U.S House of Representatives Holds September 5 Hearing on Money Follows the Person Reauthorization

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction on Medicaid issues, will be hosting a hearing on September 5, 2018 on the EMPOWER Care Act, which seeks to reauthorize (continue funding) the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program. MFP is an important rebalancing program, helping people with disabilities to move into the community from state-run institutions – and it expired in September 2016.  ANCOR has been a lead supporter of the EMPOWER Care Act. It has been one of our priority issues for the past year in both our legislative lobbying and our grassroots efforts – including in our most recent August Advocacy Challenge. We have heard from trusted sources in Congress that this bill will be gaining traction in the lame duck session. The strong bipartisan support behind this bill helps illustrate for Congress that disability-focused legislation can pass both the House and Senate and will serve to encourage Congress to focus on more disability legislation. As such, we encourage our members to engage in advocacy on MFP, which is in a majority of states. Please contact our Director of Legislative Affairs, Sarah Meek, at [email protected] for more information.