Biden calls for investment in disability services

President Joe Biden is renewing his push to improve support for people with disabilities living in the community.

In his State of the Union address late last week, Biden called on Congress to add funding for Medicaid home and community-based services.

“Imagine the future of home care and aged care, where people living with disabilities can stay in their homes and family caregivers finally get the pay they deserve. ,” he said in his speech. A promise to protect social security.

The president followed suit on Monday, including $150 billion over 10 years to “strengthen and expand Medicaid home and community-based services” in his budget request for fiscal year 2025, which begins in October.

This isn’t the first time Biden has used the bully pulpit to address the issue of long-term care. Biden originally proposed spending $400 billion to expand access to Medicaid home and community-based services in 2021, but the plan never materialized. But the pandemic relief bill has provided about $37 billion more to the program since then.

Disability service providers have had great difficulty in recent years in recruiting and retaining direct support professionals to assist people with disabilities. As a result, a survey of providers last fall found that nearly half had stopped providing services and 77% were refusing or no longer accepting referrals.

“(Biden’s) recognition of the critical need for a direct (support) workforce compensated at a living wage is a major step forward in making this vision a reality,” said Autism Society Director of Public Policy. Vice Chairman Kim Mucheno said. America. “It is in our nation’s best interest to provide people with disabilities with the support they need to live fully.”

In addition to calling for more investment in home- and community-based services, Biden’s budget also includes a $200 million increase in spending for special education services and training for special educators and early intervention providers. It also includes $10 million to improve customer service at the Social Security Administration. .

The budget request is viewed primarily as a wish list highlighting the president’s priorities. Ultimately, it will be up to Congress to decide what to include in next year’s federal budget.

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