United Spinal Association applauds the release of the framework of the Build Back Better Act. This legislation represents a significant advance towards fulfilling key goals of United Spinal Association and the disability community by making overdue investments in human infrastructure and addressing longstanding systemic inequities.
“Our members know from experience the pain and hardship that comes from an underfunded, unstable system of caregiving,” said Vincenzo Piscopo, President and CEO of United Spinal Association. “This longstanding problem was only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. By making a transformative investment in caregiving, the Build Back Better Act framework will provide millions of people with disabilities a stronger foundation to live independent and fulfilling lives.”
The Build Back Better Act framework would provide a permanent improvement in Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS), with an investment of $150 billion over the first 10 years after enactment. This funding to states would be used to clear waitlists for home-based care, which can be years-long, and to increase wages for caregivers. Additionally, it would permanently reauthorize the Medicaid Money Follows the Person program, which has helped more than 100,000 people since its inception transition out of institutional settings such as nursing homes in order to live in their communities. It would also provide permanent protections for spouses of Medicaid HCBS recipients against being impoverished.
United Spinal Association also supports provisions that would provide grants to states in order to responsibly transition away from the use of subminimum wage labor for people with disabilities; extends Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa; and provides $500 million in funding for accessible housing for people with disabilities.
United Spinal Association continues to advocate for paid family and medical leave, long-overdue updates to the SSI program, and additional funding for HCBS.