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People on Medicaid deemed “medically frail” won’t need to meet new federal requirements that enrollees work 80 hours a month or perform another approved activity. But state officials are grappling with how to interpret who qualifies under the vague federal definition, which could affect millions.
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The White House’s autism announcement exaggerates links to Tylenol, misleads on vaccines, and sets back the field by ignoring decades of research, scientists say.
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Montana has a waitlist for people with disabilities who need vocational training, even as schools and disability advocates are concerned about how federal cuts will affect those programs.
The Education Department’s civil rights office often intervenes when students face discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or disability and their families can’t resolve complaints locally. Parents fear the effort to gut the federal agency will leave them with nowhere to seek justice.
Social Security, under the leadership of a tech enthusiast, rolled out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to answer calls. But as beneficiaries complain about glitches, lawmakers and former officials ask whether it’s a preview of a less human agency at which rushed-out AI takes the place of pushed-out government workers.
In their zeal to “Make America Healthy Again,” top Trump administration officials depict patients and the doctors who treat them as partly responsible for whatever ails them.
Amid increasingly frequent natural disasters, several states have turned to registries to prioritize help for vulnerable residents. But while some politicians see these registries as a potential solution to a public health problem, many disability advocates say they endanger residents with mobility problems by giving a false sense of security.
A proposed work requirement would make Medicaid expansion enrollees prove they’re working or meet other criteria. Most already work, but millions are expected to lose coverage if the provision passes, many from red tape. A Missouri mother who cares for her disabled son would probably be subject to the rule.
Spending cuts hitting medical providers, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act enrollees, and lawfully present immigrants are just some of the biggest changes the GOP has in store for health care — with ramifications that could touch all Americans.
Republicans claim 4.8 million Americans on Medicaid who could work choose not to. The GOP’s work-requirement legislation could sweep up disabled people who say they’re unable to hold jobs.
Congressional Republicans are looking to cut at least $880 billion from a pool of federal funding that includes Medicaid — and the program is likely to take a major hit. A previous budget crunch in Missouri offers a window into how cuts ripple through people’s lives.
In recent weeks, Social Security has been plagued by problems related to technology, system errors, and even the marking of living people as dead.
The Trump administration defunded the National Institutes of Health’s MOSAIC grant program, which launched the careers of scientists from diverse backgrounds.
The Social Security Administration will now withhold 50% of many recipients’ monthly benefits to claw back alleged overpayments — down from the 100% it announced in March, but way up from the 10% cap imposed under former President Joe Biden.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this month that "autism destroys families,” adding that “most cases are now severe” and describing children who will never work, play baseball, write poetry, or go on a date. Medical experts and people on the autism spectrum say Kennedy’s portrayal was skewed.
Federal law requires states to offer health insurance to many people with low incomes or disabilities. But some states, including California, are far more generous than what’s required. Budget pressures may force lawmakers to cut benefits that have led to a historic low in the uninsured rate.
California has unilaterally halted a court-ordered medical parole program. Instead, it’s sending its most incapacitated prisoners back to state lockups or releasing them early. The change is drawing protests from attorneys representing prisoners and the author of the medical parole law, who argue prisoners’ health may be compromised.
During his first news conference as Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on April 16 ticked off things he thinks kids with autism will never do, including paying taxes, holding a job, and going on a date. Kennedy’s comments go against science and reality.
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