KING5 Story: Community services are essential
“I can guarantee that our family members are here caring for our loved ones…We’re not fraudsters.”
Sandi Gruberg and her daughter Marina are speaking up and out against the claims from HHS Secretary Kennedy that all caregivers receiving Medicaid payments are abusing the system. His comments set a dangerous precedent for threats to home and community-based services that are lifelines for thousands of families and their loved ones with disabilities.
Watch or read the whole KING 5 story and share with your community: https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/parents-of-adults-with-disabilities-fear-medicaid-cuts-after-rfk-jr-comments/281-af0d144e-7b62-47ea-b989-3b0b81b0f82a
Home and community-based services are under threat, especially in light of the latest memo from the Department of Justice that contradicts almost thirty years of established law stating that community services should always be the default, preferred option over institutional settings.
The Arc of the United States has published a helpful statement to clarify what is and isn’t changing and answering some important questions for those in Washington state who want to know more: https://thearc.org/blog/doj-opinion-on-olmstead-threatens-the-right-of-people-with-disabilities-to-live-in-the-community/
From The Arc of the United States:
“…the U.S. Department of Justice issued a legal opinion that threatens one of the most important civil rights protections for people with disabilities: the right to live and receive services in the community, not be unnecessarily confined to institutions.
The opinion targets Olmstead v. L.C., the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized institutional isolation of people with disabilities as discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For more than 25 years, Olmstead has helped people with disabilities fight for the supports they need to live at home and in their communities.
This opinion isn’t a court decision. It doesn’t erase Olmstead or change Supreme Court precedent. It also doesn’t take away the ADA, Section 504, or the regulations that protect community living.
But it’s dangerous because rights mean less when the federal government refuses to enforce them. This opinion seeks to undermine one of the strongest protections people with disabilities have from being pushed into institutions when they can and want to live in the community. The DOJ itself acknowledges that this opinion is “out of step” with how federal courts have understood Olmstead.”
