subminimum wage certificates for people with disabilities, which many people view as outdated and unfair. The bill authorizes funds to help states transform their employment systems to…
Vaccine Priority Update
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced several updates regarding COVID-19 vaccine administration on March 2, 2021. Included in the updates are changes to the vaccination priority for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including autism. We want to extend our sincere appreciation to Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen, Deputy Secretary Dave Richard,…
Vaccine Priority for People with Autism
Increasing evidence is showing that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are at much higher risk for contracting COVID-19, for being hospitalized with the illness, and an increased mortality rate from the illness. A Johns Hopkins analysis of insurance data indicates people with IDD are three times more likely to die when infected with…
Setting the Record Straight: Medicaid Waivers, Medicaid Expansion, Medicaid Transformation
Note: The following is a primer on several issues happening at the same time in our Medicaid system. For background information on Medicaid as a whole, and how Medicaid works in North Carolina, please refer to the “Medicaid Basics” information at the end of this post, content re-published from our public policy papers available on…
Public Policy Update – State and Federal News
Below is the Autism Society of North Carolina’s weekly update on policy changes and legislation related to local, state, and federal COVID-19 emergency orders. This post covers July 31 – August 20. Congressional Update Since our last update, Congress has not passed any new legislation regarding COVID-19 and/or economic relief. A compromise is needed between…