ANCOR Issues Statement in Support of White House Proposal to Invest in Home & Community Based Services

Today, ANCOR issued the following statement in support of proposed funding for Medicaid Home and Community Based Services in the White House’s Build Back Better agenda:

On behalf of the 1,600+ private providers of community-based disability services that comprise its membership, ANCOR is proud to support the White House’s proposal to invest $400 billion in the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program as part of its Build Back Better agenda.

For decades, underinvestment in Medicaid HCBS has created obstacles to inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families and the direct care workers on which they rely. Inadequate funding has meant low pay for direct support professionals, leading to high turnover and vacancy rates. This inability to recruit and retain qualified direct care workers leaves America’s disability service providers unable to support every person in need. In turn, nearly 600,000 people with I/DD were on states’ waiting lists for HCBS before the pandemic—a number that has certainly skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19.

This maelstrom of obstacles makes Build Back Better a crucial investment in community-based services at a pivotal moment. The $400 billion proposed by the Biden administration would be an unprecedented infusion of resources into a system that empowers people of all abilities to live and work in the community, rather than being relegated to large, state-run institutions.

At this pivotal moment, we call on all lawmakers in Washington to support the inclusion of the full $400 billion proposal in the forthcoming reconciliation process. Doing so would signal that we are serious about investing in people with disabilities and the communities they call home.