News
OFFICE OF TAMMY BALDWIN: Baldwin, Duckworth Lead Bill to Protect and Expand the Rights of Airplane Passengers with Disabilities
By SD Network, 2026-06-19
On June 18, 2026, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Tammy Duckworth, along with Representatives Dina Titus and Steve Cohen, introduced the Air Carrier Access Amendments Act to protect and expand the rights of airplane passengers with disabilities. Aiming to combat systemic travel barriers such as damaged wheelchairs, delayed assistance, and poor onboard accommodations, the legislation strengthens accountability by requiring the Department of Transportation to assess civil penalties for violations and refer discrimination patterns to the Department of Justice. Crucially, the bill grants individuals with disabilities a private right of action to sue in civil court, a major reform that has garnered strong support from numerous veteran and disability advocacy organizations, including Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: As America turns 250, one museum makes history possible to touch
By SD Network, 2026-06-18
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia has launched guided tactile "touch tours" in its Signers' Hall gallery, allowing blind and low-vision visitors to experience the history of the U.S. Constitution's signing by feeling life-size bronze statues of the Founding Fathers. Officially started in April after staff trained with the organization Philly Touch Tours, this initiative aims to move past the bare minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by making actual exhibit content accessible through touch and detailed verbal descriptions. In addition to these touch tours, the museum is celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary by expanding its inclusive programming to include sensory-friendly days with dimmed lights and quiet rooms for neurodivergent individuals, working to ensure the phrase "we the people" truly applies to all visitors.
ADMINISTRATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING: New National Council on Aging Reports on Using AI in Home Care
By SD Network, 2026-06-18
The National Council on Aging (NCOA), via the ACL-funded Direct Care Workforce Strategies Center, has released a three-part report series titled "A New Era of Care" that examines the current role of artificial intelligence (AI) in home care. As the demand for home and community-based services escalates, these reports highlight how AI is being utilized to support older adults and people with disabilities, while outlining necessary measures to ensure the technology enhances the caregiving experience for both families and direct support professionals without becoming burdensome.
As Family Care enters a new phase, with national insurers administering care for most of the Medicaid long-term care program’s more than 55,000 members, workforce shortages are preventing access for residents across the state.
“We have an entitlement program for long-term care,” Patti Becker, co-chair of the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin Disability Organizations, said during a Wisconsin Health News virtual panel Wednesday. “(But) there are people who are waiting for care. I do know that there are folks who have slept in their wheelchairs this week.”
She called for an end to a reliance on unpaid family caregivers.
“They are currently holding up our long-term care system, and if they are not available to do so, you're talking about more expensive congregate settings, longer stays in hospitals and people not being able to return to their own communities,” she said.
Wisconsin Health Care Association CEO Rick Abrams said policymakers should continue to invest in Family Care to help grow the workforce and retain current workers. They should also ease regulations that make it harder to operate in the program.
“(That) will have a substantial impact on stabilizing our workforce and hopefully growing it for the future,” he said.
Boosting the direct care workforce is only part of the solution, said Julie Strenn, long-term care director for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin, a recent entrant to the program.
“We need to continue to be innovative and enhance technology,” she said. “We need to think about how … people stay connected to their community, or become connected to their community.”
Community Care President Kenneth Munson called for ensuring that caregivers, whether unpaid or paid, “have access to health insurance, to Medicaid, to the Affordable Care Act” so they can have their “families be stable and enable them to continue to be caregivers.”
He also suggested dusting off a 2020 report from Gov. Tony Evers’ Task Force on Caregiving and reexamining the ideas that haven’t made it across the finish line.
Kiva Gittings Graves, CEO of iCare, echoed that sentiment.
“If we could leverage that process again, pull all the people together in a very structured way and really do a deep dive and generate fresh ideas — maybe pull some of those that we didn't implement that are still feasible ideas, and move some of those new ideas forward,” she said. “If it's a coordinated effort with everybody together, I think that's how we're going to get there. That's how we've built this program in Wisconsin, and it's how we're going to continue to make sure that it is the best program in the nation.”
PR NEWSWIRE: Is AI Fair? New Evidence Suggests Bias Against People with Intellectual Disabilities Is Built In
By SD Network, 2026-06-16
According to a landmark peer-reviewed study published in the Disability and Health Journal by Special Olympics International and Oregon State University, popular large language models (LLMs) exhibit built-in, implicit bias against people with intellectual disabilities (ID). By analyzing 25,000 AI-generated short stories, researchers discovered that five leading AI systems consistently lean into "automated ableism," portraying individuals with ID as dependent, childlike, and heavily in need of supervision or constant inspiration compared to those without disabilities. Because these models are widely used across global workforces, healthcare, and education, the study warns that these deeply embedded stereotypes risk scaling globally, prompting a strong call from advocates for AI developers to actively involve people with disabilities in inclusive design and bias mitigation.
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: Gov. Evers, DHS Announce Rural Health Transformation Program Grants Open, Encourage Eligible Partners to Apply
By SD Network, 2026-06-16
Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) have launched the Rural Health Transformation Program, opening applications for an initial $40 million in grant funding to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility in rural communities. Supported by a larger $203.6 million federal award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), this initial funding cycle targets three key areas: up to $10 million for care coordination planning models (applications due August 21, 2026), $20 million to expand and integrate community health workers (applications due August 7, 2026), and $10 million to help rural dental clinics adopt efficiency-boosting technologies (applications due July 27, 2026). Eligible organizations can access application materials on the DHS website and may request technical assistance from partnering state health institutes to support their project planning and data evaluation.
Care is something all of us need, give or receive at some point. It’s part of our everyday lives at home, work, school, and in our communities, yet most of us are left to figure it out on our own.
If that’s how it’s felt for you, you’re not alone. A lot of people feel the same way.
That’s why we are creating space for 1 Million Care Conversations so people across the country can talk honestly about what care looks like in their lives, what’s working, what’s not, and start naming what we actually need.
Will you join us and be one of the first million people to help shape a shared vision for care? Here’s the link to a 5-min survey to get started.
The challenges many of us face around care aren’t personal failures. They’re shared experiences shaped by a system that isn’t working the way it should.
When we look at care through this lens, it becomes clear that none of us are alone, and that a better way is possible.
That’s what 1 Million Care Conversations is about. It’s about making space to listen to your reality, hear your vision, and what you need, so we can shape what we build next.
You don't have to be a caregiver or an advocate to participate. Whether you’re supporting a loved one or navigating your own care, you already have something to say about care.
1 Million Care Conversations is where you can have your say on what care is like for you and what you want it to be. It takes just a few minutes to join the conversation.
What we hear will shape the future of care, and the more people we hear from, the more power we have to change the system for the better.
This blog post shares a personal perspective from a Wisconsin woman on navigating life with a physical disability, detailing the contrast between restrictive agency-managed home care and the freedom of self-directed care. The author recounts negative experiences with agency caretakers who limited community mobility and dictated strict schedules, highlighting how transitioning to self-directed funding granted them the employer and budget authority to hire and manage their own support team. Despite navigating a widespread caregiving crisis fueled by low hourly wages and government tracking software, the author successfully manages 24/7 care, works professionally to help improve self-direction programs nationally, and recently co-founded a nonprofit to build a supportive community for participants and caregivers alike.
HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH: The Price of Caring: When Unpaid Caregiving Becomes a Human Rights Issue
By SD Network, 2026-06-13
Unpaid family caregiving in the United States, predominantly performed by women, has evolved from a private family obligation into a systemic human rights crisis characterized by severe economic and social penalties. Caregivers provide billions of hours of uncompensated labor that forms the foundation of the long-term care system, yet a lack of national paid family leave, workplace discrimination protections, and retirement credits leaves many facing acute financial hardship, accumulating debt, and poverty. This structural gender inequality and economic deprivation violate international human rights standards, such as the right to work and the right to an adequate standard of living. Addressing this crisis requires a definitive political shift from treating caregiving as a private sacrifice to supporting it as a public good through federal legal protections, Social Security caregiving credits, mandated paid leave, and expanded community-based infrastructure.
The Able Americans policy report outlines six critical reforms to combat fraud, waste, and abuse within Medicaid’s Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) program, which supports 8.4 million Americans with disabilities at a fraction of the cost of institutional care. To safeguard this flexible funding without penalizing vulnerable families, the authors recommend creating public transparency dashboards, increasing CMS oversight on state spending, and establishing data-driven fraud detection. Additionally, the proposal advocates for empowering recipients to direct and verify their own care, measuring outcomes based on service delivery, and ensuring strict integrity and ownership disclosures from third-party providers.