{"id":22075,"date":"2013-03-05T04:33:11","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T09:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=22075"},"modified":"2013-03-05T07:43:34","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T12:43:34","slug":"what-will-sequestration-mean-for-people-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/03\/05\/what-will-sequestration-mean-for-people-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this Friday, March 1. Dubbed \u201csequestration\u201d these cuts, if implemented, will be split between defense and domestic discretionary spending.<\/p>\n

The National Council on Disability (NCD) urges the Executive Branch and Congress to find a responsible alternative to sequestration to prevent potential harm to Americans with disabilities and their families.<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally passed as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 on the heels of the debt ceiling compromise, the sequester was intended to pressure the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the \u201cSupercommittee\u201d) to agree on a budget of $1.5 trillion by way of spending cuts and revenue increases over the next decade.<\/p>\n

Congress stopped mandatory budget cuts from taking effect by passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act January 2 when the deadline was pushed back to March 1, 2013. If Congress fails to agree on a budget to reduce the federal deficit by then $85 billion in spending cuts \u2013 split evenly between domestic and defense discretionary programs \u2013 will go into effect.<\/p>\n

For Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special education to transportation, to housing and health care programs will \u201cfeel the pinch\u201d due to the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and unforeseen circumstances.<\/p>\n

Spending reductions break down into three broad categories:<\/p>\n

1. Defense spending. Amounts to half the sequester cuts.
\n2. Non-defense. Includes housing, education, and employment programs.
\n3. Medicare. Limited to a 2% cut in payments to Medicare providers, specifically hospitals and doctors.<\/p>\n

Mandatory programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

— Assistance to individuals with low-incomes and their families like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), the Supplemental Nutritional<\/p>\n

Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps), unemployment benefits and provider payments made through Medicare will not be cut, although staff time and resources are likely to be compromised.<\/p>\n

Medicare<\/strong><\/p>\n

— While other non-defense programs are facing a 8.4 percent cut, Medicare cuts are limited to 2 percent per fiscal year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that in 2013 a 2 percent cut totals $123 billion dollars.<\/p>\n

Social Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

— Disability benefits will also remain intact, but across-the-board budget cuts would force the SSA to \u201ccurtail service to the public,\u201d according to the White House. Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue wrote on Feb. 7 that administrative cuts could slow disability claims, “If we do not have enough staff to keep up or if furloughs prevent them from working, the public can expect to wait longer in our offices, on the phone, and for disability decisions at all levels.”<\/p>\n

— Pending levels of initial disability claims are likely to rise by over 140,000 claims, and it is estimated that applicants will have to wait about two weeks longer for decision on disability claims and nearly a month longer for disability hearing decisions.<\/p>\n

Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n

— $1.9 billion in cuts to housing assistance for an estimated 125,000 Americans, including assistance for elderly and people with disabilities, as part of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program would be lost \u2013 increasing the possibility of homelessness, according to testimony to the Senate by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan on February 14.<\/p>\n

— Rural rental assistance for 10,000 very low-income rural people, mostly single women, seniors, or people with disabilities would be eliminated as a result of cuts to the Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

— $978 million in comprehensive funding cuts would affect 30.7 million special education students.<\/p>\n

— Funding for special education, specifically, would be slashed by nearly $600 million, reducing supports for students with disabilities to 2005 levels.<\/p>\n

— Federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be reduced by 28 percent, totaling a loss of one billion dollars.<\/p>\n

— Close to 15,000 special education teachers could lose their jobs resulting in larger class sizes.<\/p>\n

— 70,000 children, many of them disabled, would be dropped from Head Start programs.<\/p>\n

— Funding for \u201cup to 7,200? special education support workers \u2013 such as personnel aides and money for assistance \u2013 would also be eliminated, according to the White House.<\/p>\n

Employment<\/strong><\/p>\n

— Vocational rehabilitation stands to lose $160 million leading to the reduction of services, increasing wait times for services and placing disabled job seekers in administrative limbo on waiting lists.<\/p>\n

Veterans<\/strong><\/p>\n

— Military Pay (including PCS and Subsistence) is exempt under the sequestration exemption. Programs such as TRICARE, tuition assistance and family support programs are not exempt and do fall under sequestration.<\/p>\n

— There are no direct cuts to Veterans Administration health care programs under sequestration, but individuals forced to turn to the VA to obtain care they normally receive under TRICARE could add increased burdens to the system.<\/p>\n

Bottom line<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sequester would place tens of thousands of Americans with disabilities at greater risk for hunger and homelessness, endanger the education of millions of children with disabilities and delay employment services and disability benefits for scores of people with disabilities \u2013 including disabled veterans — who are, on average, already at greater risk of poverty.<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.ncd.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ncd.gov\/newsroom\/022813<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities? A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this Friday, March 1. Dubbed \u201csequestration\u201d these cuts,…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[17633,17624,17626,17627,16750,511,105,520,17634,515,17629,3781,17628,7956,7957,17625,7123,17631,513,772,17623,17630,17558,1046,17632,17635],"class_list":["post-22075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-assistance-program","tag-budget-control-act-of-2011","tag-cbo","tag-congressional-budget-office","tag-department-of-agriculture","tag-disabilities","tag-education","tag-employment","tag-food-stamps","tag-government","tag-hcv","tag-housing","tag-housing-choice-voucher","tag-idea","tag-individuals-with-disabilities-education-act","tag-joint-select-committee-on-deficit-reduction","tag-medicare","tag-military-pay","tag-national-council-on-disability","tag-ncd","tag-sequestration","tag-shaun-donovan","tag-snap","tag-social-security","tag-tricare","tag-welfare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5K3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21474,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/01\/17\/executive-director-of-ncd-vacancy\/","url_meta":{"origin":22075,"position":0},"title":"Executive Director of NCD Vacancy","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Executive Director of NCD Vacancy Vacancy Announcement: Executive Director, National Council on Disability Series & Grade: AD-0301-00 Open Period: January 17, 2013 until Filled Position Information: Full-Time Excepted Service Duty Location: Washington, DC Key Requirements: You must be a US Citizen or National The National Council on Disability (NCD) invites\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23618,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/06\/27\/statement-from-ncd-birch-vocational-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":22075,"position":1},"title":"Statement from NCD: Birch Vocational School","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"National Council on Disability (NCD) Statement on the Birch Vocational School in Providence, RI June 13, 2013 View NCD Statement News reports sparked by a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found that disabled students at the Birch Vocational School in Providence, RI were forced to perform manual labor - including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7476,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/08\/24\/ncd-request-for-input-emerging-trends-public-consultation\/","url_meta":{"origin":22075,"position":2},"title":"NCD Request for Input: Emerging Trends Public Consultation","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"NCD Request for Input: Emerging Trends Public Consultation Emerging Trends Public Consultation The National Council on Disability (NCD) is gathering public input for a study of emerging issues and trends affecting the lives of people with disabilities. 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