The conference will be Wednesday, March 10 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Washington, DC.
Click here to register.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been working for over a year on a National Broadband Plan which the Commission will submit to the U.S. Congress in mid-March. (See www.Broadband.gov)

Part of the data collected by the FCC has been about accessibility and affordability of broadband for people with disabilities. In 2009, the FCC held two workshops to hear from stakeholders and invited comments on accessibility issues.

The conference next week will be an opportunity for stakeholders to hear some of the recommendations that the FCC will make concerning accessibility and affordability barriers faced by people with disabilities. Government officials, industry representatives, consumers with disabilities and academics will then discuss the recommendations and the important role of innovation and collaborative problem-solving. The conference is hosted by Silicon Flatirons Center, AAPD, the FCC and The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

My issue is accessible transportation. One of the greatest needs is more wheelchair-accessible taxis everywhere. I have used wheelchair-accessible taxis in Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale, and in Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria in Canada, and I have found them to be very convenient and inexpensive. All you need to do in most communities is make a telephone call and within a few minutes, your taxi arrives. That’s convenience. If you are taking a short trip, a wheelchair-accessible taxi ride will not cost a lot of money either. Acessible taxis are a quick means of travel, too, because they do not make multiple stops like buses, trains and shared-ride ADA paratransit vehicles. Perhaps my most important reason for wheelchair-accessible taxis is that taxis operate everywhere–in cities, suburbs, and yes, even in rural areas. Just imagine how one or two wheelchair-accessible taxis could change the lives of wheelchair-users who live in rural American communities! I’m also a sometimes public transportation user, both in my hometown New York City, and in many other cities when I travel for business or pleasure. And while I strongly encourage other persons with disabilities to use accessible public transportation systems, we should–no, we must–have access to all forms of transportation currently available to the general public, and this includes taxis. Still, too many persons in the community of people with disabilities are not employed, yet a primary purpose of taxis is trips to work. Accessible taxis will be an important component for persons with disabilities entering the workforce. The first factory-built, wheelchair-accessible taxi–the MV-1–will begin to be manufactured in October of this year in Indiana. I think that it is in the best interests of all Americans with disabilities to spread the word to our colleagues about the MV-1. It will also be available for sale to individuals, to ADA paratransit operators, and to any other entity that uses automotive vehicles to transport people.

In 2003, Disabilities Advocates, a non-profit group, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the residents of this New York State supported housing in order to help them live in the community rather than warehouses. After seven years of snaking through the legal system, and with help of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a federal judge gave New York three years to build 4,500 units of supportive housing so that people capable of living in their community have the opportunity to do so.

It seems that as a person with a disability, Governor Patterson (D-NY), would support helping people with disabilities succeed in living independent lives, but his administration is considering appealing the judge’s ruling. The result would be that people would remain in warehouse settings. It is useful that the U.S. Department of Justice supports this ruling.

The White House summit was an opportunity for both Democrats and Republicans to air their thoughts and opinions on moving health reform forward. Republicans maintained their messaging and unity that they want to scrap what has been accomplished so far in Congress and start over with health reform. Democrats maintained their message that health reform needs to be passed soon. There were items that both parties agreed on such as improving Medicare and prohibiting insurers from discriminating against people on the basis of pre-existing conditions-which would enable many people with disabilities and other chronic conditions to obtain affordable health insurance, but there was much disagreement on the approach to reform. There are major philosophical differences on how health reform should be paid for and the role of government in people’s health care.

Some political pundits feel like the summit was a “dog and pony” show. It could allow Democrats the opportunity to portray Republicans as obstructionists and justify using budget reconciliation to pass health reform. The Republicans could use the summit to say that Democrats are just trying to bully their way past them. Members from both parties used the summit to restate talking points that have been repeatedly used over the past year.

Now that the summit is over, Congressional leaders will confer with Senators and Congressmen/women of their own party and gauge opinions on how to move forward. The President would like to finish health reform by the end of March before Congress leaves for the spring recess in late March. The President and Democrats did make clear that they do not want to start the reform process over.

We will see over the next few days and weeks what comes of the healthcare summit.

Andrew Morris, MPH
Director of Legislation,
Spinal Cord Advocates

Washington, D.C.-At a press event at the Capitol Building on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-5) and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5) joined the leadership of the Justice For All Action Network (JFAAN) in kicking off the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The legislators each reflected on the progress of the last 20 years while recognizing the tremendous amount of work we, as a nation, have yet to do in fulfilling the promise of the ADA-equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for all people with disabilities. Toward this end, the JFAAN steering committee announced its legislative agenda for the 2010 Congressional Session in the Spirit of the ADA Campaign.

Tony Coelho, primary author and sponsor of the ADA and chair of AAPD’s board, introduced the event and its speakers. He began by thanking those present and honoring the legislators and the ongoing leadership of the JFAAN steering committee organizations: ADAPT, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), Little People of America (LPA), the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), the National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer Survivor Organizations (NCMHCSO), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Not Dead Yet (NDY), Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), and the United Spinal Association (USA).

Next to speak was Congressman Hoyer who reflected on the original intent of the ADA to open doors for people with disabilities who, up to that point had been shut out: shut out as consumers, as employees, as passengers, as students and as citizens. Recognizing, “we don’t mark anniversaries like this to pat ourselves on the back. We mark them to remind ourselves of the work that remains to be done,” he announced that he and Representative McMorris Rodgers were sending letters to all committee chairs and ranking members requesting ADA and ADAAA implementation oversight hearings to evaluate “how are [these laws] working, how well are they working, what are still the challenges that confront us, and what still needs to be done.” He concluded his remarks by honoring the presence of Yoshiko Dart, wife of disability rights giant Justin Dart and renowned advocate in her own right.

Senator Harkin, longtime disability champion in the Senate, followed by recapping the legislative progress over the last 20 years. From the ADA, to the ADAAA and the various iterations of legislation to address the institutional bias of Medicaid, he affirmed his commitment to the work ahead. Recognizing the passage of national health care reform and an end to the institutional bias in Medicaid as two of the 13 agenda items in the Spirit of the ADA Campaign, Senator Harkin reiterated his commitment to those issues and promised to continue to do what he could to secure the inclusion of the Community First Choice Option in health reform. He concluded by congratulating JFAAN for their work so far and thanking them for their message saying, “this Justice For All Action Network picks up on NCIL’s motto: Nothing about us, without us… It’s about people with disabilities saying what ought to be done, and to me that’s the most powerful message of all.”

Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers gave her comments a personal tone by thanking legislators and advocates for guaranteeing her son more rights today than ever before. She voiced a particular interest in addressing education, youth transition post-high school, the institutional bias, un-and under-employment and cultural stereotypes that people with disabilities continue to face despite the tremendous progress made since the passage of the ADA. Many of these priorities are featured in JFAAN’s Spirit of the ADA Campaign. Like Senator Harkin, she concluded by addressing the JFAAN leadership, saying, “I am honored to stand with you today and be a part of [this effort] moving forward.”

Kelly Buckland, Executive Director of the NCIL, proceeded to outline the structure of JFAAN and thank Steering Committee representatives present: Bruce Darling, representing the ADAPT leadership; Andy Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD; Lauren Spiro representing NCMHCSO; Nancy Bloch, CEO of NAD; Ari Ne’eman, Founder and President of ASAN; Lise Hamlin, Director of Public Policy at HLAA; Dan Kessler, President of the NCIL board and the next speaker, Melanie Brunson, Executive Director of ACB. The boards of both NCIL and ACB were highly represented in the audience. Ms. Brunson highlighted several of the 20th Anniversary Agenda items. The Spirit of the ADA Campaign is organized into items that safeguard human rights and respect human dignity, enhance self-determination and make technology work for everyone. She specifically addressed the technological challenges that are concerning the disability community and legislation that address those challenges.

The afternoon concluded as it began, with the wise remarks of Tony Coelho:

“We are here today to say to that we are ready to join together again to build on the progress of the past two decades and continue to knock down barriers to the civil rights and human rights of all children and adults with disabilities. Our joint agenda is grounded in the philosophy that disabled people and disabled people’s organizations know best how to realize the vision of the ADA, and that it is by listening to the disability community directly that policy makers will be able to craft laws and policies that will achieve their intended results on that ground.”

To sign your organization on to the Spirit of the ADA Campaign or for more information email jfaan@aapd.com.

The White House is convening the summit, officials say, to help Congress move past months’ long gridlock on healthcare reform. While the President’s overall proposal is very broad, it incorporates provisions the House and Senate both passed, as well as some ideas offered by Republicans.

We’re happy with the President’s proposal. According to the White House website, the reform proposal “enhance(s) community-based care for Americans with disabilities and provides States with opportunities to expand home care services to people with long-term care needs.” (www.whitehouse.gov).

Provisions to enhance community living include:

• Creating the Community First Choice Option which will allow states to use Federal Medicaid funds for people to move into the community rather than be forced to stay in nursing homes or long term care facilities.
• Extension of the “Money Follows the Person” demonstration that provides Medicaid funds for people with disabilities to move out of nursing homes and into community based living arrangements.
• Extending Medicaid coverage to families earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level (about $29,000 for a family of four)-which will provide access to health care for many people with disabilities..
• The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (”CLASS”) to create an optional payroll deduction for a plan to provide case benefits to people with disabilities to pay for-and choose-the supports and services they need to live at home instead of a nursing home.

Andrew Morris, MPH
Director of Legislation,
Spinal Cord Advocates

That means warning notices will still be sent out, but claims will not be denied until this new Phase 2 implementation date. Additional details should be available shortly, but this is very good news. Stay tuned for more.

What is PECOS and why all of the noise?
Click here to find out.

The jobs bill originally had provisions that would have stopped the harmful reductions that will likely cause doctors to stop seeing patients who use Medicare. In 1997 in an attempt to balance the federal budget Congress enacted cuts in Medicare for physician reimbursement. Every year since then, Congress has delayed the implementation of the cuts because physicians and doctor groups have said that they will no longer be able to afford to see Medicare patients. Unless something is done soon, starting March 1, 2010 doctors will see a 20 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursement.

Also in 1997, in order to save money, Congress voted to limit the number of physical, speech, and occupational therapies that Medicare consumers could receive. However, realizing that the move was unpopular politically, could harm people and cost more money in the long run, Congress has voted each year to stop the therapy caps from taking effect. The therapy cap extension was in the health reform bill that was scheduled to pass before the end of 2009 but didn’t. Since the therapy caps were not stopped for 2010, seniors and people with disabilities are already meeting the therapy limits and it’s only the second month of the year.

As Congress has fixed the Medicare reimbursement and therapy cap problems in the past, there may well be another plan bill to fix them again. At this time, there is no notice of a proposed bill available to the public. We have contacted Senator Reid’s office and are waiting for a response. In the meantime Senator Reid needs to hear from people who use Medicare. He needs to know how people will be impacted if their doctor stops seeing them or outpatient therapies are no longer available. You can reach his office at 202-224-2158.

Although blizzards and snow storms prevented Congress from completing work last week, Democrat Baucus’ and Republican Grassley’s proposal could help Americans who are unemployed and feel overtaxed. It also aims to strengthen the economy, and disability advocates are pleased with provisions to help Medicare and stop the Medicare therapy caps that we wrote about recently.

The proposal includes measures to:

• Provide employer tax relief for new employees who are hired in 2010
• Extend some tax provisions that ended in 2009
• Extend some unemployment benefits through May 2010
• Extend through May 2010 the COBRA assistance that subsidizes the health insurance premiums of unemployed workers
• Fix the Medicare payments for physicians for a set amount of time. Without this fix, doctors who see Medicare patients would face a 21 percent reduction in reimbursement, and many doctors have said they will not be able to afford to treat Medicare patients.

The bill includes provisions (not related to health care) to pay for the costs of the bill’s proposals so that enactment will not add to the deficit.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) issued a statement after the draft bill was circulated that said the legislation falls short of what is needed to stimulate the economy. The CBPP and other advocacy groups (including Spinal Cord Advocates) have advocated that Congress should extend the federal share of Medicaid costs because states are in such dire straits financially and that a jobs bill should do more to help unemployed workers.

Andrew Morris, MPH
Director of Legislation,
Spinal Cord Advocates

What is your issue?: My boyfriend and I was in a motorcycle accident in December of 2008. Due to the accidnet he has a C6 injury. He is paralysed from the waise down. He was self employed and did not have medical insurance. We applied for Medicare and was told that he was getting to much money in Social Security for Medicare or SSI. They told him that he would have to wait 24 months before he could get Medicare. The County originally got him a hospital bed, wheel chair and lift. The Medical Supply Compan is threathing to come and get his equipment because the County will not pay for it anymore.