Michelle Diament

3 weeks ago | disabilityscoop.com | Michelle Diament

The Trump administration wants to eliminate the nation’s university centers on developmental disabilities and rethink the way Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs are funded, but a new budget proposal spares some disability programs that were expected to be on the chopping block. In a 1,224-page blueprint and accompanying documents from federal agencies, the White House is offering a more detailed look at the president’s budget request for the fiscal year that begins in October.

3 weeks ago | disabilityscoop.com | Michelle Diament

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to get to the bottom of surging autism rates, but a new analysis finds that the Trump administration has cut funding for such research by double digits. National Institutes of Health spending on autism research between January and April was down roughly $31 million compared to the same period last year, according to a Reuters review of federal data.

1 month ago | disabilityscoop.com | Michelle Diament

The U.S. House of Representatives approved billions in cuts to Medicaid that advocates warn would undermine the nation’s already fragile system of services and supports for people with disabilities. Republicans in the House pushed through a bill designed to follow through on President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda early Thursday by a vote of 215 to 214 after intense negotiations.

1 month ago | disabilityscoop.com | Michelle Diament

Seventeen states are no longer seeking to invalidate one of the nation’s key disability rights laws, but advocates say threats remain. A lawsuit brought by Texas and 16 other states garnered significant attention earlier this year because it sought to declare Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act unconstitutional. The 1973 law bars discrimination on the basis of disability at any entity that receives federal funds.

1 month ago | disabilityscoop.com | Michelle Diament

In a marathon session marked by the arrest of dozens of disability rights activists, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives pushed ahead with plans to drastically reduce Medicaid spending. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 30 to 24 on Wednesday to send the measure to the full House.