2025 NH-ME LEND Cohort Visit Capitol Hill
2025 NH-ME LEND trainees and faculty visiting Capitol Hill.
2025 NH-ME LEND trainees and faculty visiting Capitol Hill.
Last spring, NH-ME LEND trainees and faculty traveled to Washington D.C. to visit Capitol Hill to meet with Maine and New Hampshire’s congressional representatives about the proposed cuts to Medicaid funding and the potential impact to Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). They also attended the annual Disability Policy Seminar sponsored by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). These activities are part of the LEND program curriculum and a culminating experience for the cohort.
Prior to the trip, teams of trainees worked diligently to research how Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waivers allow states to use Medicaid funds to provide long-term care services in community-based settings. They learned how HCBS funds services like direct support staff, respite care, non-medical transportation and service coordination, as well as provide resources like home modifications and assistive technology devices.
Trainees came to understand that waivers provide an essential lifeline for children and adults to live with their families and meaningfully participate in their greater community. The trainee teams composed policy briefs along with personal family stories to demonstrate the far-reaching, positive impact of HCBS services and how the reduction or elimination of HCBS funding may necessitate individuals supported to live in their family homes to be placed in more costly staffed facilities.
Maine trainees and Co-training director wait to meet with Senator Susan Collin's staff. (Left to right: Marnie Morneault, Abigail Morrow, Sarah Peters, Ivy Foster, Alyssa Limeburner)
The Maine trainees met with congressional staff in Representative Pingree’s and Golden’s offices as well as staffers in Senator Collins’s and King’s offices. After sharing their policy points in Senator King’s office, he unexpectedly arrived and took time to listen to their presentation about the future of funding for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). The Maine group also followed up with data requested during their meetings about the impacts of potential cuts to Medicaid within Maine.
NH trainees and Training Director Stacy Driscoll stand with Representative Maggie Goodlander. (Left to right: Stacy Driscoll, Lisa Steadman, Jack Russo, Jennifer Tousignant, Representative Goodlander, Lara Raymond, Rita Despres, and Caroline Lambert)
New Hampshire trainees visited both Hassan and Shaheen Senate offices, as well as the offices of House Representatives Pappas and Goodlander. They were very fortunate to meet Representative Goodlander in person. She listened to their policy presentation and to Jenna Tousignant and Lisa Steadman as they shared their family stories about how their children and families benefit from HCBS and how critical these services are going forward to support them through adulthood. Representative Goodlander then requested the trainees record their statements to be included on her social media platforms.
Congratulations to our 2025 NH-ME LEND Cohort for their tireless research on this pressing topic and their professional and impactful data-based presentations about how Medicaid and the Home and Community-Based Services improve the lives of many Americans.
