Public Policy
Policy Priorities to Support Children with Special Health Care Needs and Disabilities and Their Families
Our Strategic Policy Priorities
Children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities, and their families, face systemic barriers and biases that impede their ability to experience their best possible lives. Systems of care do not respond to their needs holistically or facilitate access to supports that enhance their quality of life.
To make the most impact, we focus our policy actions across all levels of government – federal, state, and local. We work with our family and organizational partners to lean on the various levers of policy change through education and advocacy.
Our current policy agenda includes:
- Expand access to peer-to-peer support for families of children and youth with special health care needs
- Support and expand Medicaid coverage for children and youth with special health care needs and their families and caregivers
- Improve the transition to adult health care for youth and young adults with disabilities and their caregivers and families
- Eliminate language access barriers
Family Voices collaborates with national child health and disability organizations, such as the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, The Arc, Autism Speaks, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other groups.
Recent Policy Briefs
Recent Policy-Related News
Medicaid Waiver News (Washington Update, August 29, 2018)
Wyden, Pallone Warn Trump Administration against Moving Forward on Harmful Medicaid Waivers The Ranking Democratic Members of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over Medicaid – Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) – wrote to Secretary of...
Affordable Care Act (ACA) News (Washington Update, August 29, 2018)
From the blog of the Georgetown University Health Policy Center’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms: Major State Medical Association Warns Consumers about Health Care Sharing Ministries Impact of Association Health Plans on Consumers and Markets Will Depend on State...
News from TRICARE and the State Department (Washington Update, August 29, 2018)
Both Military and Foreign-Service Families Seek Better Care for Their Children with Special Health Care Needs “We Are Just Tired of This Fight”: Special-needs families say military is still failing them As explained in the above article from Stars & Stripes...
News, Information, Resources (Washington Update, August 29, 2018)
CDC Expands Autism Monitoring Efforts (Disability Scoop, 8/23/18) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the availability of research grants to assess 16-year-olds who were previously identified as having autism symptoms when they were age...
Your Input Sought/Of Possible Interest (Washington Update, August 29, 2018)
Your Input Sought NEW Survey on attending genetics appointments after referrals Open until Oct. 12 The NYMAC (New York-Mid-Atlantic Regional Genetics Network) -- one of seven regional networks in the country funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration –...
Legislation
The legislation tracked below is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to be an endorsement for or against the legislation. Action updates may occur daily, if actions are taken by Congress. Newly introduced legislation will be added weekly.
The legislative tracker is sorted by latest action. To navigate this page, you can scroll through just as you would a normal webpage. You can also click Ctrl+F on your keyboard and type in the search box.
For additional information and to read the full text (if available), click the highlighted bill number. You can also navigate to Congress.gov and search using key terms or phrases, or the bill numbers listed below.
Encourage confidence to act