
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-Related News
Medicaid Waiver News (Washington Update July 25, 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 ruling...
Affordable Care Act (ACA) News (Washington Update July 25, 2018)
Trump Administration Preparing Fix for Obamacare Risk Payments (Bloomberg, 7/19/18) As reported earlier, the administration announced that it would no longer pay insurance companies the risk-adjustment payments established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These...
FEDVIP is Coming: Get to Know Dental and Vision Plans Today (Washington Update July 25, 2018)
FEDVIP is Coming: Get to Know Dental and Vision Plans Today (TRICARE Benefit Update, 7/17/18)
HHS Working Group on Drug Importation (Washington Update July 25, 2018)
On July 19, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Secretary Alex Azar requested FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to establish a working group to examine how to safely import prescription drugs from other countries in the event of a dramatic...
HRSA Challenge to Improve Care Coordination for CSHCN through Tech Innovations (Washington Update July 25, 2018)
In August, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will launch the Care Coordination for CSHCN Challenge – a competition intended to encourage the creation of tech innovations to help families and case managers with the care and coordination of...
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.