Speaking out for People with
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
VOR is encouraging our members to send a letter to their Members of Congress highlighting our concerns with the Build Back Better Act, reflecting our hopes that the bill can be altered to protect the needs of the most severely intellectually and developmentally disabled and to preserve a family's right to choose the best options for their loved ones with I/DD.
Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) has recently introduced two bills in the House of Representatives to amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to promote choice in employment, preserve Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor and Standards Act, and protect a full range of employment opportunities for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities..
In June of 2021, the State of Louisiana passed landmark legislation to improve the quality and availability of dental services for people with I/DD in HCBS settings. Work continues on this effort, in order to provide equivalent services to people in ICFs.
Right To Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID)
Individuals who qualify for Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs/IID)* under Medicaid have a legal right to such facilities for as long as they remain eligible and choose to do so. Despite a deinstitutionalization effort by those opposed to congregate care, the ICF/IID program remains a legally enforceable federal entitlement under Medicaid. States which have included ICF/IID in their Medicaid State Plans, but instead offer only Waiver services, are in violation of federal Medicaid law.
