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General

Social Policy Network Newsletter: October 4

Date

October 7, 2024

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we will be focusing on local/regional and national policy news that impacts (or is impacted by) the Hispanic community. In addition, we will be posing events sponsored by and for the Latinx community.

If you have any events or news you would like to share, please email us at russwswpn@gmail.com!

September is National Voter Registration Month!
Tuesday, November 5th, is Election Day, and it's rapidly approaching. Make a plan about how you are going to vote!
Are you registered?
Can you vote early?
Can you vote by mail?
Can you work the polls?
If you vote in person; where is your polling place?
When are the hours?
How will you get there?

Did you know that in some states, even if you registered previously, it is possible that you could have been removed from your states' voter rolls? You can quickly check your voter registration status to ensure you are still actively registered to vote. 

Here are important registration and voting deadlines for the tri-state area:

New Jersey:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NJ voting here.

New York:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about NY voting here.

Pennsylvania:

Register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and find more info about PA voting here.

Not from any of these states? Don't worry! Click the buttons below to register, verify your voting status, apply to work the polls, find your deadlines and polling place, and sign up to vote by mail.

Professional Opportunities

Policy Analyst - Department of Labor, Women's Bureau (Washington, DC)

Research Data Analyst 2 - New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission (Ewing Township, NJ)

Legislative Liaison - NJ Department of Children and Families (Trenton, NJ)

New York Communications Director - Working Families Party (New York, NY)

Supervisor, Immigrant Health Project - Centro Comunitario CEUS (North Bergen, NJ)

Assistant Professor of Social Work (MSW), Tenure Track Professor - Stockton University (Galloway, NJ)

Worker Organizer - Make the Road States (Elizabeth, NJ)

National Policy News Highlights
Local doc's own immigration story inspires plan to help students get mental health services
WXYZ-TV (Detroit)
“...we want to highlight one program helping students at Ypsilanti Community High School. It's called the Latinx Youth Empowerment Series, also known as "YES." The group connects and provides mental health services to immigrant students. Those students, many of the program's designers say, may not have had access to those services otherwise.”

Kids lost coverage despite CHIP's promise
Axios
“The number of kids enrolled in Medicaid has decreased by more than 5.5 million in the last 18 months, and only a small percent of those losing coverage were enrolled in a sister program designed to be a safety net for uninsured children.”

Regional Policy News Highlights
Toms River mayor: Don't bring homeless people here; use affordable housing money to help
The Asbury Park Press
“Could money from the township's affordable housing trust fund be used to find shelter for the homeless? Mayor Daniel Rodrick and his administration are pursuing the idea, hoping to use at least some of the $9 million in the fund to help house a homeless population that has been living in the woods and hanging out in the township's downtown area.”

Push to codify guidelines for how NJ police investigate bias incidents
NJ Spotlight News
“Amid a surge in hate crimes, New Jersey lawmakers…moved a bill to codify the state’s guidelines for police investigating those incidents. The state’s current guidelines are directives from the attorney general’s office and not formalized as state law. A change in administration could rewrite the guidelines or rescind them altogether.”

Upcoming Event
Financial Aid for Refugees without Parents in the U.S.
Presented by HIAS Pennsylvania
Wednesday, October 9th, 2024, 2:00pm
**Virtual**

"As colleges and universities welcome and enroll refugee students on campus, they are also building campus awareness and policies to support some of the unique challenges they may face.  

"This webinar aims to advance the understanding of higher education practitioners, especially financial aid administrators, as to the circumstances of refugees and therefore how to best support them in completing their financial aid applications. It will especially focus on refugees without parents in the United States and when a dependency override is needed. Campus professionals will share  their experiences supporting refugee students, without parents in the U.S., in completing FAFSA, submitting documentation required for a dependency override, and any institutional policies to support refugee students in the process."

Click here to register.

Policy Focus: Healthcare
Last week, we discussed Project 2025 and its policy implications. While Former President (FP) Trump claims to be unaffiliated with the project, he has apparent ties to the Heritage Foundation and its authors. For the purpose of this newsletter, FP Trump's perspective will be based on Project 2025, while VP Harris's perspective will be based on the Biden Administration, in addition to their views previously stated in debates and statements. This week, we'll examine how Project 2025 would impact the healthcare sector and policies.

1. Medicare
Medicare is federal health insurance for anyone age 65 and older, and some people under 65 with certain disabilities or conditions.

FP Trump:

  • "Reduce regulatory burdens on doctors" (pg. 463). 
  • What is unclear about this proposition is what Project 2025 considers a "regulatory burden." Coding and insurance reimbursement are headaches for most, sure, but what do they plan to replace them with while keeping patients safe and financially stable?
  • "Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse" (pg. 463) by utilizing AI.
  • "Encourage more direct competition between Medicare Advantage and private plans," (pg. 464).
  • The goal here would be to make Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) the default enrollment option. By doing this, Medicare would be pushed further into the private sector's grasp, resulting in increased costs and coverage disparities.
  • "Repeal harmful health policies enacted under the Obama and Biden Administrations such as the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Inflation Reduction Act," (pg. 465).

VP Harris:

  • Through the Inflation Reduction Act, they have enhanced Medicare by:
  • reducing the cost of drugs under Part D, specifically by capping the cost of insulin at $35
  • Making Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended vaccines available at no cost for people with Medicare prescription drug coverage.
  • Yearly Part D out-of-pocket costs will be capped at $2,000 in 2025, down from $3500 in 2024.

2. Medicaid
Medicaid is the largest program providing medical and health-related services to low-income people.

FP Trump:

  • Proposed eliminating or weakening the Affordable Care Act, which could:
    • divert federal funding from Medicaid and utilize block-grant funding models.
    • cut spending on Medicaid altogether, and/or
  • Increase restrictions on Medicaid access through the implementation of work requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility.
  • Calls on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to impose “targeted time limits or lifetime caps on [Medicaid] benefits.”
  • This would mean that once a person has been on Medicaid for a set amount of time—potentially over the full course of their life—they could lose eligibility for Medicaid coverage, regardless of their financial situation. 

VP Harris:

  • Built on the existing Medicaid financing framework by expanding federal matching funds for priority areas, such as incentivizing states to expand Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS).
  • Enacted legislation to increase federal funding for Medicaid HCBS and issued regulations to increase access to Medicaid HCBS, promote higher payment rates for home care workers, and establish minimum staffing requirements in nursing facilities.
  • President Biden and Vice President Harris have called for additional, permanent federal funding for HCBS, which did not pass.

3. Reproductive and Gender-Inclusive Healthcare
Including but not limited to abortion, sexual health, and fertility treatments.

FP Trump:

  • Seek to "ensure that all [Department of Health and Human Services] programs and activities are rooted in a deep respect for innocent human life from day one until natural death: Abortion and euthanasia are not health care," (pg. 450).
  • Neglected to deny a federal abortion ban.
  • "...family policies and programs under President Biden's [Department of Health and Human Services] are fraught with agenda items focusing on 'LGBTQ+ equity,' subsidizing single motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families," (pg. 451).
  • Increased monitoring of medical histories (from Project 2025 pg. 455):
  • "[The Department of Health and Human Services] should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother's state of residence, and by what method."
  • "...ensure that statistics are separated by category: spontaneous miscarriage; treatments that incidentally result in the death of a child (such as chemotherapy); stillbirths; and induced abortion.
  • "[The] CDC should require monitoring and reporting for complications due to abortion and every instance of children being born alive after an abortion."
  • "The CDC should immediately end its collection of data on gender identity, which
  • legitimizes the unscientific notion that men can become women (and vice versa)
  • and encourages the phenomenon of ever-multiplying subjective identities," (pg. 456).

VP Harris:

  • Protect access to safe and legal abortion through codifying Roe V. Wade-era protections by:
    • preventing legislation aimed to limit the distribution of medication that induces abortions
    • increase access for members of the Veterans Administration (VA) and active service members in the military
    • protecting medical professionals who fear breaking the law by providing abortions or abortion-adjacent procedures, 
      • protecting those traveling to other states for abortions
    • expanding access to contraceptive care
  • Believes in the ability of minors to access gender-affirming healthcare.
  • Has expanded coverage for fertility benefits for federal employees through the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. 

As of the posting of this newsletter, there are only 32 days left until the election on November 5th. Before voting (which we hope you do!), take time to learn about the policies most important to each candidate and how they may impact you as a social worker, and your clients around the country. We will keep you informed on the stances of each candidate as we approach the election.

Please email us to provide any comments, ask questions, and provide information you would like to see in the newsletter!

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