FW: Health Care Reform: What's At Stake For Us

[Guest guest]

From: Randee

Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 4:12 PM

To: Parent to Parent Information List Serve

Subject: Health Care Reform: What's At Stake For Us

Health Care Reform:

What's At Stake For Us

JFA

is a free service of the American Association of People with

Disabilities (AAPD)

In This Issue

AAPD Joins Facebook Causes

Health Care Reform: What's At Stake For Us

Handicap is NOT a Death Sentence

Special Education Vouchers Prevent Schools

Over-Diagnosing Students

AAPD: Focus On . . . Technology Access

Action Alert: Comment by FRIDAY on Medicaid Waivers

Health Information Technology Survey

Mob Forces Home for Youth with Disabilities to

Seek New Location

AAPD Joins

Facebook Causes

AAPD recently joined

Facebook Causes as a way to get the word out about the disability

rights movement and to make it easier for YOU, our dedicated activists,

to contribute your support.

Take Action TODAY: Join or Donate to AAPD's Cause on Facebook and share

these links with your friends.

>>> To Join the Movement

>>> To Support our Work

Health Care

Reform: What's At Stake For Us

From the Department of

Health and Human Services:

Stable and Secure Health Care for America

How Health Insurance Reform Will Help People with

Disabilities

1.

Greater Choices for Americans with Disabilities

Eliminate

Discrimination in Obtaining Health Insurance

Make

Health Care Accessible to Everyone

More

Affordable Choices

Expand

the Medicaid Program

2. Lowering Costs by Rewarding Quality and Cutting Waste

Provide

Deep Discounts for Medications in the Medicare " Donut

Hole "

Financial

Relief for Low Income Medicare Beneficiaries

3. Assuring Accessible, Quality, Affordable Health Care

for People with Disabilities

Preventive

Care for Better Health

Improve

Care for Chronic Disease

Promote

High Quality Care

>>> For More Information on Each of these

Benefits

From the Epilepsy Foundation (8/17/09):

Epilepsy Foundation: The Facts on Health Reform

>>> To Read this alert which refutes 5

Health Care Reform Myths

MYTH 1: Health care reform will result in government control of

the health care system and universal health care.

MYTH 2: Health care reform takes choice and decision-making out

of the hands of patients and will lead to euthanasia for senior

citizens

MYTH 3: Health care reform will provide coverage to illegal

immigrants

MYTH 4: Health care reform will put private insurance companies

out of business

MYTH 5: Health care reform won't benefit people like me, who

have insurance

For Additional Resources:

The

following resources can be very helpful for education and background.

http://energycommerce.house.gov/

http://help.senate.gov/

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/MoreInfo.asp?section=52

http://edlabor.house.gov/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care/

Handicap is NOT

a Death Sentence

From U.S.News and World

Report (August 10, 2009):

Handicap Is Not a Death Sentence and Should Not Be

Treated as One

" Futile " healthcare is in the eye of the

beholder, and should be in the hands of the patient

By

Hershey

Hershey of Englewood, Colo., is a national advocate for the rights of

the handicapped.

Seethis JFActivist post to read her discussion

on " futile care " as she considers the questions of " Who

should make medical decisions? " and why our community needs to be

especially cautious when people discuss who gets what medical care.

>>> For the Post

Special

Education Vouchers Prevent Schools Over-Diagnosing Students

Special-Education

Stigmatization

School vouchers may be the best way to curb abuse of public

funds.

Marcus A. Winters and Jay Greene

>>> Read Here

A

case for special education vouchers based on an argument that schools

have financial incentive to over-diagnose special education students.

AAPD: Focus On .

.. . . Technology Access

Now is

the Time for Nationwide Captioned Telephone Service in the U.S.

By: Jenifer Simpson

August 18, 2009

As part of my job as Senior Director for Government Affairs, I focus on

technology issues. Recently, as part of this focus, I drafted some

comments for the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology

(COAT) that were sent to the Federal Communications Commission. These comments

reflected the widespread support for a nationwide mandate for captioned

telephone service. Personally, I believe that the time is now for a

nationwide mandate to make the service more consistent and available no

matter where a person lives, so I was very glad to step up and draft

these comments on behalf of the coalition.

Captioned telephone service is similar in concept to captioning on

television, where spoken words appear as written text for viewers to

read on screen. Captioned telephone service is used by persons with a

hearing disability but have some residual hearing. Typically these are

people who easily used regular phones but as they lose their hearing

over time, or due to accident, injury or illness, they find voice phone

service difficult to understand...

>>> For the Full Article

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