 |
|
National Council on Independent Living |
|
Not Just Responding To Change, But Leading It! |
- Community Choice Act Hearing Update! (New!)
- American Medical Association Changes Policy, Adopts CCA!
- Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Community Choice Act: Baucus Promises to Have CBO Re-Score CCA!
- Action Alert: Encourage Advocates and Committee Members to Attend CCA Hearing September 25th!
- Action Alert: CCA To Be Heard in Committee!
- Long-awaited CCA Research Paper Now Available in Full! (PDF)
- Evidence Based Research Proves the Community Choice Act is Cost Effective!
- NCIL Position on Long Term Care and Personal Assistant Services
This is a sample article from the WhAM!. To recieve the Weekly Advocacy Monitor, become a NCIL member today!
Hundreds of Advocates Pack the House for CCA!
January 16th, 2008 hundreds of disability rights activists converged on the House of Representatives (Committee on Energy and Commerce) Subcommittee on Health to attend the hearing “Helping Families with Needed Care: Medicaid’s Critical Role for Americans with Disabilities”. Over one hundred advocates packed into the hearing room as equally many were directed to two overflow rooms! The impact of this showing on the fourteen Representatives in attendance was clear. Utter confusion turned to pleasant surprise as they witnessed the disability community uniting under the Community Choice Act. You can watch the full hearing and read prepared witness testimony at the Committee on Energy and Commerce website.
Unfortunately, the focus of the hearing was Medicaid in general and not the Community Choice Act in particular, which means that the CCA must still pass through this Sub/Committee before it moves to the full house. Witness testimonies varied widely in focus and narrative, but every witness underscored their support for the CCA!
Just as the hearing began, word spread that Barack Obama had released a statement on the Community Choice Act. His statement read,
“I support the passage of the Community Choice Act of 2007, which would allow Medicaid-eligible Americans with significant disabilities the choice of living in their community, rather than having to live in a nursing home or other institution. This legislation is vitally important to the independence, community integration, and equality of hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities.”
Chairman Pallone (D-NJ) opened the hearing with a thoughtful summary of current legislation and its effect on Medicaid and Americans with Disabilities. He identified the CCA and CLASS Act as vital steps in the process of Medicaid reform. Representative Deal (R-GA) added that he supports the Community Choice Act as a means to ending the institutional bias. Representative Green (D-TX) spoke of the need to end the 24 month waiting period for Medicaid eligibility. Representative Capps (D-CA) underscored the tragedy of Bush Administration regulations and asked for testimony regarding the lack of a trained PCA workforce, poor wages for such a workforce, and advice on recruitment and retention. After many of the Representatives present made surprisingly positive and informed opening remarks and each witness had a chance to testify, members of the Subcommittee asked numerous questions, both on- and off-topic, clearly in an effort to figure out exactly what the crowd wanted of them. Undaunted by warnings to behave, the large orange crowd cheered unanimously in support of the Community Choice Act as witnesses each explained why the legislation is crucial to the communities they represent.
Witnesses represented the Kaiser Commission, the ARC of New Jersey, Family Voices, ResCare, Amerigroup, and ADAPT. ADAPT testified that when it comes to nursing homes, “you don’t get better, you just get out.” They underscored the fact that we need action in order to end the institutional bias, that it is unacceptable that people with disabilities must enter a nursing home in order to access assistance escaping one, and that the disability community is disserviced by the “disease categories” employed by CMS to assess people with disabilities and the services we need to maintain independence.
Congratulations to the hundreds of advocates who made this hearing a success with their presence. One member of the Subcommittee remarked, “Now this is how you get things done in Washington!” Although no action was taken during this hearing, advocates sent a strong message and garnered a strong base of support for the CCA and many other Medicaid-related issues that will have an impact on the disability community.
Read the press release from Committee on Energy and Commerce. Watch the video of the hearing!
AMA Changes Policy, Adopts CCA!
The following press release, distributed by the American Medical Association November 13th, 2007, claims the AMA has changed its policies to support the Community Choice Act. Advocates have spent years trying to get the AMA to support the CCA nee MiCASSA. This is an important step in the passage of the Community Choice Act and could help its perceived credibility by the Congress. The AMA’s motives are yet unclear, but we will keep you updated through the WhAM!. Congratulations Advocates!
AMA Adopts New Policies on “Disabled Patient Care”: The AMA passed new policy supporting Medicaid reforms that would provide disabled patients with equal access to home and community-based services so that they can live as independently as possible. The AMA supports passage of congressional legislation, the Community Choice Act of 2007, that would achieve these goals. This policy was recommended to the AMA by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
“People with disabilities who rely on Medicaid should not have to choose between the important care they need and the ability to live independently,” said AMA Board Member Rebecca J. Patchin, MD. “We support Medicaid reforms so that disabled patients, together with their physicians, can decide where the best place is to receive medical care and support based on patients’ individual needs.”
Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Community Choice Act: Baucus Promises to Have CBO Re-Score CCA!
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing September 25th, 2007 on the Community Choice Act (H.R. 1621, S.799). This legislation would give individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care under Medicaid equal access to community-based services and supports, like attendant services.
There was a large push from the grassroots community to Finance Committee Members' offices last week, and the payoff was apparent in the number of Senators who attended! Out of the 21 Senate Finance Committee members, ten came to the hearing. This is a great turnout especially since the big SCHIP Bill was also being debated! The list of attending Senators included:
Gordon Smith (R-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Max Baucus (D-MT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John Kerry (D-MA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Jim Bunning (R-KY).
There was an excellent turnout of advocates at the hearing! People from all over the country attended. Special thanks should be given to all that attended the hearing and to all those who sent in letters and testimonies. Senators were attentive and asked numerous questions of the panelists.
Senator Baucus opened the Hearing by showing support for the Community Choice Act and respect for people with disabilities. He stated, “In July of 1776, the bell of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall rang to summon Americans to the birth of an independent nation. On that bell were cast the words from Leviticus: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” But not all Americans have the freedom to live independently. People with disabilities and the elderly — especially those who are also poor — face barriers to living independently. They face barriers to living where they choose… Medicaid pays for personal care assistance only when it is provided in an institutional setting, like a nursing home. When people with disabilities need these services, and cannot afford to pay for them, Medicaid pushes them into an institution.”
Senator Harkin (D-IA), the author of the Community Choice Act, spoke passionately about his family's experiences. Harkins' nephew, Kelly, became a person with a significant disability at age 19, following an injury. He attended college and earned received a degree. Kelly has personal assistance service to get him off to work in the morning and in bed each evening. Kelly's injury was service connected and the Veteran's Administration pays for his personal assistance service. Senator Harkin concluded by saying that, like Kelly, everyone should have a choice in where they receive long term care.
Bob Liston, an advocate from Montana, spoke about the need to end institutional bias, the human cost of living in nursing homes and advantages to home and community based services. NCIL will provide this testimony and all others in accessible format on our website in the near future.
Mitch LaPlante, of the University of California, San Francisco, spoke at NCIL's Annual Conference this year. His research that estimates the cost of home and community based service to range between $1.5 and $3.7 billion a year, which is much less than the $10-20 billion per year estimated for MiCASSA in 1997.
Patrick Flood, the Director of Health and Human Services of Vermont, described how his state uses an extremely flexible (and rare!) “1115 Waiver,” which let them re-design their long term care system. He made some excellent points and emphasized the need for community based services, which are cost effective and exactly what the people want! Kevin Concannon, Director of Health and Human Services of Iowa also gave a great testimony about providing alternatives to institutional care.
When Senator Kerry spoke, advocates became fearful that discussion had strayed too far from the main objectives of the Community Choice Act, focusing instead on the benefits and limitations of certain kinds of state waivers. Advocates must drive home the point that CCA is our answer to forced institutionalization! We have waited too long to settle for expanded state waiver options. State waiver options lead to waiting lists and segregated “populations” getting services. Call your elected Senators and thank them for attending the hearing. Let them know why CCA must pass and that we will not settle!
Toward the end of the hearing, which lasted just over two hours, Finance Committee Chair Senator Max Baucus called for a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring of the Community Choice Act and asked Dr. LaPlante to work with them to achieve proper re-scoring.
If you were working on written testimony (individual or organizational) you can still submit it for the public record until October 8th, 2007. Send it to: susan_douglas@finance-dem.senate.gov and please CC the NCIL office c/o Elizabeth Leef at Elizabeth@ncil.org. Testimony should not exceed 10 pages in length.
NCIL / SEIU Fellow Matt Peterson and his Senator, Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) met
in the halls of the Capitol following the hearing. Senator Snowe attended the
hearing and remarked that she supported the Community Choice Act because
it makes sense, but has yet to sign on to the bill. Senators John Kerry (D-MA)
and Jon Tester (D-MT) both signed onto CCA following the hearing!
ACTION ALERT: Encourage Advocates and Committee Members to Attend CCA Hearing September 25th!
The Community Choice Act of 2007 will be heard in the Senate Finance Hearing in 6 days! The hearing will be held Tuesday Sept 25th at 10am in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room G-50. The hearing is titled "Home and Community Based Care: Expanding Options for Long Term Care."
There will be a panel of 4 presenters as well as a beginning presentation by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa the co-sponsor of the "Community Choice Act S.799."
The panel will consist of:
Bob Liston, Advocate from Montana
Mitch LaPlante, University of California, San Francisco
Patrick Flood, Director of Health and Human Services, Vermont
Kevin Concannon, Director of Health and Human Services, Iowa
NCIL has been working with Dr. Mitch LaPlante, who presented at the NCIL conference in July, to get Community Choice Act rescored and passed into public law.
The NCIL PAS committee is collecting stories from across the Nation. Send your state story to Judy R. Roy at bhamilc1@bellsouth.net or Elizabeth Leef at Elizabeth@ncil.org by Friday Sept. 21 to be entered into public record.
For those that can attend, get to the hearing room early to get a front row seat. ENCOURAGE OTHER ADVOCATES TO ATTEND! ENCOURAGE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO ATTEND.
Let's keep the momentum going! For more information contact Elizabeth Leef at 202-207-0334 ext. 1015.
ACTION ALERT: CCA To Be Heard in Committee!
September 6, 2007
The Community Choice Act (S.799) will be heard in the committee of jurisdiction for the first time in ten years! Now is the time to rally support for the Community Choice Act!
Earlier this year, advocates put the pressure on the Senate Finance committee and we were victorious in gaining a hearing date for the Community Choice Act. September 25, 2007 is an historic day that all of us have earned though years of hard work. We need to show the Committee how much support there is among people with disabilities for this legislation, so we need as many co-sponsors as possible! The Senate Finance Committee must consider all Medicare/Medicaid bills in order for the full Senate to vote on and pass legislation.
Senator Tom Harkin has been the disability community’s champion for disability rights for several decades. The Senator needs our help to pass the Community Choice Act this year.
It is critical to remind your elected representatives about the important role the Community Choice Act plays in consumer choice and independence. The Community Choice Act of 2007 gives individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care equal access to community-based services and supports, like attendant services across the nation. The Community Choice Act is about individual CHOICE. It allows an individual to choose to receive their care in the community, rather than in an institutional setting.
We need more co-sponsors for the Community Choice Act! We need testimonies from every state. Get involved now. To see if your Senator or Representative has signed onto the legislation go to www.thomas.gov and type in the bill number. If your Senator or Representative is not on the list of co-sponsors, call them directly and ask them to sponsor S. 799 & H.R. 1621.
The NCIL web site has a copy of Dr. Mitch LaPlante’s report Estimating the Expense of a Mandatory Home- and Community-Based Personal Assistance Services Benefit Under Medicaid as well as talking points for the Community Choice Act of 2007.
Together we can and will make a difference! Thank you for your advocacy efforts!
INFORMATION ALERT
Evidence Based Research Proves the Community Choice Act is Cost Effective!
July 24, 2007
Dr. Mitch LaPlante from the University of California San Francisco is recognized as one of the foremost disability researchers in the country. He will be attending our conference and will be available to answer any questions about his research. LaPlante’s report, Estimating the Expense of a Mandatory Home and Community Based Personal Assistant Services Benefit Under Medicaid provides evidence that estimated expenditures are one tenth of those previously reported by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for implementing MiCASSA, now known as the Community Choice Act (S.799). This legislation has been introduced in the last few Congresses and its prospective passage has always been hampered by the brief and inaccurate CBO cost estimate in a letter to Rep. Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Dr. LaPlante will be available to NCIL members at the Legislative and Advocacy Update Monday July 9th at 10:15am. His research proves community based services are affordable! Come by and learn about his recent evidence based publications. This is our opportunity to prove to Congress Community Based Services must be available nationwide!
If your Senator or Representative is not on the following list, call and ask them to sign onto the Community Choice Act. Visit http://www.senate.gov/ and http://www.house.gov/ to determine your Members of Congress.
Senators who signed onto Community Choice Act (S.799) as of July 23, 2007:
Barack Obama [D-IL], Joseph Biden [D-DE], Sherrod Brown [D-OH], Robert Casey [D-PA], Hillary Rodham Clinton [D-NY], Christopher Dodd [D-CT], Richard Durbin [D-IL], Tom Harkin [D-IA], Daniel Inouye [D-HI], Edward Kennedy [D-MA], Frank Lautenberg [D-NJ], Joseph Lieberman [ID-CT], Ken Salazar [D-CO], Bernard Sanders [I-VT], Charles Schumer [D-NY], and Arlen Specter [R-PA].
Representatives who signed onto H.R. 1621:
Rob Bishop [R-UT], Jo Bonner [R-AL], Nancy Boyda [D-KS], Steve Cohen [D-TN], Joe Courtney [D-CT], Danny Davis [D-IL], Diana DeGette [D-CO], Rosa DeLauro [D-CT], Lloyd Doggett [D-TX], Luis Gutierrez [D-IL], John Larson [D-CT], Gwen Moore [D-WI], Christopher Murphy [D-CT], Donald Payne [D-NJ], Janice Schakowsky [D-IL], John Shimkus [R-IL], Christopher Smith [R-NJ], Mark Udall [D-CO], Peter Visclosky [D-IN], James Walsh [R-NY], and Jerry Weller [R-IL].
POSITION ON LONG TERM CARE and PERSONAL ASSISTANT SERVICES: NCIL Submits Written Testimony to HELP Committee
July 10, 2007
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE
HONORABLE SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY, CHAIRMAN
TESTIMONY ON HOME AND COMMUNITY SERVICES AND SUPPORTS
The National Council on Independent Living is submitting written testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee on community living and long term services and supports.
The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) is the oldest cross disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. Founded in 1982, NCIL represents over 700 organizations and individuals including: Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), individuals with disabilities, and other organizations that advocate for the human and civil rights of people with disabilities throughout the United States.
NCIL was established four years after the 1978 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The 1978 amendments added statutory language and funding for the formation of Centers for Independent Living. The Executive Directors of the newly federally funded CILs met regularly with Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) to discuss issues related to the development and expansion of CILs nationwide. Believing that the views of CIL consumers and people with disabilities, as a whole, were not being heard by the federal government, the Administration or the Congress, the CIL executive directors worked to organized and establish the National Council on Independent Living - an organization governed by people with disabilities advocating for the development and expansion of a nationwide network of centers for independent living.
We support Insurance Reform acts such as the Class Act, which would assist people with disabilities who need long term assistance or supports by providing a flexible cash insurance benefit that could be used creatively to purchase services, supports and technology. Beneficiaries would choose how to best meet their own needs. NCIL applauds the creative approach of the bill in addressing the issues around long term care services. We believe an insurance program that is available nationwide and that is affordable and not tied to poverty and unemployment is a laudable goal and a much needed piece of the long term service puzzle.
NCIL also strongly supports The Community Choice Act of 2007 (S.799 & H.R. 1621) by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Danny Davis (D-IL-7th). NCIL endorses the Community Choice Act of 2007 because the bill addresses provisions that would provide a range of community-based supports that would include activities of daily living such as eating, toileting, grooming, dressing, bathing and transferring; and could include meal planning, shopping and preparation, financial management, and household chores. The legislation also addresses hands-on assistance, supervision and cueing. Supports will be based on a functional needs assessment and all services are furnished in accordance with a plan agreed on by the consumer. The Community Choice Act of 2007 will provide many people with disabilities the opportunity to choose where and how they receive personal assistance services in their homes and communities across the nation.
The balance of our testimony will acquaint you with the National Council on Independent Living, our membership, activities and commitment to ending the institutional bias over the last twenty years. We will also explain our principals and goals for a national system of consumer control and home and community based services.
In terms of long term care policy, instead of “liberty and justice for all” the situation is liberty and justice for some depending on your age or the type and severity of your condition and the budget cycle of the state you happen to live in. It is shameful that people with disabilities who need long term services and supports have more freedom in Colorado than in Tennessee. The happenstance of where you live should not determine your very ability to enjoy your home and community, yet this is absolutely the case today in America.
There is a strong historical linkage between NCIL and the struggle for people with disabilities to live in their own homes and communities and not in institutions. In fact, the definition of a CIL found in federal law (Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended) is that a CIL must be non-residential (not located in an institution or long-term care facility) but, rather must be in the community at large. NCIL’s CIL members remain at the forefront of the de-institutional movement.
CILs are required by law and committed by philosophy to serve people with all and any type of disability regardless of age. In the past ten years, because of these legal and philosophical commitments, many have become providers of personal assistance services, which are controlled and managed by the individual with the disability. In fact, the concept of having in-home, personal assistance services controlled and managed by the person with a disability was first promulgated and practiced by one of the founders of the independent living movement and founder of the first CIL in Berkley, California, Ed Roberts. This concept, now well known as “consumer control” of services, is promoted by NCIL’s CIL and SILC membership nationwide. Allowing this option of consumer control within the provision of Medicaid Waiver attendant services is now becoming widespread. CILs were the first type of Medicaid Waiver provider to push for and put into practice consumer control within these programs that are so important to the independent living and the very liberty of thousands of people with disabilities of all ages today.
This direct involvement of CILs with the Medicaid personal attendant service programs has caused a major paradigm shift in the nature of these programs nationwide. This involvement has caused the federal and state agencies who oversee the programs to fundamentally change the way the program recipients, people with disabilities, are viewed. Recipients and independent living advocates are now much more involved in the planning, start-up and delivery of the services provided, including direct control and management of the day-to-day services. This increased involvement in all aspects has strengthened the services and improved the quality of outcomes of the program, including employment of the recipients and others with disabilities.
Now, more than ever, people who use personal attendant services are working and remaining at work. The rise in employment of people who receive home and community services, especially consumer controlled services compared to the stark unemployment of people residing in institutions must be noted, emphasized, and nurtured in our nation’s long term care policies.
The leadership provided by CILs in provision of, and advocacy for, consumer controlled personal attendant services has given NCIL a wealth of direct experience and observations to share. These experiences and observations range from the wondrous and appealing to the woeful and appalling.
Approximately 5.4 million American adults living outside an institution require some assistance from another person with daily living tasks such as dressing, eating, toileting, housekeeping, remembering to take medications, balancing a checkbook, and other everyday activities. There are 2.7 million people needing such assistance have unmet needs.
While progress is slowly being made to change institutional bias, national long-term services policy remains firmly biased in favor of institutionalizing people who need such assistance rather than assisting them in their own homes and/or communities. This bias is reflected in the fact that 72% of the $82.13 billion spent on long term care services goes to institutional services, while only 28% funds community services and supports.
Analysis estimates of 2002 costs, HCBS waivers produced a national average public saving of $43,947 per participant when comparing expenditures between Medicaid HCBS waivers and institutional care.
In 2001, ‘The New Freedom Initiative’ (NFI) was announced as a cross-governmental policy and funding initiative to remove barriers to community living for people with disabilities and to support efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Later in 2001, an Executive Order outlined the Federal Government’s commitment to community-based alternatives to institutional care for all people with disabilities. Federal agencies were directed to work with states to ensure compliance with the ADA integration mandate that was reinforced by the Olmstead ruling.
CMS has encouraged states to rebalance long term care (LTC) systems and enable money to follow the person through grants to states as well as making policy changes, providing guidance and proposing legislation. Unfortunately, even with the resources, funding opportunities and technical assistance from CMS, many states have not made meaningful LTC system changes and the institutional bias remains prevalent. Many states that have applied for HCBS waivers have long waiting lists for PAS programs. State officials report many groups are not being served, such as traumatic brain injury, HIV/AIDS, or mental illness. The cost of unmet need for Medicaid HCBS is estimated at $1.9 billion for those living alone and $4.7 billion for those living with others.
The NCIL asserts the institutional bias on the part of the federal government and state governments must be reversed and that people of all ages with all types of disabilities must have the option of obtaining assistance with daily living in their homes and communities through a national consumer controlled personal assistance service program. Americans with all types of disabilities and all citizens of the United States deserve no less.
NCIL believes that a national personal assistance service program must have certain characteristics to most effectively and efficiently meet the needs of people with disabilities in their home and communities, that a comprehensive range of services must be available for an effective, efficient personal assistance service program. Personal assistance service, along with assistive technology such as wheelchairs, text readers, and hearing aids, enable people with disabilities to participate in activities at home, at work, and in the community.
Personal assistance service coverage must extend to people of all ages with all types of disabilities including cognitive, sensory, mental and physical disabilities and that eligibility criteria must not discriminate based on age, type of disability and/or any other factor unrelated to need. NCIL’s position is that individuals must be eligible for a national personal assistance service program if they experience a functional disability of a temporary or permanent nature resulting from injury, aging, disease or congenital condition which requires personal assistance services.
Eligibility criteria must be developed that do not exclude people based on age; type of disability; onset of disability such as congenital, injury, disease, or later age onset; and health, family status, race, national origin, cultural background, religion, gender, sexual preference and/or geography.
Eligibility criteria must not include disincentives for employment and/or marriage.
Eligibility must not be based on income factors. Although, cost sharing is acceptable based on a sliding income.
No person must be forced into or kept in an institution because of the denial of Personal Assistance Service.
NCIL believes that the views of personal assistance service users must be paramount in the design, delivery, and evaluation of a national personal assistance service program.
NCIL believes that whatever national program design and funding mechanisms are employed, states should be required to adopt the definition and provide the basic services, program models, coverage and eligibility criteria, governance mechanisms, and grievance and appeal procedures cited in this position paper in order to provide uniform coverage for people with disabilities across the states. NCIL further believes that a gradual phase in of a personal assistance service program would be desirable in order that a personal assistance service infrastructure can be developed to meet the demand.
NCIL believes that financing mechanisms and regulations for a national personal assistance service program should not in any way reflect a bias toward institutionalization and away from Home and Community Based Services.
Cost sharing and/or tax credits must be part of a national personal assistance service plan based on a sliding scale relative to income, but with a cap on out-of-pocket consumer expenditures at a percentage of income and/or on tax credits. The families of children who receive personal assistance service benefits must be treated the same as direct personal assistance service users in terms of cost sharing and/or tax credits.
There must be no unfavorable differential federal match requirement relative to any other long-term service programs.
Any benefits, whether direct vouchers/cash or not, derived by personal assistance service users must not be treated as disposable income nor counted as income for the determination of eligibility for other statutory benefits/services.
Federal and state governments must clarify tax withholding and personal assistant benefit requirements for personal assistance service users and providers.
Long-term services insurance reform should be undertaken in conjunction with a national personal assistance service program which addresses standardized benefits packages and the elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions.
No one who receives personal assistance service benefits at the time of adoption of a national personal assistance service program must lose the benefits they are receiving.
NCIL believes that a national personal assistance service program must include a uniform appeal/grievance procedure independent of funders, providers, and assessors which has an expeditious time-line and which provides expenses for the use of advocates and/or legal counsel by personal assistance service applicants/users or their families.
We must begin to end the disability bias by eliminating the institutional bias. Simply put, we have to stop locking people away from home, friends and family just because they are disabled. Ending this bias will make a better and richer society because history has shown that ending bias and segregation against people, any and all people, is good for us all.
NCIL stands ready and willing to assist the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee. Elizabeth Leef, our health policy analyst is available for questions. She can be contacted 202-207-0334 or Elizabeth@ncil.org.
Thank you,
Kelly Buckland John A. Lancaster
President Executive Director
Mitchell P. LaPlante, Ph.D., et al, Unmet Need for Personal Assistance Services, University of California, San Francisco, Center for PAS, 2004
Kitchener, M., Ng, T., Miller, N. & Harrington C. (2006). Institutional and community-based long-term care: A comparative estimate of public costs. Journal of Health & Social Policy, Vol. 22(2) 2006.
Martin Kitchener, Micky Willmott and Charlene Harrington, Home and Community-Based Services: Federal Funding to States. UCSF National Center for Personal Assistance Services.
Harrington, C., Newcomer, R., LaPlante, M., Kaye, S., Stoddard, S., Kitchener, M., & Oxford, M. (2004, November 15). Center for Personal Assistance Services. Presented at the National Association of State Medicaid Directors Fall 2004 Annual Meeting hosted by Held in Cooperation with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
© Copyright 2000 - 2006 • National Council on Independent Living |
