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Health Care — House of Representatives Pulling Your Strings

The great threat by the Republican House to repeal the Affordable Care Act has amounted to nothing but a cruel scare tactic. GOP House members, knowing their political party doesn't have the votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act should the supposed legislation have passed gone on to the Senate, played the political game for political gain all the while upsetting people who desperately need the care the 2010 act has provided so far and will provide in the very near future. — you, the disabled population of this country.

This is a game with your healthcare as the stakes.

Here is what you need to remember when you hear people saying that most Americans oppose "Obama care" — A new Post poll shows that 50 percent of those surveyed oppose the "Obamacare" law, while 45 percent support it. But these numbers are misleading, since The Post reports that "a quarter of those who oppose the health-care law say the legislation is faulty because it did not go far enough, not because it pushed change too far."

This information comes from the column in the Washington Post by Eugene Robinson. After all the rhetoric and the fear tactics, these simple numbers are what our Representatives and Senators must be reminded of, again and again and again.

Most Americans want affordable health care for themselves, for their children, and for their parents.

Make sure that Congress understands that they don't get to pull your strings, not when it comes to your life and your health. Make sure that Congress understands who is paying the bills here, and who is paying their salary.

 

Contact Elected Officials

 

 

 

 

2011 -- The Year of YOUR Health care

2011 is shaping up to be the year Republicans and Democrats will be tearing at each other to either destroy (R) or barely maintain (D) the healthcare reform program passed into law in 2010.

This is why you will now find a special section in the sidebar dedicated to political issues that will affect the rights of disabled persons and the availability of the  healthcare we need.

I will write about issues that affect us as Americans who have disabilities, and offer links to information about these topics. I will always post a link to the URL to the website Contact Elected Officials at the end of every one of my posts. I urge you to become active in making sure that your access to decent health care will be protected. Using this contact website you will be able to call, fax, e-mail, or even tweet your elected officials.

When I conceived the idea for this blog I did not imagine that I would spend  much time on politics. My hope had been to create a blog that would point people to the sources of information so valuable to them as they navigate the world of disability. That still is my goal but it seems that with the change of power in the House of Representatives people with disabilities need to know who is defending their right to health care and who is determined to take it away.

I won't split hairs over whether this is going to be a partisan blog. It will be, because I am disabled by multiple sclerosis and that puts me front and center in the cause of healthcare and civil rights for people with disabilities.

I don't care about the fortunes of Republicans or Democrats. I only care about the fortunes of my party, my partisans – people with disabilities.

The purpose of this place in cyberspace is to collect information that will help people like me and people like you or someone you love. My mission is to make this information available to those who need it, persons with disabilities, their family members, and their friends.Having said this, I also want readers to know that political issues will be a matter of discussion here insofar as they touch healthcare and rights for disabled people.

Welcome to 2011, the year we who are so often thought of as having little or no control over our physical situaiton can make sure  we keep our healthcare safe.

 

Contact Elected Officials

There are no death panels, none!

There are no death panels.The big lie is back and you'll soon be hearing a lot about how "Obamacare" is about to force you to give up your right to decide on what end-of-life care you want.

This is because on January 1m 2911 President Obama will sign a new regulation allowing the government to pay doctors through Medicare for  advising patients about options are available to them for end-of-life care.

This regulation will allow disabled people and seniors to consult their doctors before a crisis, eliminating fear and stress  should a situation arise when a doctor will need to know how much or how little care a patient at the end of life wishes to receive.

As I wrote in my Examiner.com post this week, pressure from conservative activists while health-care reform was being debated in Congress resulted in the withdrawal of this small but important measure from the healthcare reform bill. This left those insured by Medicare out in the cold and looking for a way to pay for that crucial visit to a doctor. According to Answers.com an uninsured visit can run between $95 and $265.

To be sure, the new year will bring enormous pressure from conservative and Republican Congress members to undo the regulation the president will sign on January 1st. This is where you come in.

Be sure to keep in touch with your members of Congress and let them know that your vote in future elections is tied to their vote on this issue.

This is your life. No one gets to tell you what kind of care you will receive during your life and as the end approaches. Take control now and be ready to call, e-mail, and even Tweet your congressperson letting him or her know early and often you feel about this.

 

 

 

 

 

All I want for Christmas

What’s in a word? Well, if we're talking about nouns we're talking about “naming” words, words that identify things, that identify us. You have a name, mine is Nancy. Some people call me Nancy, others call me Nance, and when I’m writing this blog I am Nan. I particularly love that the nickname,  my parents used it when I was a kid, my sisters and brothers still do. It makes me feel comfortable.
                   
While doing research for this blog I came across an academic niche called Disabled Studies. The poor  subjects under consideration! Do they ever dream of regaining their former abilities and becoming Studies in Athletics?  And while we're talking about names: what actually is the disabled community; are their community leaders, do they have a clubhouse? 

There is one noun I like to use when referring to myself: crip. It just comes naturally in my household. You see, Doug and I are each disabled, me by MS and he by Gullian Barre Syndrome, or GBS as it’s currently known. Neither of us likes the self-consciously correct terms. Please spare us Differently Abled! In our home we are known as crips. Like, "Move the yogurt down to the lower shelves in refrigerator so the crips can get to it!" The kids get it, and pretty much everyone else cringes. (We quickly learned to take it easy, on the cringers, after all naming is about comfort.)

In our home there are such things as crip toys, tools to make life easier for people who have difficulty walking, who use a walker or wheelchair but still need to carry things, don’t have the hand strength for opening the peanut butter jar, things like that. We rejoice when we find them, we add them to birthday wish lists and Christmas wish lists.
                               
We love crip toys!

So, all this is the long way around to wishing you a very happy and healthy new year, and if you celebrate Christmas, I hope you get all the crip toys you want!

Disabled workers can help the disabled economy

 

As I wrote in the Albuquerque, NM edition of Examiner.com, it is possible to return to work part-time and not lose your SSDI benefit. While not all disabled people are able to return to work in any capacity, many are. Now that the annual cost of living  increase (COLA) has been denied for the second year in a row, those who feel they can return to part time work  might be wondering what's involved and whether working part time will jeopardize SSDI benefit.

The answer to that is, go ahead and get back to earning.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will help you find work or assist you with necessary training and equipment to work part time or even from home. Depending on your income level, the cost of this training and equipment can be minimal to none.

This solution can be a win-win for you and the, er, disabled economy. You get to earn again while keeping your SSDI benefit, and the government can add you to the tax roll again.

Confidence-building productivity all around!

 

 

SSDI -- clear thinking and a proposed solution

Making Disability Work by Peter Orszag in the New York Times has been all over the internet and for good reason: Orszag has presented a sane solution to the issue of rising disability clains -- and he doesn't blame the disabled. The article is well worth a thoughtful read, and here's the "money quote":

"The disability insurance program provides crucial support for people who can no longer work because of a disability. But once someone begins receiving benefits, the likelihood that he will re-enter the work force is almost nonexistent; recipients become permanently dependent on the program."

You can work while on SSDI, but you can't earn much before having to make the choice between losing your benefit and continuig to work and live on your earnings.

Time for a change?

Yeah, I'd say so but my say-so won't make a difference. Read the article, think about it, then call, write or even Tweet Congress and make your voice heard. It's th only way things happen.

Accessible Holidays

Oh yes, it definitely can be done.

• Take a break from your holiday preparations and go out to dinner or lunch with a friend. Decide where you would like to meet your friend and call ahead to be sure the restaurant or café is handicap accessible. And remember: what we might consider accessible is not always what a restaurant owner considers accessible. Be sure to check into the accessibility of entrances and exits, restroom facilities, and the table were you will be served. Most places will be glad to oblige your  needs. So go ahead and enjoy!

• Would like to see a holiday play or concert? Once again, some strategic planning will make the event easy for you. Call ahead to see how many handicap parking places are available then be sure to plan to get to play or concert in good time to assure parking.

• For so many people the holiday season would be incomplete without religious services. While your fellow congregants will be happy to see you, make sure you will be able to attend comfortably and enjoy the services and the fellowship. Plan for this the way you would plan for attending a concert or play. Scout ahead, plan to be there eaely  and enjoy the holiday with family and friends.

For information about traveling further afield than restaurants, cafés, concerts, and religious services, explore the Rolling Rains Report and learn a lot more about how you can travel abroad, or around the US, comfortably and confidently.

 

 

SSDI -- We earned it!

  

Tad DeHaven writes for CATO@LIBERTY and he says of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) that "What was supposed to be a narrowly tailored program to help individuals who could no longer work has blossomed into a gigantic budgetary burden that acts more like an unemployment program. Indeed, the number of individuals receiving SSDI benefits has jumped more than 10 percent in the last two recessionary years. So a large number of people seem to be abusing the system by claiming disability in order to get government handouts."

Really.

I would love to see DeHaven's data; something other than a supposition or a "seems to be" assumption.

Unfortunately, as the video above showing a cruel attack on a man with Parkinson's (PD) indicates, many people besides DeHaven feel that SSDI recipients are deadbeats.

In the absence of hard facts, Mr. DeHaven, dangerous reaction will step in. People receiving SSDI benefits go through a rigorous screening that will often take two years. They are not given a hand out, they are not "gaming" the system.

When a disabled person is approved for benefits, he is getting what he or she has earned by working and supporting the system.

 

DISABILITY IS NOT SHAMEFUL!

The balance of power in the Congress has changed recently with Republicans and anti-government "Tea party" adherents openly proclaiming their dislike of Social Security and Social Security  Disability and their determination to cut the programs.

Their thinking can be found in this recent dispatch from the CATO Institute: SSDI unsustainable. This document cannot be faulted for lack of clarity. it will be read by Republicans in Congress and in the Senate, and these representatives and senators will use it in their attack on your benefits.I recommend that everyone read it who wants to protect their Social Security benefits and their SSDI benefits.

Most of the people gunning for these programs, the ones that disabled people and elderly people, count on and have worked for during their earning years, are now referring to SSDI as handouts or "unemployment programs".

These are lies using language intended to shame you and to make others think that you are shameful for demanding something you have not earned and do not deserve.

DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE SHAMED.

The shame belongs to those who lie about the disabled and the elderly and who would steal from us.

If this blog is partisan it is on the side of those disabled citizens striving to get and keep the disability benefits we have earned by hard work.

Here is what you can do to make sure SocialSecurity an SSDI remain untouched by those who intend to shrink or kill it altogether:

1. Contact every organization you know that deals with people who receive SSDI and Social Security. Let them know how strongly you feel about this issue. Let them know you expect them to fight for these programs.
2. Stay in touch with your Representative in the House and your Senator. Let them know that your vote is connected to their performance on this issue.
3. Blog about this issue everywhere you can.

This is your fight -- our fight -- and we cannot lose.

 

College Students: Know Your Rights

At the University of Massachusetts disabled students have someone in their corner. The  university's Office of Disability Services ensures that every disabled student will have accessible housing, accessible classroom facilities, and more.

While its attention to the needs of disabled students is exemplary, UMass is not alone among American universities in its dedication to ensuring the rights of all disabled students, whether their disability is obvious or "invisible" like learning disabilities.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all universitiesin the US to make it possible for every disabled student to perform to his or her ability. Whatever your university, be sure to find out which office or department will help you make your experience as a student as rich and rewarding as any student with "full access" may achieve.

For more information on the U Mass program, see "Disability Services helps students get the accommodations they need," by Melanie Muller of DailyCollegian.com.