Daily on Healthcare: Rising opposition to the sub-minimum wage for workers with disabilities

RISING OPPOSITION TO THE SUB-MINIMUM WAGE FOR WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES: A movement is afoot in Congress and in states to make it illegal for employers to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage.

The little-known practice has been allowed since the 1930s as a way to get people with disabilities into the workforce to help build their skills in order to obtain more competitive work later. Oftentimes that transition doesn’t happen, resulting in wages that amount to only cents per hour.

Opponents view the exemption as archaic and say it’s time to phase it out. Proponents of the status quo are concerned that people with disabilities will lose work opportunities. The 50 million people in the U.S. with disabilities already have an unemployment rate of 9%, even as the U.S. overall has a historically low unemployment rate of 3.8%.

Democrats have advanced out of the House Education and Labor Committee the Raise the Wage Act, which increases the hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. That measure would phase out the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities.

Another House measure with more outside and bipartisan support, the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, would phase out the subminimum wage and provide state and employer grants to move people with disabilities into jobs with higher pay that are alongside workers without disabilities. Many employers that use the subminimum wage are sheltered workshops that only hire workers with disabilities.

“The goal is not to close doors and shut down places, but to transform the whole way we are thinking about employment,” said an aide to Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee who is leading the effort on the House side.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., sponsored the Senate version of the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, and he also has a second bill that would give tax breaks to employers who hire more people with disabilities and who make their workplaces more accessible to both employees and customers. His team hasn’t gotten any GOP co-sponsors for the phaseout of the subminimum wage bill yet, but they’re hopeful. During the 2016 election season, for the first time, both parties had the elimination of the subminimum wage in their platforms.

“We never want to harm employers,” an aide to Casey said. “We want to make sure they have the support to make the transformation, and we certainly don’t want to lose those jobs.”

Not everyone is on board. ACCSES, an advocacy group representing organizations that provide services and work for people with disabilities, believes the minimum wage measures are misguided. Kate McSweeny, vice president of government affairs and general counsel for the group, noted that none of the bills underwrite the difference in wages and predicted that people would be thrown out of work.

“It takes away opportunities and does not add anything,” she said. “It will be devastating to the people who are affected.”

Meanwhile, states have been forging ahead. Former New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who is now in the Senate, was the first to do away with the subminimum wage in 2015. Alaska eliminated its allowance last year, and it’s set to go away next year in Maryland. Oregon is the next state taking a look, having passed a bill out of the state Senate in April to phase out the subminimum wage by 2023.

“There has been plenty of information and data to support that people with disabilities are good workers, that it’s not a charity hire but good for business,” said Nicole Jorwic, director of rights policy at the Arc, which advocates for the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Read more about the debate.

Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.

EVENT REMINDER: Join the Washington Examiner at 8 a.m. on Wednesday for our “Examining Healthcare” conversations with Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Doug Jones, D-Ala. RSVP here or watch the livestream here.

MEDICARE FOR ALL HEARING KICKS OFF: The House Rules Committee is holding its first hearing on the Medicare for All Act bill on Tuesday morning. The legislation is backed by numerous Democratic candidates seeking the Oval Office, but its relegation to the Rules Committee instead of Ways and Means or Energy and Commerce Committees, which have jurisdiction over healthcare legislation, suggests that Democratic House leaders already aren’t intending to advance it to the floor.

Republicans, who are eager to change the subject on the president’s efforts to undo Obamacare in court, are prepared to lambaste Democrats over the proposal. “The Democrat plan is socialism,” Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “Under their plan, Americans will have fewer choices, taxes would skyrocket, and access to care would slow to a crawl.” Tune in to the hearing.

Republicans are pressuring W+M for a hearing: Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the top Republican on the committee’s Health Subcommittee, sent a letter to Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass, on Tuesday asking for a hearing on the Medicare for All Act.

POSTPONED: THE INTRODUCTION OF MEDICARE FOR AMERICA LEGISLATION: Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., were planning to introduce another healthcare option that allows people to buy in to Medicare if they want to, known as the Medicare for America Act. The plan assumes that eventually most people will be covered by an extended Medicare program, but it would do so by moving the uninsured and newborns onto the plan and then letting people leave employer insurance if they want to. The approach is favored by Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. Lawmakers haven’t said to what day the re-introduction of the bill will be rescheduled.

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HOUSE SPENDING PLAN: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies will be marking up the budget draft at 4 p.m. Tuesday. This is the first of a dozen appropriations bills that will be considered by the committee. Here are a few highlights in the draft:

* The bill includes $90 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, an increase of $8.5 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $20.9 billion above the president’s budget request.

*The National Institutes of Health would be funded at a record level, of $41.1 billion.

*Research on gun violence would receive $50 million, a first in two decades. The funds will be split in half between the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

*No Hyde Amendment repeal: The bill keeps in place the ban that prohibits federal funds from going to abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s pregnancy threatens her life.

Tune in to the markup.

The spending bill would also defund Title X rules: The budget draft stipulates that grants known as Title X could not be used to go toward paying for the Trump administration’s new restrictions, which had been set to go into effect Friday. The budget faces an uphill battle in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans who support cutting off federal funding from Planned Parenthood. Even if it were to pass the Senate, it would be vetoed by President Trump.

SECOND JUDGE BLOCKS THE TITLE X RULES: U.S. District Judge Michael McShane in Eugene, Ore., on Monday issued the second injunction on the rules, as he had indicated last week he would do. Twenty states and the District of Columbia were plaintiffs in the case, and though McShane initially indicated he was reluctant to issue the stay nationwide, he ultimately decided to do so in his decision.

BIDEN COMES OUT IN SUPPORT OF MEDICARE BUY-IN: Former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed a public option for health insurance in the form of a Medicare buy-in on the campaign trail Monday, moving closer into alignment with calls from others in the Democratic primary to go beyond Obamacare. “We have to give everybody the peace of mind they deserve. Whether you’re covering it through your employer or on your own or not, you all should have a choice to be able to buy into a public option plan for Medicare,” Biden said. He framed a Medicare buy-in as the next step in achieving universal healthcare after the Affordable Care Act, but his position on government-financed healthcare proposals was previously unclear.

‘DOUBLE STANDARD’: ACTIVISTS SAY BIDEN’S HARDLINE DRUGS POLICIES DIDN’T APPLY TO HIS CHILDREN’S COCAINE AND MARIJUANA USE: Biden helped craft some of the strictest anti-drug laws of the 1980s and 1990s. But drug reform advocates say his children were able to avoid the brunt of these laws because they were white and wealthy. Both Ashley and Hunter Biden have been found guilty of marijuana possession and cocaine use several times. Criminal justice reform advocates say Biden’s children are a clear example of how racial and economic privilege play a role in drug enforcement. Michael Collins, national director for Drug Policy Action, described a “double standard” in how we treat drug offenders in America’s criminal justice system.

MEASLES CASES CLIMB TO 704, MOST SINCE 1994: Health officials said Monday that 704 people have now been infected with the highly infectious measles virus, the most in 25 years. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a phone call Monday that most infections were among children who had not been vaccinated, and other officials warned that people opposed to vaccinations were spreading misleading information about the vaccine that prevents measles to dissuade parents from getting their children vaccinated.

NIH SAYS NETFLIX SHOW CONTRIBUTED TO A RISE IN YOUTH SUICIDES: The NIH associated a nearly 30% increase in youth suicides with Netflix show “13 Reasons Why” in a study Monday. The study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, says that young people are sensitive to what is shown in the media, and “all disciplines, including the media, need to take good care to be constructive and thoughtful about topics that intersect with public health crises.”

CBC LAUNCHES TASK FORCE ON BLACK YOUTH SUICIDE: The Congressional Black Caucus announced a new emergency task force Tuesday to address growing suicides among black youth and improve access to mental healthcare. The CBC aims to raise awareness and propose legislative actions to address growing rates of youth suicides. Academics led by Dr. Michael Lindsey and the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University will produce a report for Congress by the end of 2019.

The Rundown

Miami Herald FL lawmakers pass broad healthcare changes easing hospital rules, adding drug imports

The New York Times They want it to be secret: how a common blood test can cost $11 or almost $1,000

The Wall Street Journal Why women live longer than men

San Francisco Chronicle From SF’s front lines — social worker who deals with mentally ill on how to improve their lot

Star Tribune Minn. House Democrats pass gun measures in public safety budget

Chicago Sun-Times CANNABIS Full, 300-page pot legalization bill could be introduced in Illinois within days

Calendar

TUESDAY | April 30

April 28-May 1. Washington Marriott Wardman Park. World Health Care Congress. Agenda.

House and Senate in session.

Four Seasons Hotel. Wall Street Journal Health Forum. Program.

10:30 a.m. 2322 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee to hold hearing on the payment of prescription drugs in Medicare Part B and C. Tune in.

10 a.m. H-313. House Rules Committee hearing on the Medicare for All Act. Tune in.

2 p.m. House Judiciary Committee markup of drug pricing legislation. Details.

4 p.m. 2358-C Rayburn. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies budget markup. Tune in.

WEDNESDAY | May 1

8 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Washington Examiner’s “Examining Healthcare” event with Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Doug Jones, D-Ala. Register.

Congressional Budget Office to release an analysis of the Medicare for All Act.