New ANCOR Website

As you may have noticed, ANCOR unveiled a new website today. In addition to being “easy on the eyes,” we hope information posted in our National Issues section will be easier to find. To get to the National Issues page, click on “National Issues” on the left side of ANCOR’s new homepage. Once you click on “National Issues” you will see a tab listing all of the issues on which ANCOR’s Government Relations updates you on the right hand side of the page. Looking for ANCOR’s Action Center? To get there, simply click on the “Action Center” tab on ANCOR’s home page. If you have any questions or need help locating areas of interest on our new site, please contact Tony Yu. Read more!

CLASS Act Not a “Done Deal” in Senate Health Reform Proposal

ANCOR staff has been meeting with key Senate offices all this week to ensure the inclusion of the CLASS Act in the Senate health reform bill. Although the House bill includes the CLASS Act provisions, key Senators have been reluctant to include the CLASS Act as part of the merged Senate Finance and HELP committee bill.If you have not reached out to your Senators yet to support ANCOR’s efforts to get these provisions in the merged Senate bill, it’s not too late. Use ANCOR’s Action Alert to get word to your Senators that the CLASS Act must be in the final Senate bill.

Remember, the CLASS Act would 1) provide a new private source of funding for ANCOR providers of long term supports and services; 2) reduce federal deficit by 74 billion over 10 years; and 3) produce a savings to Medicaid of nearly 2 billion in first five years of implementation.

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Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Disabled and Elderly Housing Issues

Yesterday, the Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development held a hearing on Modernizing Affordable Housing for Seniors and People with Disabilities. Witnesses discussed the Section 811 reform bill and the Section 202 elderly housing reform bill. ANCOR supports the Section 811 reform bill, the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009 (S. 1481) and encourages ANCOR members to ask their Senators to co-sponsor this bill. The identical companion bill, H.R. 1675, passed in the House by unanimous consent this summer.

Chairman Dodd (D-CT) stated strong support for the Melville bill and committed to move it through the Committee and to the floor quickly. In addition to Chairman Menendez (D-NJ), Senators Johanns (R-NE) and Kohl (D-WI) attended.

Click here to view the hearing.

Click here to read witness testimony.

Click here for more information on the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009.
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Senate Health Reform Bill Sent to CBO for Score

Cost estimates for a Senate health care reform bill will likely not be available for another week and a half, pushing back Senate Democratic leadership’s plan to begin debating the bill on the floor sometime next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) anticipates having to resubmit some portions of the measure before bringing it to the floor. That means a final bill is unlikely to be ready for floor action prior to the week of November 9th.

That timeline could complicate Reid's ability to finish debate before Thanksgiving, because the Veterans Day holiday on Nov. 11 falls on a Wednesday and the Senate is not expected to be in session that day or the remainder of that week. That would leave just one full week of floor debate on the bill before Thanksgiving on Nov. 26.

Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he believes the CBO scoring holdup will not prevent Congress from sending a bill to the president before the end of the year.

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House Health Reform Bill Official CBO Score is $1.055 Trillion; Possible Floor Consideration Late Next Week

The House Democrats' health care plan would cover 36 million more Americans at a cost of $1.055 trillion over the next decade, while reducing the federal deficit overall by $104 billion, according to a preliminary Congressional Budget Office score released late Thursday.

The House bill contains the ANCOR supported CLASS Act, which would 1) provide a new private source of funding for ANCOR providers of long term supports and services; 2) reduce federal deficit by 74 billion over 10 years; and 3) produce a savings to Medicaid of nearly 2 billion in first five years of implementation.

The bill could come to the floor for consideration as early as November 5, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Thursday night. A manager’s amendment will be available as soon as November 2, Hoyer added.

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NEWS FLASH: House Includes $23.5 Billion to Extend the ARRA FMAP Increase Through 2011 in Health Reform Bill

The Senate does not have this provision at this time. Details to follow early next week. Read more!

New Co-Sponsors for the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act

Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) signed on this week as co-sponsors to the Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act (H.R. 868). Thank you to all those who also contacted their members urging them to sign on. Read more!

Massachusetts Governor Makes Budget Deal Protecting Bulk of DD Services

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, has shielded the bulk of DDS services and supports from an earlier anticipated reduction that would have cut services for thousands of people with developmental disabilities. Specific 9C DDS budget impacts were outlined. To implement the Governor's 9C decisions, the Legislature must still grant the Governor expanded 9C authority.

Special thank you to Gary Blumenthal for providing us with this information. Read more!

Oregon Becomes First State in Nation to Report No ICFs/MR.

On Tuesday, October 27th, the last person in Oregon has been moved out of an ICF/MR with the closure of the Eastern Oregon Training Center. Oregon will have no state (public) or privately-operated ICFs/MR and will be operating 100% under HCBS waivers. Thanks to Mona McGee of Mosaic for this update.

On Oregon’s state budget front, Tim Kral from Oregon’s state association reports that the budget did not include a COLA and developmental disability services only received minor cuts to date. However, if revenues fall, a special session may be held in early 2010 to make cuts. Thanks to Tim for the update.
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Hoyer Announces House to Meet Beyond Targeted Adjournment Date

In a press release, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced the House is scheduled to be in session for the entire week of November 2, and is prepared to be in session the first weekend of November if necessary. In addition to the scheduled session in the week of November 16, members are asked to reserve the following days in case they need to be here to pass health insurance reform: Monday, November 9th; Tuesday, November 10th; Monday, November 23rd; and Tuesday, November 24th. Read more!

FDA Authorizes Emergency Use of Intravenous Antiviral Peramivir for 2009 H1N1 Influenza for Certain Patients, Settings

In response to a request from the CDC, the FDA announced it has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the investigational antiviral drug peramivir intravenous (IV) in certain adult and pediatric patients with confirmed or suspected 2009 H1N1 influenza infection who are admitted to a hospital. Specifically, IV peramivir is authorized only for hospitalized adult and pediatric patients for whom therapy with an IV drug is clinically appropriate, based on one or more of the following reasons:
1. the patient is not responding to either oral or inhaled antiviral therapy, or
2. when drug delivery by a route other than an intravenous route -- e.g., enteral (absorbed by the intestines) or inhaled -- is not expected to be dependable or feasible;
3. for adults only, when the clinician judges IV therapy is appropriate due to other circumstances. Read more!

Obama Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency

October 24th, President Obama declared the swine flu a national emergency, allowing hospitals and local governments to speedily set up alternate sites and procedures if needed to handle any surge of patients. White House spokesman Reid Cherlin emphasized that this declaration was not in response to any new information but was rather a preventative measure. The declaration allows hospitals to apply to the Department of Health and Human Services for waivers from laws that in normal times are intended to protect patients’ privacy and to ensure that they are not discriminated against based on their source of payment for care, including Medicare, Medicaid and the states’ Children’s Health Insurance Program.
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