Date: Thursday, August 28, 2025
Category: Member News

Greetings from Washington, D.C., where we’ve enjoyed a summer reprieve with Congress out of town for the August recess. As you probably know, Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the House early because of the furor over the Epstein case. Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations finished marking up bills for FY 2026 Defense, Labor Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations. It’s been interesting, to say the least.

The good news is that the Senate has proven resistant to the President’s desire for massive cuts, and has maintained funding, if not increased it, for the National Institutes of Health, Health and Human Services (which includes NIDILRR, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research), Labor, and multiple other programs that benefit children and people with disabilities, seniors, and community supports. NIDILLR was level-funded at $119 million, so the Senate did not accept the proposed 16% cut. Since the House has not been able to pass any appropriations bills, it’s a good bet that when they return on September 2, they will either acquiesce to the Senate or pass a “CR” (Continuing Resolution) that will carry over the same allocations from FY 2024. While this is technically a cut because of inflation, it’s still much better than we originally thought might happen.

Meanwhile, the focus for advocates should turn to understanding the Medicaid cuts that are a part of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” (BBB). These Medicaid cuts will come into effect after the midterm elections in 2027. Basically, federal funding will be cut, and the states will need to either make up that funding or cut programs and benefits. It’s hard to know how the states will respond, as each state is different and right now, they are trying to assess the impact. We suggest staying very close to your state representatives and local Medicaid officials. Many states have Medicaid waivers that fund community-based programs supporting people with disabilities, and these may be in jeopardy. It is my personal belief that we will see a flurry of deal-making from individual states (like the carve-outs that Senator Lisa Murkowski negotiated for Alaska in the BBB) to “fix” the bill.

RESNA and our coalition partners are pressing forward on several initiatives, including:

• Advocating for CMS to immediately open a National Coverage Analysis for standing systems in power CRT wheelchairs. RESNA and the Clinicians Task Force published an update on the current state of the literature in Assistive Technology Journal in support of this effort.
• Engaging with Congress to introduce and pass the Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act, which would provide Medicare coverage for new and emerging technologies.
• Supporting prior authorization reform through the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, which targets Medicare Advantage programs, currently serving over 33 million seniors and persons with disabilities.

Did you meet with your Congressional representative during the August recess? Send us a picture! We will thank them and you in the next issue of Member News. Send all pictures to execoffice@resna.org.

Consider joining RESNA’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC). Email execoffice@resna.org.  Please note, you must be a RESNA member to join.

The Government Relations webpage lists our 2025 federal priorities and our international efforts.  Due to staffing limitations, our efforts are focused on the U.S. federal government level, but we are happy to advise on state and local activities upon request.