The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise the discharge planning requirements that Hospitals, including Long-Term Care Hospitals and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities, Critical Access Hospitals, and Home Health Agencies must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The proposed rule would also implement the discharge planning requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a final rule with comment aimed at enhancing the delivery of health care services provided under the Medicaid program.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a time to celebrate the contributions that individuals with disabilities make to our workforce. AIDD has long recognized the importance of employment expectations and opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

Home and community-based services (HCBS) provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities and older adults to receive services in their own home or community.

Please join us in congratulating Kathy Greenlee, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging and ACL’s administrator, on being named a 2015 Influencer in Aging by Next Avenue. The Influencers in Aging list highlights 50 thought leaders, researchers, experts, executives and everyday people who are redefining what it means to grow older in America.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Report indicated an employment rate of less than 26% for people with disabilities, a decrease of 4.5% over the last year. As this report was released during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, it is a unique opportunity to discuss avenues to promote disability employment.

On September 15, 2015, Commissioner Aaron Bishop and Administration on Disabilities staff Jamie Kendall, Jennifer Johnson, and Ophelia McLain attended a day-long workshop with Tennessee’s Independent Living and Developmental Disabilities Networks. We asked Council on Developmental Disabilities Executive Director Wanda Willis and Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) Executive Director Ann Eubank about the workshop and the potential impact of the collaboration of the two networks.

This week, the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) published its 2015 Report to President titled Leveling the Playing Field: Improving Technology Access and Design for People with Intellectual Disabilities, the report describes the critical and increasing role of technology in enabling individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) to have greater control over their own lives and to experience the full benefits of citizenship. The primary goals of the report’s recommendations are:

Recently, ACL awarded a two-year cooperative agreement to Memorial Hermann Health System to operate a Statewide Independent Living Council Training and Technical Assistance Center (SILC T&TA Center). The training and technical assistance center is authorized by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and will strengthen ACL’s ability to provide important training and technical assistance.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Every year thousands of adults in the U.S. suffer serious health problems, are hospitalized, and even die from diseases that could be prevented by vaccines.