Update on ANCOR’s Advocacy: Three Congressional Letters

To ensure that the needs of Medicaid disability providers and the individuals they support are met during this pandemic, ANCOR led or supported the development of several letters to Congress on critical topics. These letters sought to:

• Express dismay to congressional leadership that the HEALS Act did not include increased funding for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services. This is a co-chair’s letter from the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities’ (CCD) Long Term Supports and Services (LTSS) taskforce.
• Show support for legislation that would allow organizations with over 500 employees to qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Such organizations are currently not eligible for the program.
• Call for investments in Medicaid supports and states to further efforts such as testing and purchasing PPE.
• Flag challenges with the portal operated by Department of Health and Human Services through which providers can access money from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. These challenges have affected providers’ ability to apply.
• Express concern about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recent guidance to retroactively restrict the length of states’ authority to issue retainer payments.