The White House maintains that the approximately $1 Trillion in Medicaid cuts that were made under the recently passed "One Big Beautiful Bill" will not limit home and community based care for the disabled. Health Care experts beg to differ. Under Federal Law, most of the home care and community-based services are considered optional, so when states receive less money under the overall Medicaid scheme, and states have to cut back, home care and community-based services are often targeted for cuts. The White House maintains that states can make up any funding gaps by cutting hospital reimbursements. Again, health experts report that lower hospital reimbursements will not be sufficient to make up the funding cuts for community-based and home care for the disabled. Dr. Benjamin Sommers, a Harvard professor of health care economics called the White House position wishful thinking. Once again, the Republicans are gaslighting the public and extending tax breaks to the rich at the expense of the disabled and the poor. Home care allows severely disabled people to live at home and receive the aid that they require. Community-based programs enable countless disabled individuals to live richer, meaningful and productive lives, Termination of these programs will make it difficult for many to survive and it will shutter key community programs. Read the NY Times article and SPEAK OUT. If you read the post below you will see that sometimes pressure works! TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DELAYS EFFORT TO ROLL BACK FEDERAL DISABILITY RIGHTS PROTECTIONS https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/07/21/trump-administration-delays-effort-to-roll-back-federal-disability-rights-protections/31546/ As part of its comprehensive effort to gut significant parts of the federal government, the Department of Energy had announced that it would rescind the requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that outline what standards newly constructed and altered buildings must meet in order to be considered accessible. The Department had announced it’s intention to make the change in May and that it would take effect July 15th unless significant adverse comments were received. Well, after more than 20,000 adverse comments, the Trump Administration is delaying the rule change until September 12, 2025. Sometimes speaking out and protesting really works, and sometimes it leads to TACO! All kidding aside, there are more than 80 regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that have been a key to accessibility for the disabled over many decades. Advocates need to pay close attention to all further action by the administration in this area.

Update on Trump's Big Beautiful Bill

On May 22, 2025, the House of Representatives passed President Trump’s bill that cut’s taxes for wealthy people at the expense of the most vulnerable groups, particularly the disabled and poor people. The bill does not specifically say that legislators are cutting Medicaid funding. The House was indirect and much more devious, and it enacted work requirements and other onerous paperwork qualification obstacles for Medicaid recipients. Talk of attacking waste and fraud is an attempt to disguise what is really happening. Federal funding to the States is going to be reduced as well by changing funding formulas. WORK REQUIREMENTS AND MORE PAPERWORK ARE SIMPLY MEDICAID CUTS IN DISGUISE. Reputable analysts of the bill estimate that Medicaid will be cut by well over $700 Billion. SNAP which is the food lifeline for the poor and vulnerable, will be cut by $300 Billion. It has also been estimated that over 10 Million and as many and 14 Million people will lose health insurance as a result of this bill. The policies in the bill enacted by the House will put the entire disabled community at risk, all to ensure that already wealthy people get to keep even more of their money. State programs and services for the disabled will be severely stressed. More people will go hungry. The bill now moves to the Senate. Some of the Senators already recognize how unpopular these Medicaid cuts will be. If the recent past is any indication, however, Senators may cave to pressure from the administration and vote for the bill anyway. The majority in the Senate likes those tax cuts for the rich, and Senators fear the wrath of the President and want to keep their jobs at all costs. So, they may not act in the best interests of all of their constituents. The Disabled will be left behind. ACT NOW. GET INVOLVED. WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. PROTECT THE DISABLED.

Autism Spending Reduced Under Trump and RFK, Jr.

Between January and April of 2025, research spending on autism at the National Institutes of Health was about $31 Million less than the comparable period last year according to a Reuters review of the federal data. That is a 26% drop in spending compared to the previous four-year average. HHS Secretary Kennedy talks about wanting to find a cure for autism, but his priorities to do so are twisted. Secretary Kennedy has announced a $50 Million investment into the causes of autism. However much of that money will be spent for yet another study to find a connection between autism and vaccines. Every major past study, and there were several, has found no such connection. Secretary Kennedy is also turning away from the study of genetics as a cause of autism in favor of looking at environmental toxins as a potential cause. However well intentioned he might be, Secretary Kennedy is moving autism research away from scientific best practices and more toward his preconceived notions of why autism is so prevalent in our society today. As a mother of an autistic child I was desperate and for years I tried every so-called treatment and potential magic bullet to try and improve my child’s functioning and life. I learned the hard way that there is no miracle cure out there just waiting to be discovered. The federal government should continue to fund real scientific autism research to advance our knowledge.