Medical Motherhood’s news round up
Snippets of news and opinion from outlets around the world. Click the links for the full story.
• From Disability Scoop: “As Medicaid Changes Near, Concerns Mount That People With Disabilities Will Lose Coverage”
[…]Concerns that individuals with disabilities and other health conditions will be stripped of needed health coverage led more than 70 organizations to file an amicus brief this month in a case brought by a coalition of officials from 25 states and Washington, D.C. challenging the CMS rules.
“Congress excluded medically frail people from the work requirements,” said Jane Perkins, litigation director at the National Health Law Program, which filed the brief along with the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Easterseals and many other groups. “They should not have to repeatedly prove that they are unable to meet the work requirements.”[…]
• From Arkansas Advocate: “Arkansas will bolster services for kids with disabilities after public outcry over long waitlist”
Arkansas will provide additional support to children with disabilities who have been waiting for services, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday, in response to growing demands from families for a special legislative session to address the issue.
[…]The move comes after families have taken to social media to highlight the waitlist and obstacles in receiving needed services, with posts that have been shared thousands of times.[…]
• From The 74 via The Denver Post: “How parents in Boulder rewrote the rules on autism therapy in school”
Jenny Thamer had low hopes for the meeting called by the superintendent of the Boulder Valley School District to hear from families of autistic students.
[…]A year later, Boulder Valley implemented what is likely the nation’s first — and only — neurodiversity policy. Adopted by the school board in 2024, it commits district schools to using “strategies to affirm a student’s identity, rather than trying to ‘fix’ or ‘cure’ them.”
[…]Just sitting in a room with so many other people sharing the same experiences was cathartic. “I had tears hearing other people’s stories,” Thamer says. “Parents carry a lot of trauma from advocating for their kids.”[…]
• From Fox 10 News (Alabama): “Baldwin County families say children with special needs denied Medicaid waivers”
Three Baldwin County families say their children with special needs are being dropped from Medicaid. They say they are losing the Medicaid waivers their children rely on to survive, and that paperwork in their case files was altered without their permission.
The families say Alabama’s Elderly and Disabled Waiver pays for daily care and medication their children cannot live without. They say that assistance has been pulled despite no change in their children’s conditions, and that the paperwork used to cut them off does not add up.[…]
• From KOLO News Now (Nevada): “Mother recounts fear of being separated from children with special needs during wildfire”
[…]Tillinghast says she’s sharing her experience to raise awareness for other families with children who have special needs, to let them know they aren’t alone, and to inspire the community to put safer evacuation measures in place for those who might need extra help.
• From Illinois State Democrats: “Collins law expands access to adult changing stations in public spaces”
[…Illinois State Senator Lakesia] Collins’ new law, House Bill 4379, will expand Illinois’ Equitable Restrooms Act by requiring certain newly constructed public buildings and state-owned facilities to provide access to adult changing stations. Adult changing stations provide a safe, sanitary space for caregivers assisting older children and adults with disabilities who require personal care support.[…]
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