Health bill neglects people with disabilities

Dear Editor: Falling through the cracks of the rushed American Health Care Act, which U.S. Rep. John Faso thought addressed his concerns, are some important federal disability initiatives.

People with disabilities will likely suffer more under a health care system that has always had some shortcomings. Most people agree Obamacare needed well-thought-out improvements, but what was just passed by the House was the final paper a student turns in while waiting to complete the assignment at the last minute.

What we are told is that the Senate will fix it or that New York state will protect us from bad federal policy. The level of accountability and responsibility in addressing health care needs of people with disabilities and others needs to be higher. We do not even know the full impact of the Republican plan until the Congressional Budget Office reports on it. We have a Congress that has voted to spend money and make changes without knowing what it will cost in dollars or impact on people’s lives. The group Paralyzed Veterans of America called the Republican bill “particularly devastating to people with disabilities,” and many other disability groups opposed the bill. The same bill that Faso voted for would eliminate the federal match for the Community First Choice Option under Medicaid. Paralyzed Veterans of America has said that “many poor veterans with serious nonservice-connected disabilities have been able to move from nursing homes into their communities.”

Cutting disability programs that keep people out of institutions so they can live in homes and eliminating protections with a rushed bill is not living up to promises that the health care system would be improved. Alex Thompson Systems Advocate Resource Center for Accessible Living Inc. Kingston