Sleepless Nights

I am having trouble sleeping at night. I am an advocate for people with disabilities. I assist people in finding ways to remain independent within their home. I love my job and find great satisfaction in helping people. However, in the past year my job has become much more difficult. Difficult because on a daily basis I have to tell people, “I’m sorry but because of state budget cuts I can’t help you.” Most people will ask if there is any other help out there and unfortunately there is not. At times these people are begging and crying out for help, and there is nothing I can do. These phone calls are haunting, and at times keep me up at night. It worries me when I keep reading about legislators like Sam Brownback, Lynn Jenkins, and Brenda Landwehr that are against helping these people. When they vote against legislation like the CLASS Act or submitting legislation to ban healthcare reform in Kansas, they are by their actions saying “I don’t care”, “Sorry about your luck”, “Your needs don’t matter”. Do these legislators have a conscience?  Have they never known someone who has had something horrible happen to them? Events such as being diagnosed with cancer, being laid off from their job, or being in a horrible car accident, can happen to anyone. Ever notice that the most compassionate people are the people who have had a tragedy in their lives. Brownback, Jenkins, and Landwehr apparently need a wake up call. I think I will start giving out their personal phone numbers to those people who call me. We’ll see if they can sleep at night after a few those calls.

Letter to the Editor

I recently wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Wichita Eagle. Considering that my local paper is becoming more and more right wing I knew it would’nt be published. But here it is…

Dear Editor,

 

What does it say about Kansas values to cut services to school children, elderly persons, and persons with disabilities? What does it say about Kansas values when we proceed with the scheduled phase-out of corporate franchise and estate taxes, rather then putting revenue into social services? Do Kansans believe that corporations are more important then people? As a Kansan I believe Kansas is a great place to live because of the people, not because of the possibility of great wealth. As a Kansan, I believe that taking care of our children, and our elderly, and of people with disabilities is the most important thing we can do. State budget cuts have already drastically affected people who need services. The Social Services budget has already been cut in the past two fiscal years. The truth is we can not cut the budget anymore. More cuts will result in tragic human suffering. Kansas can’t afford to cut taxes either. Kansas is not a high tax state, whether it is popular or not the reality is we may have to raise taxes. In a time when our state is in a fiscal crisis it is the truth. No More Cuts to services! No more cuts to taxes.

Christina, Wichita KS

So there it is, I published it myself

 

Everyday People need Health Care

“My wife and I are both self employed, she left a state job 2 years back when we moved to Florida where I had taken a consulting position, I have been self employed for 15 years. We no longer were entitled to the great health benefits we enjoyed when my wife worked for the state. The issue is that our son has a pre-existing condition and we are unable to get insurance coverage for him. yes it is possible to get this coverage but at the cost of going bankrupt! I am not against paying toward health care but I do take issue when a child of 7 years of age can not get coverage due to insurance companies refising on grounds of pre-existing conditions that he shows no signs off? If we are supposedly the most advanced and caring nation in the world then how come a 7 year old child is refused health care or can not afford health care due to the high cost? Shame on us. Reform is needed urgently to address this shameful situation in our country.”

– Stephen from Florida

“My family lives in Minnesota, a year and a half ago my husband was laid off his job, about the same time that I was diagnosed with a serious illness, we lost our health insurance, and incurred medical expenses being in a private pay status and being ineligible for any county medical assistance. My husband found another job near Chicago which is four hours away, the job provides health insurance, so for the last year he has only been home on the weekends, or less. We have two young children at home and two in college. Two months ago my husband lost 50 percent of his income in his current job due to company cutbacks, but he needed to keep the job due to the health insurance benefit, as I was needing medical care and unable to work myself at this time, I am a nurse. Our house has just gone into foreclosure. We are unable to afford our house and have no idea what were going to do or where we’ll go. Our 19 year old daughter is quitting college this week and coming home to work full time earning minimum wage. We need Health Care Reform as soon as possible! Thank you so much!”

– Julia from Minnesota

“My husband lost his job a year ago and used it as an opportunity to start his own small business since jobs in his field were, and continue to be, hard to come by. We had to opt for private insurance because COBRA was going to be too expensive for us, at approximately $1500 per month. Going without insurance is not an option because my husband is healthy, but has a medical history that requires maintenance medications. We also have two children who need to be insured. I work full-time for a small business that does not offer insurance to its employees. I make too much money for our children to qualify for Medicaid. The private insurance we chose offers much less coverage than the plan we had under my husband’s former employer, and it cost $700 a month last year. Starting next month, our rate will increase to $850 per month unless we choose to drop the prescription coverage, in which case it will increase to $712 per month. We are now looking at plans that are cheaper, but have a higher deductible and are less comprehensive because we cannot continue to pay such high prices. Something needs to be done about health care now. I don’t mind paying my fair share for coverage, but it is ridiculous that my health insurance payment is almost the same amount as my mortgage. These two payments use up almost my entire paycheck.”

– Holly from Georgia

“My husband is a small business owner and I work part-time so that I can care for our two and half year old son, who is the only person in our household with health insurance. As a family, we have done the math a million ways to try and figure out how to afford a decent individual health insurance policy. As it is, we could only afford a policy with a high deductible ($1,000 each), which essentially means we would pay for our own care and pay an insurance premium. It simply doesn’t make any economic sense for us, even though we know we are risking our home and property in the event of a major medical crisis. We need health care reform now (well, many years ago) because there are more and more people like us: people who work full-time…but not for a company that provides a health benefit.”

– Kate from West Virginia

“When my son turned 22, he ‘aged out’ of the family’s health insurance plan. (He was no longer covered.) He applied to an insurance company for an individual health insurance policy. He assumed that, because he was young, strong, and healthy, his application for coverage would be approved. But the company did their ‘due diligence’ and discovered that my son had recently been treated for the dreaded disease, strep throat. My son received a letter from the insurance company stating that his application would be denied BECAUSE HE HAD HAD STREP THROAT! That, (strep throat, one step up from a cold) was his ‘pre-existing condition’! Talk about cherry-picking only the healthy to insure–I guess, with this company, if my son had admitted to having a hang-nail within the preceding three years, he would have been denied coverage. This is WRONG, and I fully support President Obama’s plans to change the way health insurance is delivered in our country.”

 

–Lisa from Colorado

Share your Health Care Reform Story

http://www.healthreform.gov/forums/shareyourstory.html

  

 

 

 

Community Choice Act (CCA)

Summary from adapt.org

http://www.adapt.org/cca-summary.php

The Community Choice Act gives people real choice in long term care options by reforming Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) by ending the institutional bias.

 The Community Choice Act allows individualseligible for Nursing Facility Services or Intermediate Care Facility Services for the Mentally Retarded (ICF-MR) the opportunity to choose instead a new alternative, “Community-based Attendant Services and Supports”. The money follows the individual!

In addition, by providing an enhanced match and grants for the transition to Real Choice before October 2011 when the benefit becomes permanent, the Community Choice Act offers states financial assistance to reform their long term service and support system to provide services in the most integrated setting.

Specifically, what does this bill do?

1) Provides community-based attendant services and supports ranging from assistance with:

• activities of daily living (eating, toileting, grooming, dressing, bathing, transferring)
• instrumental activities of daily living (meal planning and preparation, managing finances, shopping, household chores, phoning, participating in the community),
• and health-related functions

2) Includes hands-on assistance, supervision and/or cueing, as well as help to learn, keep and enhance skills to accomplish such activities.

 

3) Requires services be provided in THE MOST INTEGRATED SETTING appropriate to the needs of the individual.

4) Provides Community-based Attendant Services and Supports that are:

• based on functional need, rather than diagnosis or age;
• provided in home or community settings like — school, work, recreation or religious facility;
• selected, managed and controlled by the consumer of the services;
• supplemented with backup and emergency attendant services;
• furnished according to a service plan agreed to by the consumer;

that include voluntary training on selecting, managing and dismissing attendants.

5) Allows consumers to choose among various service delivery models including vouchers, direct cash payments, fiscal agents and agency providers. All models are required to be consumer controlled.

6) For consumers who are not able to direct their own care independently, the Community Choice Act allows for a individual representative to be authorized by the consumer to assist. A representative might be a friend, family member, guardian, or advocate.

7) Allows health-related functions or tasks to be assigned to, delegated to, or performed by unlicensed personal attendants, according to state laws.

8 ) Covers individual transition costs from a nursing facility or ICF-MR to a home setting, for example: rent and utility deposits, bedding, basic kitchen supplies and other necessities required for the transition.

9) Serves individuals with incomes above the current institutional income limitation — if a state chooses to waive this limitation to enhance employment potential.

10) Provides for quality assurance programs which promote consumer control and satisfaction.

11) Provides for maintenance of effort assurance requirement so that states can not diminish more enriched programs already being provided.

12) Allows enhanced match (up to 90% Federal funding) for individuals whose costs exceed 150% of average nursing home costs.

13) Between 2005 and 2009, after which the services become permanent, provides enhanced matches (10% more federal funds each) for states which:

• begin planning for activities for changing their long term care systems, and/or Community-based Attendant Services and Supports in their Medicaid State Plan
• include Community-based Attendant Services and Supports in their Medicaid State Plan.

SYSTEM CHANGE

14) Provides grants for Systems Change Initiatives to help the states transition from current institutionally dominated service systems to ones more focused on community based services and supports, guided by a Consumer Task Force.

15) Calls for national 5 -10 year demonstration project, in 5 states, to enhance coordination of services for non-elderly individuals dually eligible for Medicaid AND Medicare.

Health Care Reform Myths

Facts on health care reform
August 21, 2009
Epilepsy Foundation: The Facts on Health Reform

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

Get the Facts on health care reform efforts!
The Epilepsy Foundation recognizes that there is a lot of information, research, reports and opinions on health care reform – and this information is only growing as Congress debates this issue and moves further with legislation. While there may be many areas for disagreement on some aspects of health care reform packages, the Foundation has long supported health care reform that will provide access to affordable insurance products that cover the treatment and care needed for all Americans with epilepsy.

There are some myths that deserve to be addressed and understood so that everyone can move on to the most important issue – ensuring that health care reform addresses the needs of our nation in a responsible manner. Some of the top myths are discussed below.

MYTH 1: Health care reform will result in government control of the health care system and universal health care.

Health care access for all is a principle supported by the Epilepsy Foundation. This means that all people with epilepsy have access to insurance products that do not discriminate against them based on their health status.
None of the proposals put forward in the United States Senate or in the House of Representatives or by the President have proposed a government-run health care system in which the federal government is the single payer. The proposals being considered in Congress build on our existing employer-based system and strengthen it by providing the following:
premium subsidies for lower income families with the subsidy adjusted on a sliding scale based on income so that health coverage is affordable;
tax credits for small businesses so they can afford to offer health coverage to their employees;
prohibitions against preexisting condition exclusions and waiting periods;
and the creation of a marketplace for individuals and businesses to purchase affordable and high-quality health plans from private or public insurers.

MYTH 2: Health care reform takes choice and decision-making out of the hands of patients and will lead to euthanasia for senior citizens.

This is a disturbing myth that has been brought up in debates and media stories. The bills being considered in Congress and the ideas being proposed by the President do not put your health care decision-making authority in the hands of government and will not lead to euthanasia by requiring senior citizens to submit to “end-of-life consultations.”

The Epilepsy Foundation encourages all individuals to plan and discuss living wills and health care proxy (someone appointed to make health decisions in the event that you are unable to do so yourself). The health care reform legislation being considered in Congress preserves choice and decision-making for patients, including the choice for seniors to consult with their doctors about the
care they choose to receive if they have an advanced disease. The bills before Congress would provide reimbursement to cover such advanced care consultations for seniors once every five years, and slightly more often if the patient has a life threatening disease. These consultations are not mandatory, and if chosen, would do nothing to promote euthanasia which is in fact illegal in 48 states. Patients regularly consult with their doctors about end-of-life treatment and this provision in health care reform will simply establish a method of reimbursing physicians so they can be paid for the time they spend consulting with their patients. Some reports have supported this initiative because it helps patients and families preserve their end of life decisions, plan for expected health care changes, and save money on health care costs as patients, families and doctors know the patient’s care choices in advance.

MYTH 3: Health care reform will provide coverage to illegal immigrants

None of the health care reform bills would provide any health coverage to the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. In fact, section 242 of the House health care reform bill, “America’s Affordable Health Choice Act,” contains explicit language that states that federal payment is prohibited for undocumented aliens and that nothing in the subtitle shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

MYTH 4: Health care reform will put private insurance companies out of business

Many national organizations representing the insurance industry support health care reform. Considering that all of the reform proposals before the Congress are built upon the existing private insurance market, there seems little or no chance that any of the plans would lead to extinction of private insurance companies. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Congress’ nonpartisan budget analyst, has analyzed the House health care reform plan and found that it will not force out private insurers, contradicting one of the chief criticisms of health care reform.. The vast majority of uninsured Americans will move into some private health insurance plan either offered by their employer or purchased by them in the new health insurance marketplace created by the reform legislation.

MYTH 5: Health care reform won’t benefit people like me, who have insurance

While reducing the growing number of the uninsured in the United States is a major goal of health care reform, all Americans will benefit – and not solely from a healthier society. Under health insurance reform, every American will have health coverage they can count on, even if they lose their job, change jobs, move, or get sick. Health care reform will prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, cap the out-of-pocket spending on health care for individuals and families so that they do not go bankrupt trying to pay for necessary medical care, and provide consumers with more choice and portability in health insurance coverage.

We encourage everyone to learn more about health care reform legislation and to share their health care stories and needs with policy makers.

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/

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