Smart Policy Works was founded in 1992 – during the era of welfare reform – with the sole purpose of improving access to public benefits programs and preserving the integrity of the Social Security Disability Income programs. Our work has grown exponentially since then, but we work today toward the same purpose: to break down economic, social, and structural barriers to health and well-being.
The change of administration in Washington brought with it renewed threats to the protections embodied in the Affordable Care Act and the fundamental principles of the 50-year state federal compact represented by Medicaid.
Continue reading “Advocacy to Preserve the ACA and Medicaid”
HDA provided technical expertise on disability employment for the National Conference of State Legislatures and Council of State Governments.
This first-of-its-kind stakeholder training project aims to prepare people with traumatic spinal cord injuries to play active roles in SCI research.
Co-convened with the Chicago Department of Public Health, the collaborative was created to promote the collective impact that hospitals working together could have on population health and related social determinants of health.
HDA helped revise the Institute on Rehabilitation Issues’ materials to help counselors better understand how the ACA may affect their clients and how the changes in our health care system can provide additional opportunities to eliminate barriers to employment for people and businesses.
HDA partnered with the Campaign for Better Healthcare and the Small Business Majority to disseminate information on the ACA’s Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, to Illinois small businesses, and to survey their health insurance needs and concerns.
HDA created a curriculum of training and technical assistance readiness for navigators and assisters in Illinois, so that when the Obamacare marketplace opened in 2013, resources were there to help people get covered.
This data-mapping project illustrated the potential impact of the ACA on uninsured Illinoisans, and inaugurated the practice of posting data presentations related to health insurance and health reform in Illinois.
This HDA program trains volunteer veterans in communication skills and community resources to help peers to bridge the gaps between military service and civilian life.
HDA started a training and outreach effort to bring the issue of “MST” – the rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of military Service Members – to the forefront and to improve the supports available to survivors.
A forerunner to the state’s Get Covered Illinois marketplace, IHM provided detailed information on what health reform and health access mean for the people of Illinois.
HDA created this hub of information and stories from the perspectives of real people who have a family member that receives benefits, to show that Social Security is not a costly program for “other people” but rather a vital resource in maintaining the economic well-being of ordinary American families.
HDA’s innovative outreach effort connects families through events, workshops, and peer support to help them begin to find a new normal after a catastrophic loss.
Continue reading “Illinois Connections for Families of the Fallen”
HDA helped states interpret, adapt, and apply opportunities for older adults and people with disabilities presented by healthcare reform in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
HDA led advocacy against the “Save Medicaid Access and Resources Together” bill, demonstrating how the cuts to Medicaid would negatively impact beneficiaries, especially due to elimination of the Illinois Cares Rx program.