The Department of Health and Human Services is the federal agency most directly responsible for ensuring that Disabled Americans who need Long Term Services and Supports receive them in the most integrated setting. Although there have been increased opportunities for community living, many individuals with disabilities remain trapped in nursing facilities or other institutions and many of the initiatives that underpin the progress we’ve made are being eroded or eliminated.
ADAPT demands that HHS Secretary Alex Azar:
- Publicly acknowledge that Disabled Americans who require Long Term Services and Supports have the right to Life and Liberty as guaranteed under the Constitution;
- Ensure the Disability Community’s concerns about Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) are addressed by holding additional stakeholder meetings that do not include EVV providers, give participants the opportunity to communicate directly with CMS staff in order to develop a minimally burdensome EVV standard that excludes GPS tracking and the use/collection of biometric data, while implementing systems with a focus on consumer choice, independence and control.
- STOP THE TORTURE of Disabled Americans by instructing the FDA Administrator to finalize the FDA’s proposed rules banning the use of shocking devices (Docket Number FDA-2016-N-1111);
- Work with ADAPT and the National Council on Independent Living to reestablish the Money Follows the Person program as a funding stream for the Independent Living network to provide community transition services as required in the bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act;
- Work with ADAPT to develop a tracking system so that individuals with disabilities who are displaced by disasters are able to return to community living;
- Recognize that inadequate Medicaid rates have driven down attendant wages and consequently undercut the Life and Liberty of Disabled Americans and utilize HHS’s authority to assure that state Medicaid rates are sufficient to pay a livable wage to recruit and retain the workforce needed for community integration; and
- Ensure that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses its authority to require states to implement managed care in a manner that affirmatively promotes community living by including strict terms and conditions as part of the 1115 waiver approval process that are enforced.