[Nfbf-l] What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?

[Alan Dicey]

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 have taken effect
as of yesterday March 1. Dubbed "sequestration" these cuts, now implemented,
are split between defense and domestic discretionary spending.

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.

Background

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 "Supercommittee") to agree
on a budget of $1.5 trillion by way of spending cuts and revenue increases
over the next decade.

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 - split evenly between domestic
and defense discretionary programs - will go into effect.

For Americans with disabilities, this means everything from special
education to transportation, to housing and health care programs will "feel
the pinch" due to the precarious collision of across-the-board cuts and
unforeseen circumstances.

Spending reductions break down into three broad categories:

1. Defense spending. Amounts to half the sequester cuts.
2. Non-defense. Includes housing, education, and employment programs.
3. Medicare. Limited to a 2% cut in payments to Medicare providers,
specifically hospitals and doctors.

Mandatory programs

-- Assistance to individuals with low-incomes and their families like
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, or welfare), the Supplemental
Nutritional 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.

Medicare

-- 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.

Social Security

-- Disability benefits will also remain intact, but across-the-board budget
cuts would force the SSA to "curtail service to the public," 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."

-- 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.

Housing

-- $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 - increasing
the possibility of homelessness, according to testimony to the Senate by
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan on February 14.

-- 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.

Education

-- $978 million in comprehensive funding cuts would affect 30.7 million
special education students.
Funding for special education, specifically, would be slashed by nearly $600
million, reducing supports for students with disabilities to 2005 levels.

-- Federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) will be reduced by 28 percent, totaling a loss of one billion
dollars.

-- Close to 15,000 special education teachers could lose their jobs
resulting in larger class sizes.

-- 70,000 children, many of them disabled, would be dropped from Head Start
programs.

-- Funding for "up to 7,200? special education support workers - such as
personnel aides and money for assistance - would also be eliminated,
according to the White House.

Employment

-- 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.

Veterans

-- 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.

-- 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.

Bottom line

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 - including
disabled veterans -- who are, on average, already at greater risk of
poverty.

Direct link: http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/022813

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With Warm Regards,

Alan

Miami, Florida