Disability Thrive Initiative

A tweak to federal law is poised to greatly expand choice and speed up availability of accounts allowing people with disabilities to save money without risking their government benefits. Tucked inside a tax bill approved by lawmakers last month is a provision that will permit individuals with disabilities to open new accounts established under the Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, Act in any state, regardless of where they reside.

The change means that people with disabilities across the country will be able to open ABLE accounts when the first state programs are up and running which could happen as soon as February or March, advocates say. Read more.

The debate over high-priced specialty drugs came to an abrupt end on Tuesday in the California Legislature when a bill to make drug pricing more transparent was withdrawn from the Assembly Committee on Health by its author.

“I am going to be pulling this bill,” said Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco) as he was called upon to introduce AB 463, which would have required drug companies to issue a report on the cost of any drug in excess of $10,000 a year. Read more.

Growing up, parents teach their children at a very young age the importance of keeping a promise. As elected representatives in the California State Assembly, we wish that were the case in Sacramento.
Over 50 years ago, the state of California made a promise to individuals with developmental disabilities that would provide funding for community-based programs allowing them to stay in their homes instead of being institutionalized. Read more.

California now has one of the strictest vaccination laws in the country, but ambiguity in its wording has left school districts deciding on their own whether to grant special education students a de facto exemption.

The California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Education have not yet issued guidance on how to apply the vaccination law to special education students. Read more.

With the new  year comes new budget proposals. While the Lanterman Coalition continues to highlight the need for increased funding for the developmental services system, Gov. Brown’s budget offers little relief. Read more her for Highlights.

Minimum Wage Increase Rate Adjustment Request, January 1, 2016

Due to the passage of AB 10, minimum wage is increasing from $9.00 to $10.00 dollars per hour on January 1, 2016.

In order to help NBRC document this process for granting a rate adjustment,  vendors  must complete a rate calculation worksheet for each applicable vendor number and rate. Read more.

At a Head Start center in San Mateo County, preschoolers are receiving their first-ever dental exam, but there’s not a dentist in sight.

Instead, dental hygienists give each child a teeth cleaning, X-rays, and take pictures of their teeth. These images are transmitted via a Cloud-based server to Dr. Yogita Thakur, who reviews them from her office at Ravenswood Family Dentistry in East Palo Alto, 6 miles away.

“This is how we reach children in areas where dental care is usually limited,” Thakur said. Read more.