Disability News - March 21, 2026
Editor's Note: The disability community is increasingly preferring to use identity-first language (disabled person) in place of person-first language (person with a disability). This is because many in the community view disability as being a core component of identity, much like race and gender. Some members of the community, such as people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, still prefer person-first language. Both should be considered valid. Articles shared in this newsletter may contain one or the other (or both) depending on the author's preference, and if they themselves have a disability.
RFK Jr. has destroyed over a quarter of health dept’s expert panels by Beth Mole on March 19, 2026 at Ars Technica
"In his role as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a long-time anti-vaccine activist with no background in science, medicine, or public health—has made headlines for his thorough perversion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel."
SNAP Cuts Could Lead To 70,000 Avoidable Deaths by Kyle Ross on March 19, 2026 at the Center for American Progress
"States are already facing tough budgetary decisions as these provisions do real harm to people in need. For example, Arizona was forced to cut hundreds of SNAP administrative staff, creating a substantial backlog of applications. States that are unable to pay for the increased expenses may leave SNAP altogether."
Dr. Oz Calls Medicare Fraud an Epidemic. Trump Keeps Pardoning the Culprits by Julia Métraux on March 17, 2026
"A recent article published in the Health Affairs journal by four academics focusing on health and disability warned that such a focus by the Trump administration could lead to HCBS, an optional Medicaid program, being further dismantled. “Growth in HCBS spending does not reflect evidence of systemic corruption but rather bipartisan federal policy choices, demographic change, and structured statutory evolution,” they wrote. It is also not an easy process to qualify for HCBS, with each process slightly different per state, and over half a million people on waiting lists to even qualify."
Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month Requires More Than Just Recognition by Fello, Brand Contributor for Forbes on March 20, 2026 at Forbes
"Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month should prompt more than reflection. It should inspire leaders to ask hard questions: Are workplaces built to recognize talent in all its forms? Do housing policies encourage inclusion? Are funding decisions focused on long-term stability rather than short-term savings?"
DREDF Warns DOJ and VA Memorandum of Understanding Threatens Disability Rights Press Release on March 12, 2026 by the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
"The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) is deeply troubled by the memorandum of understanding announced yesterday between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Although the administration describes the agreement as an effort to “improve care for the nation’s most vulnerable veterans,” it instead creates a new pathway for taking away disabled veterans’ right to make their own decisions and steering them into guardianships and conservatorships they may not need."
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