COVID-19 Advocacy
Update: March 11, 2021
President Biden has signed the latest COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, into law. Thanks to your advocacy, the bill includes the dedicated funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) that we have been fighting for since the beginning of the pandemic, along with other important disability priorities. HCBS funding is critical to help individuals with disabilities and older adults remain safely in their home rather than being forced into nursing homes and other congregate settings that have faced severe COVID-19 outbreaks.
For more on what disability priorities are and are not included in the American Rescue Plan Act, check out our fact sheet. More on the bill is also available on our COVID-19 legislation page.
Overview
Work on a new coronavirus relief bill began with the release of the Biden-Harris administration’s $1.9 trillion proposed COVID-19 relief plan. The plan included many important priorities, including full federal Medicaid funding for administration of vaccines and additional housing and nutrition funding. It also, importantly, would phase out the subminimum wage, including for people with disabilities.
It did not, however, include additional dedicated funding for home and community-based services (HCBS). HCBS funding is urgently needed to help disabled people and older adults live safely in their homes rather than being forced into nursing homes and other congregate settings where COVID-19 is rampant.
Ten Republicans then met with President Biden to discuss a $600 billion proposal. That proposal has so far failed to gain momentum.
Congress has now begun moving forward with new coronavirus relief. On February 27, the House passed a new coronavirus relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act. The relief provided largely matches the Biden Administration’s proposal, but importantly would also include dedicated funding for HCBS. You can find more information on that bill and other COVID relief proposals on our legislation page.
The disability community has been fighting for dedicated HCBS funding since the start of the pandemic. HCBS funding is urgently needed to help disabled people and older adults live safely in their homes rather than being forced into nursing homes and other congregate settings where COVID-19 is rampant. The American Rescue Plan Act is now in the Senate and we need to make sure this critical funding remains in the bill.
Please take a moment now to contact your Senators! It’s important that they hear from us about why this funding matters! We have set up a portal you can use to email them directly here. More information about contacting your Senators, including an email and call script and sample tweets, is also available below.
For more on what disability priorities are and are not included in the American Rescue Plan Act, check out our fact sheet. You can find more information on passed and proposed COVID-19 bills on our legislation page.
For more on HCBS and why dedicated HCBS funding is so important to the fight against COVID-19, check out our HCBS COVID-19 fact sheet.