[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 187 (Tuesday, December 17, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H7277-H7278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1730
THINK DIFFERENTLY DATABASE ACT
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 670) to amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to
direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a
clearinghouse on intellectual disabilities, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 670
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Think Differently Database
Act''.
SEC. 2. PROMOTING AWARENESS OF AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary'')
shall establish and update periodically a publicly available
website to provide information with respect to resources and
information for people with a disability and the caregivers
and families of such people. Such website shall include--
(1) information on eligibility to receive medical
assistance under a State plan under the Medicaid program
under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et
seq.) (or a waiver of such plan) based on a disability,
including general information about eligibility under
subclauses (XIII), (XV), (XVI), and (XIX) of section
1902(a)(10)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii));
(2) which States offer eligibility under subclauses (XIII),
(XV), (XVI), and (XIX) of section 1902(a)(10)(A)(ii) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii));
(3) each State's specific eligibility requirements, if
applicable, under subclauses (XIII), (XV), (XVI), and (XIX)
of section 1902(a)(10)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii));
(4) information about how to contact each State's Medicaid
office for information about Medicaid, including links and
phone numbers for State contacts;
(5) general information on Medicaid-covered long-term
services and supports that may be available to individuals
eligible for medical assistance under a State plan under the
Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) (or a waiver of such plan); and
(6) where applicable, the average amount of time that
individuals newly enrolled in a State's waiver program for
home and community-based services in the past 12 months were
on the list of individuals waiting to enroll in such waiver
program, in such a manner and process as described in section
441.311(d)(1)(iii) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) Promotion.--The Secretary shall, as applicable and
appropriate, identify and disseminate promotional activities
to improve, among people with a disability and the caretakers
and families of such people, the awareness of the resources
included in the website established under subsection (a),
such as through collaboration with the Social Security
Administration during its annual updates to the Red Book.
(c) Model.--In establishing the website under this section,
the Secretary may use the website thinkdifferently.net as a
model.
(d) Nonapplication of Paperwork Reduction Act.--Chapter 35
of title 44, United States Code (commonly referred to as the
``Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995''), shall not apply to the
implementation of this section.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) and the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms.
Schrier) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.
General Leave
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 670, the Think Differently
Database Act led by Representative Marcus Molinaro.
This legislation will make it easier for individuals with
disabilities to understand what Medicaid covered services are available
to them.
The Medicaid program provides health coverage to nearly 80 million
people, and in 2021, an estimated 9.5 million people were enrolled in
Medicaid on the basis of their disability.
As a jointly funded Federal-State program, Medicaid program
eligibility and coverage can differ significantly from State to State.
One caregiving report found that online information about caregiving
services can be hard to find, confusing, inconsistent, and not
consumer-oriented.
This bipartisan bill would direct HHS to establish a website that is
designed to help people with disabilities determine their Medicaid
eligibility, making it easier for them to get to the care they need.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Molinaro for his tireless work as a
champion for people with disabilities. I encourage my colleagues to
support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 670, the Think
Differently Database Act. This legislation would require the Department
of Health and Human Services to establish a website to provide people
with disabilities information about the different ways that they could
be eligible for Medicaid, as well as the services and supports that
they can access through each State's Medicaid program and whether there
is a wait list to access the home- and community-based services that
they often need.
Medicaid is really a lifeline for people with disabilities who are
less likely to have access to other sources of coverage, and even when
they do have employer-sponsored coverage or Medicare, that coverage
typically does not cover the services they need, including home- and
community-based services.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult for people with disabilities and
their families and caretakers to access the information they need about
whether they are eligible for Medicaid in the State in which they live,
whether there are wait lists for the services they need, and how to
apply for Medicaid.
This bill seeks to overcome some of those barriers by making
information available to people with disabilities and their families
and caretakers in a single, national resource.
I thank Representatives Sherrill and Molinaro for their leadership on
this legislation and encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R.
670.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
[[Page H7278]]
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Molinaro), my good friend.
Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend (Mr. Guthrie) for his
leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee in support of this
legislation. I certainly look forward to his leadership in the 119th
Congress.
Mr. Speaker, this is the first bill I introduced when I came to the
House of Representatives. As noted, I am the parent of four children,
one of whom lives with a disability. My wife and I have navigated the
Medicaid supported system like every other American, and it is
confusing, it is burdensome, it is bureaucratic, and many times, it is
just too difficult to find your way to Medicaid-supported services.
Let me assure you, there is always a waiting list, and most families
around America with individuals that they care for with the
intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities, don't have the
time to find their way to local service providers and certainly don't
always know the ins and outs of accessing those services.
It becomes a full-time job. That is why, by the way, most families
that are caring for those individuals with disabilities don't have two
parents working, and many rely on Medicaid for much broader support
like SNAP benefits and other subsidies and social services because they
just can't find their way to services and supports.
It is actually one of the last, in some ways, great prejudices in
America, the bias of low expectation. The feeling that certain people
can't achieve certain things because we perceive they can't based on
their abilities and, sadly, accessing even the robust services
supported by Federal and State governments through Medicaid is just
insufficient.
This bill builds on the initiative I began in local government in
Dutchess County, New York. Our ThinkDIFFERENTLY initiative was a call
to action. It was meant to break down barriers and create opportunities
for all those of every ability.
In fact, if you go to thinkdifferently.net, you will see the county-
level version of what this bill seeks to create. This bill requires HHS
to create a database of all resources available to individuals of every
ability and their caregivers in a searchable format.
The bill will now expand the county-level programs that we created to
a Federal level for Americans of every ability.
Again, I thank incoming chairman, Mr. Guthrie, but also Chairwoman
McMorris Rodgers and her staff at Energy and Commerce for working with
me and my staff over the past year to make this bill a reality and
hopefully find its way into law.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to ask my colleagues to support the bill. I
am grateful to Representative Sherrill and, of course, my colleagues on
both sides of the aisle for embracing this much-needed next step. It is
a minor step, but one that is necessary.
I can't, for me, think of any better way to close my service in the
118th Congress than passing what had become and is my top priority,
this piece of legislation, which sets forth to break down barriers and
create opportunities for everyone of every ability.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my good friend's leadership
when he said everybody of every ability. He is here and he has served
everybody in the 118th Congress. He is going to be missed and his
leadership is going to be missed and we appreciate him very much.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any further speakers on my
side, but I just want to express my appreciation to my colleague
Representative Molinaro for sharing that personal account of how this
matters for his family, and that just expands to so many other families
in this country who really deserve to be able to access all of the
services they need.
That is why I would reiterate that I very much support the Think
Differently Database Act and encourage my colleagues to vote for it.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this very
important bill that will help so many families, people with
disabilities across this country, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank my good friend from the
Hudson Valley, my Rockbound Highland home, who, unfortunately, didn't
beat Navy this weekend. He is from a great area of our country, a
beautiful place, and has well represented the Hudson Valley. I look
forward to working together again at some point in some place.
Mr. Speaker, it is a great bill. I encourage a ``yes'' vote, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 670, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to direct
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a website to
promote awareness of available resources for individuals with
disabilities, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________