GU student and ANC member reaches deal with New Jersey, insurance provider for care she needs to return to DC

Anna Landre — Georgetown University student, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E member and disability rights activist — will be coming back to DC in the fall, after all.

Landre reached an agreement Friday with her insurance provider and the state of New Jersey — where she grew up and where her parents live — to “keep all of my personal services and return in the fall,” according to a June 15 tweet. She also confirmed to The DC Line that she will remain in her position on ANC 2E, which encompasses the District’s Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale neighborhoods. She serves as the commission’s secretary and represents a district that consists of much of the Georgetown University campus, including the Southwest Quad and New South residence halls.

Landre’s story went viral in late May, when she tweeted that changes in her Medicaid coverage were forcing her to step down as a student and as a commissioner.

She credited the public outcry for forcing a deal. “Due to the public pressure we’ve been able to create, my insurance company and the NJ state government approached me last week about resolving this situation out of court,” she tweeted.

Landre, who has spinal muscular atrophy type 2, uses a wheelchair. The change to her insurance in May would have limited her access to an aide, making it impossible for her to attend Georgetown. Landre needs a personal care aide for tasks like getting out of bed and going to the bathroom; the change in her Medicaid coverage will have cut her access to an aide from 16 hours a day to 10.

The dispute — the subject of a Washington Post column Saturday by Theresa Vargas that noted the reprieve — has given her a platform to advocate for more sweeping changes to New Jersey’s Medicaid program. “While this agreement will fix my situation, it does nothing to help thousands of other disabled New Jerseyans who continue to suffer due to discriminatory Medicaid policies and the predatory behavior of their insurance companies,” she tweeted.

Landre appeared Monday afternoon alongside New Jersey officials — including State Sen. Vin Gopal, Assemblywoman and Human Services Committee chair Joann Downey and Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling — at a press conference calling for legislative updates to New Jersey’s Medicaid policies.

The legislators’ joint press release faulted “out-of-date” laws that put the state’s disabled residents in jeopardy of losing their benefits if they take advantage of opportunities to enroll in higher education or join the workforce.

“It’s unfair to force anyone with a disability to overcome constant obstacles if they want to further their education,” Gopal said at the press conference. “With these reforms, we can create new opportunities for every person who’s had to fight against the system to succeed.”

Advocacy groups at the event included Easterseals New Jersey, which tweeted the group’s support. “We are proud to stand with Anna and the terrific advocates fighting for access to needed personal care assistance,” the group wrote.

Landre’s advocacy efforts — and the agreement that will allow her to return to Georgetown — also elicited enthusiastic responses in DC.

“Let’s all work to improve things in NJ, DC, and everywhere,” tweeted Kishan Putta, one of her colleagues on ANC 2E.

“This should not have been the ordeal that it was, but it’s nice to see that good things do sometimes still happen for good people,” wrote Patrick Kennedy, a Foggy Bottom advisory neighborhood commissioner and candidate for the Ward 2 DC Council seat.