New York State’s Reckless CDPA Transition Endangers Lives

by Jennifer Watson and John McNulty

New York State continues to play politics with the lives of people with disabilities, this time through an abrupt and arbitrary transition to a single fiscal intermediary (FI) for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance (CDPA) program. This reckless move threatens to disrupt care for hundreds of thousands of individuals who rely on it. For years, the CDPA program has empowered people with disabilities and seniors to direct their own care by hiring and managing their own personal assistants.

Continue reading…

Elimination of DEIA Threatens Independent Living Movement

Back in 1970, Judy Heumann just wanted to teach elementary school, nothing more, and nothing less. She was well-qualified, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in speech therapy, and applied for a teaching license in New York State, usually a routine matter. But she was declined because early childhood polio made her a wheelchair user.

Continue reading…

Medicaid in the MAGA-DOGE Crosshairs

President Trump’s aggressive push to cut federal spending, despite promises made to shield entitlements from cuts, has Medicaid funding to states under grave threat. The U.S. House has passed a budget resolution, with the support of the White House, by one vote, 217-215, that mandates $1.5 trillion (that’s with a T) in cuts to federal spending over a ten-year period, with details to be determined by the relevant House committees. 

Continue reading…