A bill has been introduced in Congress that would direct the U.S. Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA) to designate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) as a “Medically Underserved Population.”

Called the Healthcare Extension and Accessibility for Developmentally Disabled and Underserved Population (HEADs UP) Act of 2023, it was introduced by Representatives Seth Moulton (D-MA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Joseph Morelle (D-NY).

The change in designation would give people with I/DD access to new primary care and specialist services, incentivize new research, and authorize more favorable reimbursement rates for providers.

Limiting Police Interactions

Additionally, the Autism Society’s Capitol Connection reports that Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced three bills to address the high incidence of violence involving law enforcement and people with disabilities: The Human-Services Emergency Logistics Program (HELP) Act, the Safe Interactions Act (SIA), and the Data on Interactions and Accountability for Law Enforcement with Individuals with Disabilities (DIALED) Act. 

The Human-Services Emergency Logistics Program (HELP) Act “would divert non-criminal calls from 9-1-1 systems to state and regional 2-1-1 and 9-8-8 systems while providing resources and funding to improve those systems.”

The Safe Interactions Act would “provide grants to non-profit disability organizations to develop training programs that support safe interactions between law enforcement officers and people with Autism and other disabilities.”

The Data on Interactions and Accountability for Law Enforcement with Individuals with Disabilities (DIALED) Act would “improve transparency by developing data collection to get an accurate representation of how people with disabilities are affected by interactions with law enforcement, including use-of-force and fatal interactions.”