Federal Focus - August 2012

Disability Rights Treaty Sent to Senate for Vote On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)--a landmark civil rights law that ensures equal rights for people with disabilities in the community and in employment. This year, on the ADA's 22nd anniversary, another monumental step was taken to recognize the rights of people with disabilities--the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) with bipartisan support. The CRPD is a treaty that describes the obligations of ratifying countries to promote, protect, fulfill, and ensure the rights of persons with disabilities. The treaty embodies the American ideals that formed the basis of the ADA--empowering persons with disabilities to be independent and productive citizens. The United States signed the CRPD in 2009, but in order for it to have the force of law, the U.S. Senate must ratify it by a two thirds vote. Over the past few months, MS activists have helped move this treaty forward. The Senate Committee held a hearing on it in mid-July and just last week, voted it out of Committee. The CRPD was subsequently sent to the Senate “floor,” where Senators may vote on it at any point. In the past week alone, MS activists have sent over 3,100 emails to their U.S. Senators urging them to vote on the CRPD as soon as possible. We will keep everyone informed with the hope that the Senate ratifies this important treaty soon! House Approves MS Research Funding, but Further Action on Appropriations Likely Stalled In mid-July, the House of Representatives passed its funding bill for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2013. Each year, MS activists urge their members of Congress to include funding for MS research in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) in this bill. Over the past five years, over $20 million of CDMRP funding has supported high-risk, high-reward MS research. The bill that passed the House this year included $5 million for MS research—an increase over last year’s $3.8 million. It is likely that we will not have final funding levels for this priority or others like funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Lifespan Respite Care Program that supports family caregivers for quite some time. Earlier this week, Congressional leadership announced that they had reached a deal to keep funding the government past the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1) and until March 2013. This will delay final funding level decisions until after the election, when the new Congress begins. MS activists will still be meeting with their lawmakers about our funding priorities while members of Congress are home over August recess—to remind them of the importance of support for the MS community. Two New Health Provisions in Effect Preventive Care: As of August 1, 2012, all new health insurance plans are required to provide women with coverage of eight preventive health benefits including well-woman visits and diabetes screening for pregnant women with no copay or deductible. These additional benefits build on the list of vital screenings and tests that health plans must cover for all plan enrollees as a requirement of the Affordable Care Act at no cost to the patient. Because the additional women’s preventive health benefits apply only to plans issued on or after August 1st, most women will have to wait until their policy is renewed to see them. The renewal date is typically the first day of January in employer-based insurance plans. Insurance Rebates: August 1st was also the deadline for health insurers to issue rebates to policyholders for premiums they paid in 2011 that were higher than the new standards that require insurers to spend a set percentage of premiums directly on care. For small group plans, insurers must spend 80% and for large groups, plans must spend at least 85% of premium dollars on medical care. Any premium amounts they charge above that must be rebated back to their customers. In the last several months alone, over $1 billion has been rebated back to approximately 12 million policyholders across the country.