An overview of the Obama plan to empower Americans with disabilities.
By Tom Scott and Peggy Hathaway
Barack Obama’s historic presidential victory has ignited a new sense of optimism within the disabled community. There are high expectations that the present challenges facing Americans with disabilities, from health care and employment to accessibility and education, will be addressed with renewed vigor.
The Obama administration promises to make it a high priority to provide affordable, accessible health care for all Americans and to require coverage of all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions. For a closer look at the health care picture under the new administration, see the article here.
Below we take a closer look at the 4-part plan President- Elect Obama and Vice President- Elect Biden have outlined to empower people with disabilities. For more details on the new administration’s disability policies, see www.barackobama.com/pdf/DisabilityPlanFactSheet.pdf.
Four-part Plan for Americans with Disabilities
Education for people with disabilities. The Obama administration promises to provide Americans with disabilities with educational opportunities they need to succeed. This includes supporting early intervention for children with disabilities and universal screening of children, as well as improving college opportunities for high school graduates with disabilities.
During the campaign, Obama promised to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is a federal law that mandates states to provide a free, appropriate public education for students with disabilities through age 21. It also addresses how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities. IDEA requires public school districts to create an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for each and every student with a disability and to teach students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment appropriate to each student’s needs.
IDEA has been poorly funded and Congress has not met its initial promise to shoulder 40 percent of each state’s excess cost in fulfilling IDEA. Current federal funding is at 17 percent. Obama expressed support for providing the full funding of IDEA in order to provide necessary services to children with disabilities and prevent schools from having to cut into their general education budgets.
There is widespread consensus in the disability community that IDEA is critical both for educating students with disabilities to enable them to achieve their potential and for integrating students with disabilities into the community with their non-disabled peers.
Ending discrimination and promoting equal opportunity. Both Obama and Biden supported the successful effort to strengthen the Americans with Disabilities Act by enactment of the ADA Amendments Act in 2008.
The Obama administration promises to increase funding for enforcement of the reinvigorated ADA and other nondiscrimination laws. Because enforcement has been disappointing to many people with disabilities, when United Spinal Association met with the Transition Team in December we emphasized the importance of strengthened enforcement.
Obama also has committed to enforce the newly enacted Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This law prevents both employers and health insurers from discriminating against people who have had genetic testing that shows genetic markers for potentially disabling conditions.
Increasing employment of people with disabilities. In the campaign, Obama and Biden said the federal government should be a model employer of people with disabilities. They promised to reinstate an executive order to hire an additional 100,000 people with disabilities within 5 years. When United Spinal Association met with the Transition Team in December 2008, we pointed out that the federal workforce should include far more than 100,000 people with disabilities—many people with disabilities are qualified for many federal jobs.
In addition, the Obama administration promises to require federal contractors to employ people with disabilities. It also hopes to provide private sector employers with resources to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified employees with disabilities. The Obama administration also will promote greater use of existing tax benefits for both employers who hire and provide reasonable accommodation for qualified employees and for small businesses owned by people with disabilities.
Obama has also expressed commitment to finding a solution to the age-old problem that people who receive Social Security disability benefits are discouraged from seeking employment. These people often rightfully fear that if they find a job they could well lose not only their Social Security disability benefits but also—and often more importantly—the Medicare or Medicaid benefits which they receive. This too is a high priority for United Spinal Association.
Supporting independent, community-based living for Americans with disabilities. As a Senator and now as incoming President, Obama has supported the Community Choice Act. This legislation would provide enable Americans with substantial disabilities the ability to live in their own community rather than in a nursing home. It would provide coverage for community-based attendant services and supports for Medicaid-eligible individuals including activities of daily living, financial management, and meal planning, shopping and preparation based on a functional needs assessment and plan. Obama has also expressed support of a voluntary, budget-neutral national insurance program to help adults who have or acquire functional disabilities to pay for the services and supports needed to remain independent and live in their communities.
The Obama campaign expressed support for amending Medicare rules that tend to restrict people with disabilities to their homes or nursing homes. At United Spinal Association, one of our highest public policy priorities is that people should have access to wheelchairs and other durable medical equipment that enable them to live in their communities and go to work (and thereby contribute to the community by paying income taxes), accompany children to school and activities, attend worship services and vote.
Unfortunately, Medicare has rules that restrict payment for wheelchairs only as needed in the home. It also has rules that strictly limit payments for care provided to people in their homes, rather than in nursing homes.
The Obama administration and the new Congress face many challenges—including providing funds to stimulate the economy and enable America to pull out of the current economic crisis. In the face of these challenges, it remains to be seen how many other problems can also be addressed. It is to be hoped that they will find a way to keep these commitments to Americans with disabilities.
Tom Scott is staff editor, and Peggy Hathaway is senior vice president of Public Policy.
