Proposals

On February 29, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a new proposed rule that would ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity. The proposed rule would require that airlines meet rigorous standards for accommodating passengers with disabilities safely and with dignity. The proposal will set new standards for prompt, safe, and dignified assistance, mandate enhanced training for airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with disabilities and handle passengers’ wheelchairs and specify actions that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged during transport...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted proposed updates to the 1915(c) Waiver Application and Technical Guide for public comment. Comments are due to CMS by Monday, November 13. CMS is proposing technical updates and revisions throughout both documents to align with current requirements, such as adding an option for states to indicate whether HCBS can be delivered via telehealth, removing references to Statewide Transition Plans, and integrating settings criteria with person-centered service planning requirements.

On September 22, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a proposed update of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Uniform Grants Guidance, which are the guidelines issued by OMB to federal agencies for use across all grants and other types of Federal financial assistance. The proposal aims to decrease the burden on recipients of federal financial assistance, advance equity, and meaningfully improve the administration of federal financial assistance. The proposed changes will: Reduce unnecessary compliance costs; Remove barriers to entry; and Ensure assistance serves intended communities. Public comments are due to OMB by Monday, December 4.

On September 18, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule to streamline enrollment in the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), helping to increase participation in the MSPs by an estimated 860,000 people. The MSPs, run by state Medicaid programs, cover Medicare premiums and, in most cases, cost-sharing for more than 10 million older adults and people with disabilities who have limited incomes. Only about half of eligible people are currently enrolled, in part due to cumbersome application and verification processes. CMS also estimates the final rule will save older adults and people with disabilities nearly 19 million hours in paperwork each year and reduce state administrative burden by over 2 million hours...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued the calendar year (CY) 2024 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rate Update proposed rule. The proposed rule updates Medicare payment policies and rates for Home Health Agencies (HHAs) and other . Estimated Medicare payments to HHAs in CY 2024 would decrease in the aggregate by 2.2 percent, or $375 million compared to CY 2023, based on the proposed policies. The proposed rule also adds new quality reporting program measures, including a measure on the percent of patients/residents who are up to date with the COVID-19 vaccine, and proposes certain technical changes....

On July 13th, CMS published several proposed CY 2024 physician and hospital Medicare payment rules with comments due on September 11, 2023. The proposed rules are: CY 2024 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS 1786-P). CMS proposes updating OPPS payment rates for hospitals that meet applicable quality reporting requirements by 2.8%....

On June 26th, CMS issued a proposed rule that proposes to update payment rates and policies and includes requests for information under the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries on or after January 1, 2024. For calendar year 2024, CMS is proposing to increase the ESRD PPS base rate to $269.99, increasing total payments to ESRD facilities by approximately 1.6 percent totaling $6.4 billion. The CY 2024 ESRD PPS proposed rule also includes several proposals and requests for information related to ESRD PPS payment policies. This rule also proposes an update to the Acute Kidney Injury dialysis payment rate for renal dialysis services furnished by ESRD...

On Thursday, October 21, 2021 CMS launched a new “one-stop shop” for state Medicaid agencies and stakeholders on Medicaid.gov to advance transparency and innovation for home and community-based services. Through this new webpage, state Medicaid agencies and stakeholders can access information about states’ plans to enhance, expand, and strengthen home and community-based services across the country using new Medicaid funding made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP).

The National Council on Independent Living is seeking proposals for their Liberty, Independence, Freedom, and Equity themed 2021 conference. NCIL seeks workshops in the following tracks: Advocacy & Policy work, Independent Living 101, Core Services, Inclusion/Intersectional work, SILC. The submission deadline in March 28th 2021.

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) has published a First Public Working Draft of W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0. They are seeking input from evaluators, developers, designers, project managers, policy makers, people with disabilities, and others — particularly on the structure and the draft conformance model.