Advocacy Monitor

The House passed the Build Back Better Act (BBB) last month. BBB is a federal funding plan to support rebuilding many national programs that have been long neglected. We are still waiting for the Senate to pass the bill. While Senate Majority Leader Schumer has set a Christmas deadline – and a vote next week is possible – the timeline is still unclear. Passing BBB is not a done deal. Our Senators need to keep hearing from us!

The $1.7 trillion of investments included in the Build Back Better Act are critically needed. BBB has $150 billion in funding for Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) and our workers. In addition to the HCBS investments, BBB:

• makes the Money Follows the Person program and HCBS Spousal Impoverishment protections permanent;
• includes funding for housing, education, clean energy and sustainability, immigration reform, and health coverage;
• includes efforts to transition to competitive integrated employment;
• closes the Medicaid coverage gap;
• expands Medicare to cover hearing benefits;
• reduces healthcare premiums;
• extends important tax credits;
• reduces drug prices;
• establishes a paid family and medical leave program; and
• invests in broadband Internet services nationwide.

You can see more about what’s included in the Build Back Better act in this framework and in the resources below. These are crucial services and programs that are needed now. We cannot keep waiting!

Take Action!

The Senate must keep BBB intact and pass it quickly. It is critical that our Senators keep hearing from us about how important this is. Call or email your state’s Senators about the things that matter most to you! Tell them their disabled constituents cannot keep waiting!

More information is below, including how to contact them and a sample script.

Today the House passed the Build Back Better Act (BBB), President Biden’s transformational legislation with a historic $1.7 trillion investment in critical programs and services. While the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, BBB and the recently-passed infrastructure package will set our country on a path toward a more equitable recovery.

The Build Back Better Act includes major investments in housing, education, children and families, clean energy and sustainability, immigration reform, and health coverage. It would fund grants to transition to competitive integrated employment, close the Medicaid coverage gap, expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits, reduce healthcare premiums for millions of people, and extend important tax credits. The bill also includes paid leave and drug pricing provisions that had previously been removed from the package.

Importantly, the package still includes $150 billion in funding to strengthen Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS). While $150 billion is less than the original amount proposed by President Biden, it is still the largest investment in HCBS we have ever seen and would provide urgently-needed funding to support the workforce and help disabled people live and stay in our communities. The package would also make the Money Follows the Person program and HCBS Spousal Impoverishment protections permanent, further enabling disabled people to get out of institutions and live in the community.

BBB now moves to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Schumer has set a Christmas deadline. This is not a done deal yet!

Take Action!

It is critical that the Senate keep BBB intact and pass it quickly. Keep contacting your Senators; they must keep hearing from their constituents about the things that matter most, especially how vital it is that HCBS funding remain in the package until the end!

More information is below, including how to contact them and a sample script.