An Election Eve Special!
This Monday, November 2, on Disability Rap, an Election Eve Special! Rebecca Cokley of the Center for American Progress Action Fund talks to us about the disabled community’s increasing political power in the United States. She also tells us about her own journey growing up in a multigenerational disabled family. We then hear both Presidential campaigns’ speeches to the Disability & Election Virtual Summit, where they present their disability platforms. We end the show with an announcement about Medicare’s Open Enrollment period, which continues through December 7.
Later in the show, we will hear about Medicare’s Open Enrollment period, which runs through December 7. If you or someone you know are currently enrolled in Medicare, stay tuned for information about how to review your current Medicare coverage and make any changes to your Medicare health or drug plan.
But first, we turn to the election. Tomorrow is Election Day. As of last Thursday, more than 80 million voters had already cast their ballots early, including 8.5 million here in California. NBC News predicts that the number of early ballots cast before tomorrow could be between 90 and 100 million, far surpassing previous records.
In the United States, it is estimated that 1 in 4 people has a disability and 1 in 3 households includes a person with a disability. This accounts for roughly 61 million people. How will our disabled community be impacted by a continuation of the Trump presidency vs. a Biden administration? What do each of their platforms say on the issues central to our lives – access to high quality affordable health care, long-term services and supports, housing, transportation, the list goes on – and what should we be looking out for in the weeks and months to come?
Coming up, we’re going to air speeches both major party Presidential campaigns gave to the Disability & Election Virtual Summit, an event hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities and the Rev Up Campaign. But first, we turn to Rebecca Cokley for some analysis of where our disability community is right now on the national political scene.
Rebecca is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, where she focuses on disability rights, education, health care, and employment. The Center for American Progress Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute and advocacy organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans. Before she joined the team at the Center for American, Rebecca served as the executive director of the National Council on Disability, an independent agency charged with advising Congress and the White House on issues of national disability public policy. She also served in the Obama administration for four years, including time at the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a successful stint at the White House where she oversaw diversity and inclusion efforts. Rebecca got her feet wet in advocacy while working at the Institute for Educational Leadership, where she built a number of tools and resources designed to empower and educate youth with disabilities and their adult allies.
Links from the show
- Rebecca Cokley bio at the Center for American Progress Action Fund
- President Trump’s and Vice President Biden’s responses to AAPD/NCIL Presidential Candidate Questionnaire
- Power: The Disability Vote – AAPD and RevUP’s Disability & Election Virtual Summit
- Medicare Open Enrollment Period
- California’s Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP)