Employment – Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
Last week, the Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrated Employment
for Individuals with Disabilities, which was mandated by Section 609 of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act, held its third meeting via webinar. The agenda,
presentation materials, and public comment can be accessed here. For more
information on the Committee, please visit their website.
Announcements
Medicaid and Social Security – The Arc Calls on Advocates to Support Lifeline
Programs
Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and other lifeline programs for
people with I/DD are under attack. The House and Senate passed a concurrent budget
resolution that calls for significant cuts, setting in motion a process to restructure the
Medicaid program. It’s time to act! We are calling on our advocates to engage their
members of Congress in support of these critical programs. Please register your
concerns by responding to the action alert posted above. To assist you with engaging
in other activities, The Arc has created a toolkit with tips and key messages to convey.
The Memorial Day recess and the July 4th recess are excellent times to step up our
activities by writing, calling or visiting your Member of Congress.
Health Care – More People are Gaining Health Care Coverage Under the
Affordable Care Act
A recently released study from RAND Health found that more people have gained
access to health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The study estimated
that 16.9 million people gained new coverage, and of those 9.6 million people enrolled i
n employer-sponsored health plans, followed by Medicaid (6.5 million), the individual
marketplaces (4.1 million), non-marketplace individual plans (1.2 million) and other
insurance sources (1.5 million) and about 5.9 million lost insurance. The study period
was from September 2013 to February 2015. The authors estimated that about 80
percent of the nonelderly population that had insurance in September 2013 experienced
no change in the source of insurance during the period.
Tony Paulauski Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
815-464-1832 (CELL)
Tony@thearcofil.org
