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<div>Mona Robinson, PhD, PCC-S, LSW, CRC </div>
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<div>Counselor Education</div>
<div>Ohio University </div>
<div>Patton College of Education<br>
Department of Counseling and Higher Education</div>
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<div>(740) 593-4461 phone (740) 593-0477 fax </div>
<div>robinsoh@ohio.edu <br>
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<div style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Lawrence Carter-Long for the National Council on Disability <LCarterLong@NCD.GOV><br>
To: NCD-NEWS-L <NCD-NEWS-L@LIST.NCD.GOV><br>
Sent: Thu, Feb 28, 2013 11:17 am<br>
Subject: What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?<br>
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<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?
A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending
totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this
Friday, March 1. Dubbed “sequestration” these cuts, if implemented, will be
split between defense and domestic discretionary spending.
The National Council on Disability (NCD) urges the Executive Branch and Congress
to find a responsible alternative to sequestration to prevent potential harm to
Americans with disabilities and their families.
Background
Originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on the heels of the
debt ceiling compromise, the sequester was intended to pressure the Joint Select
Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “Supercommittee”) to agree on a budget of
$1.5 trillion by way of spending cuts and revenue increases over the next
decade.
Congress stopped mandatory budget cuts from taking effect by passing the
American Taxpayer Relief Act January 2 when the deadline was pushed back to
March 1, 2013. If Congress fails to agree on a budget to reduce the federal
deficit by then $85 billion in spending cuts – split evenly between domestic and
defense discretionary programs – will go into effect.
For Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special education to
transportation, to housing and health care programs will “feel the pinch” due to
the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and unforeseen circumstances.
Spending reductions break down into three broad categories:
1. Defense spending. Amounts to half the sequester cuts.
2. Non-defense. Includes housing, education, and employment programs.
3. Medicare. Limited to a 2% cut in payments to Medicare providers, specifically
hospitals and doctors.
Mandatory programs
-- Assistance to individuals with low-incomes and their families like Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), the Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), unemployment benefits and provider
payments made through Medicare will not be cut, although staff time and
resources are likely to be compromised.
Medicare
-- While other non-defense programs are facing a 8.4 percent cut, Medicare cuts
are limited to 2 percent per fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
estimates that in 2013 a 2 percent cut totals $123 billion dollars.
Social Security
-- Disability benefits will also remain intact, but across-the-board budget cuts
would force the SSA to “curtail service to the public,” according to the White
House. Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue wrote on Feb. 7 that
administrative cuts could slow disability claims, "If we do not have enough
staff to keep up or if furloughs prevent them from working, the public can
expect to wait longer in our offices, on the phone, and for disability decisions
at all levels."
-- Pending levels of initial disability claims are likely to rise by over
140,000 claims, and it is estimated that applicants will have to wait about two
weeks longer for decision on disability claims and nearly a month longer for
disability hearing decisions.
Housing
-- $1.9 billion in cuts to housing assistance for an estimated 125,000
Americans, including assistance for elderly and people with disabilities, as
part of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program would be lost – increasing the
possibility of homelessness, according to testimony to the Senate by Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan on February 14.
-- Rural rental assistance for 10,000 very low-income rural people, mostly
single women, seniors, or people with disabilities would be eliminated as a
result of cuts to the Department of Agriculture.
Education
-- $978 million in comprehensive funding cuts would affect 30.7 million special
education students.
Funding for special education, specifically, would be slashed by nearly $600
million, reducing supports for students with disabilities to 2005 levels.
-- Federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
will be reduced by 28 percent, totaling a loss of one billion dollars.
-- Close to 15,000 special education teachers could lose their jobs resulting in
larger class sizes.
-- 70,000 children, many of them disabled, would be dropped from Head Start
programs.
-- Funding for “up to 7,200″ special education support workers – such as
personnel aides and money for assistance – would also be eliminated, according
to the White House.
Employment
-- Vocational rehabilitation stands to lose $160 million leading to the
reduction of services, increasing wait times for services and placing disabled
job seekers in administrative limbo on waiting lists.
Veterans
-- Military Pay (including PCS and Subsistence) is exempt under the
sequestration exemption. Programs such as TRICARE, tuition assistance and family
support programs are not exempt and do fall under sequestration.
-- There are no direct cuts to Veterans Administration health care programs
under sequestration, but individuals forced to turn to the VA to obtain care
they normally receive under TRICARE could add increased burdens to the system.
Bottom line
The sequester would place tens of thousands of Americans with disabilities at
greater risk for hunger and homelessness, endanger the education of millions of
children with disabilities and delay employment services and disability benefits
for scores of people with disabilities – including disabled veterans -- who are,
on average, already at greater risk of poverty.
Direct link: <a href="http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/022813" target="_blank">http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/022813</a>
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