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
In Congress: Budget and Appropriations (Washington Update, August 22, 2018)
The Senate will begin debate this week on a bill combining two FY 2019 appropriations bills -- one for the Department of Defense and one for the Departments of Labor, Health, and Human Services (HHS), and Education, known as the “Labor-HHS” bill. Together these bills...
Bill on Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care under Medicaid (Washington Update, August 22, 2018)
On July 26, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and others introduced a bipartisan bill -- The Children's Program of All-Inclusive Coordinated Care (ChiPACC) Act (H.R. 6560) – which would fill gaps in hospice and palliative services that children now receive under Medicaid. The...
News from Medicaid (Washington Update, August 22, 2018)
From the CMS Newsroom: Aug. 16 -- CMS Streamlines Medicaid Review Process, Achieves Significant Reduction in Approval Times. “…Today, CMS issued a second Informational Bulletin related to [state plan amendment (SPA)] and 1915 waiver process improvements. This Bulletin...
Medicaid Waiver News (Washington Update, August 22, 2018)
Kentucky Waiver As reported in the July 3 Washington Update (under “Courts”), a federal court vacated the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) approval of a Kentucky Medicaid waiver proposal to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. The court’s...
Affordable Care Act News (Washington Update, August 22, 2018)
Clarification of “Exceptional Circumstances” SEP for Consumers Impacted by Disasters An August 20 email from the Health Insurance Marketplace announced: “CMS has released guidance clarifying Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) Special Enrollment Period (SEP)...
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.
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