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ANCOR

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Message from ANCOR: 

The White House just released its framework for the Build Back Better Agenda this morning. The framework includes $150 billion for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services. There is still no legislative text available for the budget reconciliation bill, which is how Congress will move forward this framework. Negotiations are still ongoing. We will continue to update you as we know more.

We are encouraged that reports indicate that HCBS funding will be included in the final bill. But we want to make sure we don’t let up on our advocacy in this final stretch!

Please join us TODAY as we participate in a Day of Action along with our coalition partners from disability, aging, and labor groups.

  • Please take action with our latest action alert and ask your members of Congress to support increased funding for HCBS. And please continue to share this widely with your networks!
  • Take a moment to engage on social media. You can tweet your members of Congress by using the directory linked here. Sample social media posts are below.

Here are some sample tweets you can use:

  • #Medicaid #HCBS is key to including ppl w/ #disabilities in the community, but the direct support workforce is in crisis. Read more from ANCOR about this devastating crisis and why #CareCantWait:bit.ly/3ASgUH9
  • Funding for home & community-based services is essential to the health and well-being of people w/ disabilities, but the #HCBS direct care workforce has been underfunded for too long. Congress must invest now because #CareCantwait bit.ly/3ASgUH9
  • Without funding for #Medicaid #HCBS, it’s only a matter of time before people w/ disabilities completely lose access to the options and resources needed to remain in their homes and in the community. Fund HCBS because #CareCantWait
  • 81% of American voters support increased funding for home & community-based services. Support funding for #Medicaid #HCBS now. #CareCantWait
  • “We have to look at how we are going to provide services for our most vulnerable adults and children in the coming decades, and we need to create a long-term, sustainable solution for that.” #HCBSCantWait bit.ly/3jDoS0b
  • Please support including HCBS funding in the Build Back Better Act to ensure people w/ disabilities & their families do not lose access to the options and resources needed to remain in their homes and in the community. #CareCantWait
  • Congress must include funding for HCBS in the budget reconciliation bill. People like Brandon depend on it. #HCBSCantWait RT twitter.com/POTUS/status/1451544259992203266

You are also encouraged to tweet your own stories. Below are additional hashtags to use:

  • #CareCantWait
  • #BuildBackBetter
  • #HCBSCantWait

We also wanted to make sure we shared with you ANCOR’s letter sent to Congressional leadership yesterday in a final push to support increased funding for HCBS.

Thanks for all of your hard work and please keep it going!

Here are the resources from the White House:

FACT SHEET

MICROSITE
The Build Back Better Framework: President Biden’s Plan to Rebuild the Middle Class

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Elise Aguilar
Director of Advocacy
ANCOR
Alexandria, VA
(703) 535-7850
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Donna Martin
Director for State Partnerships and Special Projects
ANCOR
1101 King Street, Suite 380
Alexandria, VA 22314
Office: 703.535.7850 x116
Direct Line: 571.781.0456

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ANCOR Urges All Members to Take the Following Action:

The Ask: Use our action tool to insist that your members of Congress fully fund the $400 billion investment in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) in the budget reconciliation package.

The Details: Congress is currently negotiating its budget reconciliation bill, which could include an investment of billions of dollars in the HCBS program. The House version of the bill included $190 billion in the HCBS program, falling far short of the promise President Biden made in his American Jobs Plan to invest $400 billion in HCBS and failing to meet the funding level outlined in the Better Care Better Jobs Act.

While we celebrate this historic investment in the HCBS program, the level of financing is insufficient to sustain access and stabilize the direct care workforce. The dire conditions facing our nation’s direct care workforce demand a greater investment.

Why It Matters: A $400 billion investment in dedicated support for HCBS is essential for building a sustainable HCBS infrastructure that can begin addressing the magnitude of unmet need in our communities, and frankly, increased funding for HCBS can’t wait any longer. Not only does investing in this program enjoy wide bipartisan support—81% of voters want to see this funding in the reconciliation bill—but ANCOR’s recent research shows how badly community services need resources to stabilize a workforce in crisis.

Our new report, The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021, reveals deep concerns from our providers, including:

  • 92% of providers report that the pandemic continues to inhibit their ability to recruit and retain workers; the majority of these respondents point to the fact that industries that previously paid comparable wages now pay employees more than they can afford to do.
  • 77% of providers have had to stop accepting new referrals due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 58% of providers have had to discontinue programs or services due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 84% of providers have had to delay the launch of new programs or the opening of new homes due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 81% of providers report difficulties achieving required quality standards due to high turnover or lack of staff.

The findings of this survey reveal the significant need for an immediate federal response. As the House and Senate continue to move this historic legislation and enter negotiations on the final package, it’s essential that every member of Congress hears from you now.

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Message from ANCOR:

New research finds COVID-19 pandemic further decimating a direct care workforce in crisis.

Like you, we have long understood that the direct support workforce crisis our community has grappled with for years can be traced directly to long-standing underinvestment in community-based I/DD services. We have also long suspected—though couldn’t say for certain—that the onset of new pressures and hazards wrought by the pandemic has significantly exacerbated challenges related to recruitment and retention. 

Unfortunately, we now have stark evidence to confirm what we believed was true: the direct support workforce crisis has been made much, much worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a key takeaway from ANCOR’s newest research, which we published this morning.

The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021 summarizes the findings of ANCOR’s survey of providers, which we fielded for a five-week period beginning in August 2021. The survey, which followed up on our 2020 research, garnered 449 responses and sought to understand the human and financial impact of the direct support workforce crisis. The survey measured the same dimensions we asked about in 2020, along with additional measures targeted specifically to the impact of COVID-19 on DSP hiring and retention.

Key findings from ANCOR’s 2021 State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis survey include that:

  • 77% of providers are turning away new referrals, a 16.7% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • 58% of providers are discontinuing programs and services, a 70.6% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • 81% of providers are struggling to achieve quality standards, a 17.4% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Nearly 3 in 10 providers report spending at least $500,000 annually on costs associated with high turnover and vacancy rates.
  • 92% of providers report that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to complicate their ability to recruit and retain qualified direct support professionals.

To say the least, these results are troubling. But for those of us committed to moving beyond the direct care workforce crisis once and for all, it is imperative that we understand the true impacts of the crisis and the ways in which it is colliding with the COVID-19 pandemic. For these reasons, we invite you to download The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021 and read lead author Lydia Dawson’s analysis today.

Download the State of America’s Direct Support Workforce 2021 issue brief today.

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Capitol hill building in the morning with colorful cloud , Washington DC.

Message from ANCOR: 

Dear ANCOR Members,

The to-do list for Congress this week is quite massive and hugely significant. Speaker Pelosi’s list includes passing the bipartisan infrastructure package, the reconciliation, and a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. We wanted to give you a Monday overview of what we are following, planning and how you can help in the coming days!

First up, the Continuing Resolution or CR: If you’ll recall, the House did pass a CR, but it included provisions to raise the debt limit, disaster relief funding and Afghanistan refugee resettlement funding. The Senate is not going to pass the CR with all of that attached. There should be a party line vote today, primarily with Republicans refusing to raise the debt limit. (This is a drama that plays out in Congress all the time, no matter the party in power…haven’t we all seen this movie before?) Once that Senate vote fails today, both chambers will need to go back to the drawing board in order to pass a “clean” CR that can be signed by President Biden by midnight on September 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

Next up, the Bipartisan (hard) Infrastructure Package: Speaker Pelosi announced the House will vote on this package Thursday, September 30. Originally the date was set for a vote on both this package and the human infrastructure package TODAY in hopes of keeping both the progressive and moderate sides of her caucus satisfied, but things haven’t gone exactly to plan. The risk for Speaker Pelosi is that the progressive caucus has threatened to vote no on the bipartisan infrastructure package without significant progress toward the reconciliation package (where our HCBS funding lives). Speaker Pelosi has promised a “framework” for the reconciliation package in hopes that will be enough to bring the progressives on board to pass the bipartisan package first, but the vote is anything but certain.

Last but not least, the Human Infrastructure Package/Reconciliation: On Sunday, the House Budget Committee (after the markups) packaged the reconciliation bill and moved it to the House Rules Committee. As expected House and Senate Democrats are actively negotiating to develop an overarching framework and legislative text. Leadership is developing a reconciliation package for a potential vote on Thursday in hopes of moving the progressive Democrats to vote on the bipartisan package (see above).  Needless to say, this is a tall order to get this done by Thursday with so many disagreements among Democrats on what should and shouldn’t be included. One thing for sure, whatever happens this week with the reconciliation will not be the last step. There will still be plenty of time for change.

LASTLY, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?

  • Recent polling shows over 80% of Americans support the HCBS provisions of the bill, even if they don’t agree with other parts of it.
  • Congress is hearing from a LOT of their constituents back home supporting HCBS. Keep it up! This is clearly not a partisan issue.
  • Tell your stories!
  • Take Action Alerts!

On Wednesday, ahead of the vote(s) in the House…we will be releasing a summary brief of our recent Workforce Impact Survey, along with a NEW Action Alert. Please be on the lookout for that, rally your groups and prepare for this important DAY OF ACTION. 

Thank you, everyone! Happy Monday!
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Shannon McCracken
Vice President of Government Relations
ANCOR
606.271.3555
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ALEXANDRIA, VA. – Today, ANCOR CEO Barbara Merrill issued the following statement in response to the news that the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s budget proposal will include a $190 billion investment-less than half the amount proposed by President Biden and Senate Democrats-in Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS).

“Although decades of underinvestment in the Medicaid HCBS program make us grateful to see any allocation of resources to support community-based disability services and thankful for legislators who see these services as a priority, we were disheartened to learn that the House Energy & Commerce Committee is proposing to invest only $190 billion in HCBS in the Committee’s response to the Senate’s budget resolution.

“Indeed, $190 billion is not an insignificant amount of money, but it falls woefully short of the $400 billion proposed by President Biden in his Build Back Better agenda and approved by the Senate in the budget resolution it passed prior to the August recess.

“If our elected officials are to take seriously the need to overcome a decades-long direct care workforce crisis and support people with disabilities to bounce back from the perilous effects of the pandemic, it is absolutely essential that Congress approve the full $400 billion originally proposed for the Medicaid HCBS program. We know that legislators who care about their most vulnerable constituents will do the right thing and continue to push for the largest amount of funding possible to ensure that community-based services won’t continue to languish.”

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Barbara Merrill
Chief Executive Officer
American Network of Community Options and Resources
Alexandria, VA
(703) 535-7850 (103)
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