AAHD Public Policy Agenda

AAHD 2024 Public Policy Priorities:

1. Continue to assertively advocate: Collect, Analyze, and Regularly Publicly Report –demographic factors including disability status, race, ethnicity, sex, age, primary language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and socio-economic status, in all settings and by setting.Ideally, the data system analysis should be able to cross-walk between these various precise demographic factors; for example, disability status and race. All Medicare, Medicaid, and HHS health programs should use these comprehensive and consistent demographic categories in the collection, analysis, and publicly transparent reporting of such data. Quality and performance data should be stratified by such categories.

   AAHD strongly advocates full disability community involvement and engagement in all government surveys, including the Census Bureau/American Community Survey (ACS) and the CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Systems (BRFSS).

2. Reduce health disparities and promote health and wellness in people with disabilities, including women’s health, access to healthcare providers and health care facilities, and training of health care providers, including maintenance of existing protections through the Americans with Disabilities Act. Support federal government efforts to identify and reduce Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Social Drivers of Health and better align federal and state health programs to reduce disparities and increase equity.

3. Support inclusive healthy communities and full accessibility, including maintenance of existing protections through the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, and Affordable Care Act Section 1557 prohibitions against discrimination.

4. Expand the patient/consumer centered health (medical) home and promote the bi-directional integration of behavioral health, general health, and primary care.

5. Promote Self-Management and Self-Direction in Health Promotion and Wellness. Support expanding and strengthening Community Health Workers, Direct Support Professionals, Behavioral Health Peer Specialists and Supports, and the Long Term Care Workforce. 

6. Expand Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) and Address the Medicaid Institutional Bias including expanding & strengthening HCBS Infrastructure. Work toward the ideal of a mandatory HCBS Medicaid benefit.

7. Provide for more comprehensive health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, Medicare, and Medicaid. Promote more effective and person-centered services and supports for persons dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and in Medicaid Unwinding.

8. Promote Quality and Performance Measurement, including appropriate self-directed, home and community-based services targeted to persons with disabilities.

9. Support efforts to reduce program silo barriers and increase the integrated program responses for persons with co-occurring disability and chronic illness, co-occurring disability and behavioral health challenges, and co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder.

AAHD pursues its public policy work in collaboration with our partner organization, the Lakeshore Foundation. The Lakeshore Foundation (www.lakeshore.org) mission is to enable people with physical disability and chronic health conditions to lead healthy, active, and independent lifestyles through physical activity, sport, recreation and research. Lakeshore is a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site; the UAB/Lakeshore Research Collaborative is a world-class research program in physical activity, health promotion and disability linking Lakeshore’s programs with the University of Alabama, Birmingham’s research expertise.