Yesterday I had the honor to be interviewed on Disability Beat Radio about the 1115
Medicaid Transformation Waiver.Today I will meet with advocates about flexible day services
and ADA Paratransit Visitor issues.
Wednesday Phil and I will meet with Senate Staff on Arc Legislative Initiatives for FY’2015.
Thursday, I’m in Chicago for another Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force and
then I head over to TASH to meet with advocates from New York about an new Internet-
Based Partners in Policy Making Model!
Capitol Insider from The Arc of the United State below.
Major Events This Week
Autism – Senate to Take up Military Bill Again; Includes Amendment to Provide Behavioral
Health Therapy for Persons With Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
Today the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1197, the 2014 National Defense
Authorization Act. On November 19, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced amendment 2265 to provide access to behavioral health
treatment, including applied behavioral analysis (ABA), to children and adults with
developmental disabilities in TRICARE, the military’s health care system. A similar
provision was passed by the House in June. Behavioral health therapy has been shown
to be highly effective for children with significant developmental disabilities. TRICARE
currently provides limited coverage of ABA under three different programs (for a summary,
visit http://www.autismspeaks.org/advocacy/insurancelink/results/5)
See action alert above to ask you Senators to support the Murray-Gillibrand amendment.
Announcements
Survey Seeks Information about Health and People with Disabilities
The Arc’s HealthMeet initiative, which aims to reduce health disparities among people with
intellectual disabilities (ID), is launching a short, internet-based survey for family or staff
who support people with ID. This survey asks questions about health status of people with
ID and can also be used as a checklist to help people identify red flags about the health of
the person you support. The survey takes about 15 minutes. Take the survey now. Please
share with your friends, families and colleagues who provide support for people with ID.
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@www.thearcofil.org
