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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT: A little-noticed target in the House health care bill: special education
I couldn't select text from the article but here's the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/us/politics/health-bill-medicaid-special-education-affordable-care-act.html
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iamateacher
(1,089 posts)It just gets worse.
dweller
(23,684 posts)Our most vulnerable citizens are going to be suffering the most. If any legislator votes for this, its unconscionable.
elleng
(131,253 posts)to its potential impact on education. School districts rely on Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor, to provide costly services to millions of students with disabilities across the country. For nearly 30 years, Medicaid has helped school systems cover costs for special education services and equipment, from physical therapists to feeding tubes. The money is also used to provide preventive care, such as vision and hearing screenings, for other Medicaid-eligible children. . .
The new law would cut Medicaid by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over 10 years and impose a per-capita cap on funding for certain groups of people, such as children and the elderly a dramatic change that would convert Medicaid from an entitlement designed to cover any costs incurred to a more limited program. . .
Republicans say federal health programs must be restructured to curb their soaring costs the biggest driver of projected budget deficits and force a smarter allocation of limited resources.
But in a letter sent to top lawmakers this week, a coalition of school educators and advocacy organizations said such efforts would force states to ration health care for children. . .
Under a little-noticed provision of the health care bill, states would no longer have to consider schools eligible Medicaid providers, meaning they would not be entitled to reimbursements.
School-based Medicaid programs serve as a lifeline to children who cant access critical health care and health services outside of their school, said the letter sent this week by the Save Medicaid in Schools Coalition, which consists of more than 50 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and the School Superintendents Association.'>>>
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)Tanuki
(14,926 posts)and her beloved voucher system :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/us/school-vouchers-disability.amp.html
...."Vouchers for special needs students have been endorsed by the Trump administration, and they are often heavily promoted by state education departments and by private schools, which rely on them for tuition dollars. So for families that feel as if they are sinking amid academic struggles and behavioral meltdowns, they may seem like a life raft. And often they are.
But theres a catch. By accepting the vouchers, families may be unknowingly giving up their rights to the very help they were hoping to gain. The government is still footing the bill, but when students use vouchers to get into private school, they lose most of the protections of the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act."......
.......
McKay is the largest of 10 such disability scholarship programs across the country. It serves over 30,000 children who have special needs. At the Senate confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President Trumps education secretary, she cited research from the conservative Manhattan Institute, saying that 93 percent of the parents utilizing that voucher are very, very pleased with it.
Legal experts say parents who use the vouchers are largely unaware that by participating in programs like McKay, they are waiving most of their childrens rights under IDEA, the landmark 1975 federal civil rights law. Depending on the voucher program, the rights being waived can include the right to a free education; the right to the same level of special-education services that a child would be eligible for in a public school; the right to a state-certified or college-educated teacher; and the right to a hearing to dispute disciplinary action against a child.".....(more)
TeamPooka
(24,278 posts)WASHINGTON While House Republicans lined up votes Wednesday for a Thursday showdown over their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Vickie Glenn sat in her Murphysboro, Ill., office and prayed for it to fail.
Ms. Glenn, a Medicaid coordinator for Tri-County Special Education, an Illinois cooperative that helps more than 20 school districts deliver special education services to students, was worried about an issue that few in Congress were discussing: how the new American Health Care Act, with its deep cuts to Medicaid, would affect her 2,500 students.
With all the sweeping changes the Republican bill would impose, little attention has been paid to its potential impact on education. School districts rely on Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor, to provide costly services to millions of students with disabilities across the country. For nearly 30 years, Medicaid has helped school systems cover costs for special education services and equipment, from physical therapists to feeding tubes. The money is also used to provide preventive care, such as vision and hearing screenings, for other Medicaid-eligible children.
If I could have 10 minutes with President Trump, I could help him understand what we do, why its important, Ms. Glenn said. If he understood, he would protect it, because this isnt Republicans and Democrats. Its just kids.
The new law would cut Medicaid by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over 10 years and impose a per-capita cap on funding for certain groups of people, such as children and the elderly a dramatic change that would convert Medicaid from an entitlement designed to cover any costs incurred to a more limited program.
AASA, an advocacy association for school superintendents, estimates that school districts receive about $4 billion in Medicaid reimbursements annually. In a January survey of nearly 1,000 district officials in 42 states, nearly 70 percent of districts reported that they used the money to pay the salaries of health care professionals who serve special education students.
Republicans say federal health programs must be restructured to curb their soaring costs the biggest driver of projected budget deficits and force a smarter allocation of limited resources.
But in a letter sent to top lawmakers this week, a coalition of school educators and advocacy organizations said such efforts would force states to ration health care for children.
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The advocates argued that under the House bill, the federal government would transfer the burden of health care to states, which would result in higher taxes, eligibility cuts or curtailed services for children. And they said that schools would have to compete for funding with other entities, like hospitals and clinics, that serve Medicaid-eligible children.
The ability of school systems to provide services mandated under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act would be strained. The law is supposed to ensure that students with disabilities receive high-quality educational services, but it has historically been underfunded.
Under a little-noticed provision of the health care bill, states would no longer have to consider schools eligible Medicaid providers, meaning they would not be entitled to reimbursements.
School-based Medicaid programs serve as a lifeline to children who cant access critical health care and health services outside of their school, said the letter sent this week by the Save Medicaid in Schools Coalition, which consists of more than 50 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and the School Superintendents Association.
TeamPooka
(24,278 posts)And claiming the religious moral high ground at the same time!
I've never wanted there to be a God so much in my life so I know there's a special place in Hell for these people for eternity.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Times 100!
SunSeeker
(51,771 posts)And the vast majority of these AHCA tax cuts would go to the richest of the rich. As Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said tonight on MSNBC (on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell), "the richest 400 people in the country would get an average tax cut of $7 MIILLION DOLLARS A YEAR EACH. That's what this bill REALLY does."
lindysalsagal
(20,782 posts)Solly Mack
(90,795 posts)Sick, evil, cruel fucks.
Orrex
(63,247 posts)And then he'll vote as he was paid to vote, as usual.