Category: Policy

The US Department of Health and Human Services has deferred more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota pending review of claims it calls high-risk.

• HHS and CMS are withholding about $867.5 million from California and $199 million from Minnesota, announced 21 July 2026.
• Minnesota’s flagged claims span 14 “high-risk” service areas that include long-term care and support for elderly and disabled people.
• States can release the funds by supplying documentation showing the claims meet federal requirements; HHS describes the deferrals as temporary, not permanent cuts.
• Disability advocates and service providers report the rapid review process is already disrupting some legitimate developmental-disability and home-care programs.

Why it matters: Even a temporary funding pause can ripple into real disruptions for people who rely on Medicaid-funded home care, early autism services and other disability supports while providers scramble to prove compliance.

Source: HHS →

The NDIS has confirmed that cyber criminals have used myGov to gain unauthorised access to some NDIS participant accounts.

• Attackers gained access through phishing activity and by persuading people to hand over their login details, the NDIA said on 27 July 2026.
• The agency is adding extra security measures and working with Services Australia, which runs myGov, to respond to the ongoing issue.
• Affected participants will be notified directly if evidence shows their account was compromised.
• NDIS is urging participants and nominees to check their accounts regularly for unusual activity or payments they didn’t request.

Why it matters: NDIS accounts hold sensitive personal and financial information, so a breach like this raises real risk of fraud or unauthorised plan spending for people who may already face extra barriers to resolving account problems.

Source: NDIS →

The US CDC has revised its official “Autism and Vaccines” webpage to say the claim that vaccines do not cause autism is “not an evidence-based claim.”

• The updated page, dated 22 July 2026, states that studies “have not ruled out the possibility” that infant vaccines contribute to autism.
• It replaces the CDC’s longstanding public position, which had been backed by decades of reviews from bodies including the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine.
• HHS says it has launched a new “comprehensive assessment” of the causes of autism, including possible biologic mechanisms.
• Medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association have publicly disputed the change, pointing to over 40 studies of more than 5.6 million people that found no link.

Why it matters: This page is one of the most visited public references on vaccine safety and autism, so the change could shape how parents of autistic children and disabled people understand causation, research funding, and public health messaging going forward.

Source: CDC, Vaccine Safety →

A bipartisan US Senate committee has advanced a bill that would stop the Department of Education from moving its special education office to another federal agency.

• The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-9 to advance S. 5046, introduced by Senators Tim Kaine, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
• The bill would stop the Education Department transferring oversight of special education, along with elementary/secondary, postsecondary and Native American education programs, to other agencies.
• It responds to an interagency agreement that would shift many Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) functions to the Department of Health and Human Services.
• The bill now heads to a full Senate vote.

Why it matters: If it becomes law, the bill would keep dedicated federal oversight of special education services for millions of US students with disabilities, rather than folding it into an agency without the same expertise.

Source: Office of Senator Susan Collins →

The Social Security Administration marked the 70th anniversary of Social Security Disability Insurance on 30 July, highlighting recent improvements to how disability claims are processed.

• SSDI was signed into law by President Eisenhower on 1 August 1956 and now supports more than eight million disabled workers and their families.
• SSA says initial decision wait times have dropped by more than 25% since fiscal year 2024, and hearing wait times have reached an all-time low, with over 90% of hearings now held virtually.
• The agency has issued more than 150,000 expedited “fully favourable” decisions since 2025 through its Disability Examiner Decisional Authority programme.

Why it matters: Long waits for disability decisions have long been a source of hardship for applicants; SSA’s reported improvements, if sustained, could ease that burden for future claimants.

Source: Social Security Administration →

A disabled Motability customer has asked the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to investigate how Motability Operations and its insurer, Direct Line Motability, handled the paused Drive Smart telematics programme.

• Drive Smart used an in-car device or app to monitor driving behaviour; Motability Operations suspended it in May after widespread complaints from disabled customers.
• Campaigner Phil Swindin says four cases he supported show customers had named drivers silently removed from insurance, or leases terminated, without being properly informed, leading to two- to four-year bans from the scheme.
• The FCA says it will use the evidence in its supervisory work but has not confirmed what action it will take; Motability Operations says it is reviewing the programme before any further steps are taken.

Why it matters: Motability leases are a key source of accessible transport for disabled people in the UK, and unresolved problems with Drive Smart have reportedly left some customers without a vehicle even after the scheme was paused.

Source: Disability News Service →

Disability advocates rallied in six Australian cities on 1 August against proposed cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, ahead of a Senate vote on the NDIS Amendment Bill scheduled for 14 August.

• The Protect Our NDIS Alliance organised events in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hobart, backed by close to 70 disability organisations.
• Organisers say the government’s proposed budget changes would cut $38 billion from the NDIS, including a 50% reduction in funding for social and community participation and a further 10% cut to capacity-building supports.
• Campaigners estimate roughly 241,000 current participants could be removed from the scheme and a further 106,000 people refused access if the bill passes as proposed.

Why it matters: The NDIS Amendment Bill is one of the most significant proposed changes to Australia’s disability support scheme since it began, and the 14 August Senate vote will determine whether these funding cuts go ahead.

Source: Medianet News Hub →

A new Deloitte India and EnAble India report argues that including people with disabilities in India’s economy isn’t just fair policy — it’s a US$150 billion growth opportunity.

• The report values India’s “Purple Economy” — disabled people as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs and taxpayers — at nearly US$150 billion, part of an estimated US$18 trillion global market of disabled people and their households.
• It recommends a National Growth Framework built on accessible digital public infrastructure, dedicated “Purple Economic Zones” and inclusive market design.
• Authors argue disability inclusion should shift from being treated as welfare or CSR spending to a mainstream economic and investment priority for government and business.

Why it matters: Framing accessibility as an economic driver rather than a compliance cost could accelerate investment in inclusive products, services and infrastructure well beyond India.

Source: Deloitte India →

New UK prime minister Andy Burnham has kept the ministers responsible for disability benefits and transport in their posts, while handing oversight of adult social care to a new health secretary.

• Pat McFadden remains work and pensions secretary and Sir Stephen Timms stays on as minister for social security and disability, meaning the ongoing reviews of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment and Access to Work continue under the same team, expected to report in autumn 2026.
• Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting has been moved to defence and replaced by Yvette Cooper, who will oversee reform of adult social care; a new minister for care has not yet been named.
• Transport secretary Heidi Alexander keeps her role as the Railways Bill, which includes accessibility provisions, continues through the House of Lords, and disabled former shadow minister Vicky Foxcroft was appointed a minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Why it matters: Keeping the same team at the Department for Work and Pensions means the PIP review should stay on its existing timeline, but disability campaigners have raised concern that retaining ministers linked to welfare-cut policies signals little change in approach.

Source: Disability News Service →

A New York State Assembly bill would create a voluntary, statewide registry for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, introduced after the drowning death of a seven-year-old autistic boy near Albany.

• Families could opt in to share information as an emergency-preparedness tool for police and first responders.
• Sponsor Angelo Santabarbara, whose adult son has autism, describes it as “an additional tool in the toolbox,” not a mandatory list.
• Disability advocates have raised concerns about similar local registries, citing demeaning language and inconsistent safeguards on who can access the data.

Why it matters: Registries like this sit at a genuine tension between safety and dignity. Advocates want any such system designed with disabled people, not just for them.

Source: WAMC →