Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

SSI/SSP Cut Means Life’s About To Get Tougher for Seniors and People With Disabilities

Excerpt from California Budget Bites: (click for entire article)

A Toronto woman accused of forcing her elderly mother-in-law to live in a barely heated garage this past winter was granted bail Thursday.

Dressed in a green prison sweatsuit, Qi Tan, 28, hung her head as an Ontario judge approved her release on $100,000 bail.

Last month, Tan and her husband, Kwong Yan, 43, were both charged with failure to provide the necessities of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm after police found a 68-year-old woman suffering from frostbite to her arms, fingers and toes in a garage attached their house in east Toronto. A few days later, the couple turned themselves into police and have since remained in custody.

Toronto woman accused of elder abuse granted bail

Excerpt from Canada.com: (click for entire article)

A Toronto woman accused of forcing her elderly mother-in-law to live in a barely heated garage this past winter was granted bail Thursday.

Dressed in a green prison sweatsuit, Qi Tan, 28, hung her head as an Ontario judge approved her release on $100,000 bail.

Last month, Tan and her husband, Kwong Yan, 43, were both charged with failure to provide the necessities of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm after police found a 68-year-old woman suffering from frostbite to her arms, fingers and toes in a garage attached their house in east Toronto. A few days later, the couple turned themselves into police and have since remained in custody.

MSU researcher awarded $3.3M grant to help overweight, poor mothers improve health

Excerpt from Detroit Free Press: (click for entire article)

A Michigan State University researcher has been awarded a five-year, $3.3 million federal grant to help low-income mothers who are overweight or obese improve their health by eating well, being active and better dealing with stress.

The program, Mothers In Motion, will be funded by the National Institutes of Health and will partner with two existing programs — the federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and MSU Extension.

Lawmakers Ask IRS to Investigate AARP

Excerpt from The Chronicle of Philanthropy: (click for entire article)

Three Republican members of Congress have asked the IRS to investigate whether AARP, the giant advocacy organization for older people, abused its tax-exempt status by lobbying for the new health-care law when it stood to profit from one of its provisions.

Reps. Wally Herger of California, Dave Reichert of Washington, and Charles Boustany of Louisiana—all members of the Ways and Means Committee—issued a report saying that AARP’s business operations could make more than $1-billion over 10 years from increased demand for a specific kind of  insurance plan designed to supplement Medicare.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Settles Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Lawsuit with Virginia's Inova Health System

Excerpt from Disability.gov: (click for entire article)

DOJ has settled with Inova Health System to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing when providing medical services. Inova failed to provide sign language interpreters to an expectant mother and others who are deaf and needed interpreters to communicate. The ADA and the Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities by hospitals.

FDA Probes Link Between Food Dyes, Kids' Behavior

Excerpt from NPR: (click for entire article)

The Food and Drug Administration is meeting Wednesday and Thursday to examine whether artificial food dyes cause hyperactivity in children. Artificial food dyes are made from petroleum and approved for use by the FDA to enhance the color of processed foods.

They've been around for decades and are found in everything from pudding to potato chips to soft drinks.

But recent studies linking food coloring to hyperactivity in kids is causing some experts to call on the FDA to ban foods containing them — or at least require a warning label.

Hidden Costs Of Health Care And The CLASS Act

Excerpt from Health Reform Talk: (click for entire article)

Individuals in the United States spend $363 billion more on health care than is traditionally reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a new Deloitte report.

More than half of that additional spending (55%) was for the estimated value of supervisory care, or care given by unpaid relatives and friends.

The connection to health care reform? Sec. 8002(a)(1) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148), as I explain below.

Accepting Nominations for the 2011 Voice Awards

From SAMHSA:  

Celebrating Those Who Make a Difference for Behavioral Health

SAMHSA Is Accepting Nominations for the 2011 Voice Awards

Do you know a TV or film professional or a behavioral health consumer/peer leader who has been a key player in educating the public about behavioral health (mental health and/or addiction issues)? If so, please help SAMHSA recognize him or her by nominating his or her work for a 2011 Voice Award.

Consumer/Peer Leaders The 2011 Voice Awards will honor consumer/peer leaders who have promoted the social inclusion of individuals with trauma histories and behavioral health problems, have personally demonstrated that recovery is real and possible, and have made a positive impact on their community, workplace, or school. TV and Film Professionals The 2011 Voice Awards also will honor TV and film productions released after April 15, 2010 that offer dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of individuals with trauma histories and behavioral health problems.

Visit the Voice Awards Website To Submit Your Nomination

ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2011.

Nominations are open to anyone and are free. There is no limit to the number of nominations an individual can submit. Self-nominations are welcome.

The Voice Awards are part of the Campaign for Behavioral Health Recovery, a multiyear public service advertising program of SAMHSA and the Ad Council to promote understanding and support for young adults and others with behavioral health problems. Learn More

Hard Times Prompt Calls For Zany Medicaid Measures

Excerpt from NPR: (click for entire article)

When New York's Medicaid director asked the public for money-saving ideas, the most popular suggestion, as measured by the sheer volume of emails, left him a bit red-faced: End payments for routine circumcisions.

Though the idea didn't make the cut for New York's latest cost-curbing plan, it's just one example of how interest groups, such as the anti-circumcision group Intaction.org, businesses and other policy proponents are pushing to capitalize on states' dire Medicaid shortfalls.

"At budget time, you've got many organizations coming in talking about how their product could save us millions or billions," said Deborah Bachrach, who directed New York's Medicaid program and now works for Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, a law firm. "Sometimes there were good ideas there, other times there weren't."

In California, for instance, a measure became law last week that would, among other things, pay for automated medication dispensing devices for Medicaid patients beginning in July. Lawmakers said that could save $140 million a year. The proposal is short on details.

The key to Social Security children’s disability cases: functional equivalence

Excerpt from Colorado Social Security Law: (click for entire article)

Most children’s Social Security disability cases are decided using Functional Equivalence. If you need some background before diving into this, check out my earlier piece on the basics of Social Security and children’s disability benefits.

If you cannot clearly prove that a child meets or medically equals a listing, it often a good idea to prepare to prove the case using functional equivalence. Do not worry about the terminology. The process is fairly simple: to decide functional equivalence, Social Security looks at children’s functions in 6 areas (or “domains”):

   1. Acquiring and using information.
   2. Attending and completing tasks.
   3. Interacting and relating with others.
   4. Moving about and manipulating objects.
   5. Caring for yourself.
   6. Health and physical well-being.