The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Fair Housing/Equal Opportunity (FHEO) will provide comprehensive virtual training on accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act for residential elements and spaces, including kitchens, bathrooms, routes, public and common-use areas, and structures. FHEO will also provide an overview session on the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act, including a detailed look at the seven technical requirements, and key information and resources needed to successfully understand and comply with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act. Architects, designers, civil engineers, builders and developers, housing program specialists, property managers and owners, and disability advocates are encouraged to attend.

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People who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income will likely see a significant increase in their benefits next year. This is due to growing inflation making the cost-of-living-adjustment much larger than it has been. The Social Security Administration will announce what the cost-of-living-adjustment for 2023 in October. 

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About 38,000 Wisconsin farmers have a limitation or disability. That’s according to numbers from a program called AgrAbility of Wisconsin.  Wisconsin Public Radio interviews  a leader of AgrAbility about how they help farmers manage the disabilities they may sustain on the farm.

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In a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC reports findings from a comparison of data on COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations from January 2020 to November 2021 for two groups of Medicare beneficiaries:

• Adults (of any age) who were initially eligible for Medicare due to disability (“disability-eligible beneficiaries”).  
• Beneficiaries who became eligible for Medicare when they turned 65 (“age-eligible beneficiaries”).

(People who became eligible for Medicare due to disability but who had reached the age of 65 were counted only in the disability-eligible group; nearly half of the disability-eligible beneficiaries were over the age of 65.)  

CDC found:

• Overall, incidence and hospitalization rates were significantly higher for disability-eligible beneficiaries than for age-eligible beneficiaries.
  • The overall incidence rate was 35 percent higher for disability-eligible beneficiaries
  • The overall hospitalization rate was nearly 50 percent higher for disability-eligible beneficiaries.
  • The one exception was for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) beneficiaries; rates were higher for age-eligible AI/AN beneficiaries than for disability-eligible AI/AN beneficiaries.
• The differences in hospitalization rates are even more stark for people 65 and older.
  • For people ages 65-74, the hospitalization rate for disability-eligible beneficiaries was more than two and a half times that of people without disabilities.
  • Disability-eligible beneficiaries ages 75-84 were nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized than their age-eligible peers.
• For both groups:
  • Hospitalization rates were highest for AI/AN beneficiaries, followed closely by Black and then Hispanic beneficiaries.
  • Incidence rates also were highest for AI/AN beneficiaries, followed by Hispanic and then Black beneficiaries.
  • Both incidence and hospitalization rates increased with age .

It’s important to note that the report findings cannot be extrapolated to say that all people with disabilities are at higher risk of hospitalization than older adults.

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Wisconsin voters with disabilities continue to be concerned about the ability to vote in upcoming elections. In previous elections, people with disabilities could have another person drop off their absentee ballot if they couldn't get to the polls or drop off places. However, a court ruling January states that people must drop off their own ballot. The case is now awaiting a decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court which is expected very soon. 

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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to establish minimum standards and requirements for projects funded under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program. These minimum standards will help ensure a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network that is user-friendly, reliable, and accessible to all people and interoperable between different charging companies with similar payment systems, pricing information, charging speeds, and more. FHWA invites interested persons to submit comments on any aspect of the information collection in the published notice.

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