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

Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide

Excerpt from: Huffington Post (click for full article)

 

Organizations and companies have begun laying off workers, while many more have decided not to staff vacant positions. Schools on military bases are contemplating four-day weekly schedules. Food pantries have closed, as have centers that provide health services. Farmers have been forced to go without milk production information, causing alarm in the dairy industry and the potential of higher milk prices. Workers at missile-testing fields are facing job losses. Federal courts have closed on Fridays. Public Broadcasting transmitters have been shut down. Even luxury cruises are feeling the pinch, with passengers forced to wait hours before debarking because of delays at Customs and Immigration. Yes, sequestration is creating the possibility of another poop cruise.

On the national level, sequestration may be defined by canceled White House tours and long lines at airports that never materialized. But on the local level, it is beginning to sting.

"Absolutely we're feeling the effects of it," said Cathy Hoskins, executive director of the Salt Lake Community Action Program, which just closed a food pantry in Murray, Utah. "And our employees are trying to absorb the biggest parts of the cuts by taking furloughs and having the agency contribution to their retirement plan suspended."

Is the Estate Tax Doomed?

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

Under the deal struck by President Obama and Congress to avert the “fiscal cliff,” the estate tax — long targeted for elimination by Republicans — survived, but in a substantially diminished form.

The estate tax has a history as long and controversial as the income tax. Its first modern version appeared in the federal tax code in 1916, three years after the ratification of the 16th Amendment, which authorized the federal income tax. Advocates of the estate tax see it as a crucial tool for raising revenue and a buffer against the sharp, nearly inexorable rise in inequality over the past four decades. Opponents, who call the levy “the death tax,” say it penalizes savers, harms growth and interferes with parents’ ability to pass on their wealth to their children.

What Will Sequestration Mean for People with Disabilities?

Excerpt from: National Council on Disability (click for full article)

 

A series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal government spending totaling $1.2 trillion over the course of 10 years are set to take effect this Friday, March 1. Dubbed “sequestration” these cuts, if implemented, will be split between defense and domestic discretionary spending. 

The National Council on Disability (NCD) urges the Executive Branch and Congress to find a responsible alternative to sequestration to prevent potential harm to Americans with disabilities and their families.

Infographic: Children and Families with Disabilities Smacked by Sequester

Excerpt from: Center for American Progress (click for full article)

 

What the 'Sequester' Could Mean for You

Excerpt from: AARP (click for full article)

 

Here we go again: Congress and the White House simply can't get past their budget differences.

At this point, the nation is no longer facing a single trigger point that would unleash economic calamity. Instead, with no deal in sight, we face a series of them:

• March 1 — The "sequester" — a very large remnant of the deal that averted the "fiscal cliff" at the beginning of the year — kicks in and cuts a whopping $85 billion from military and domestic programs.
  
  
• March 27 — Funding to continue running the country expires, meaning the government shuts down.
  
  
• May 18 — Uncle Sam again hits the debt ceiling, meaning we can't borrow more money. Come July or August, we'll be facing default.

Goldberg: Time to Help States Make Lemonade on Issue of Long-Term Care?

Excerpt from: Roll Call (click for full article)

 

The enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 averted the so-called fiscal cliff, but it also repealed the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act that was intended to create a public mechanism to help people pay for long-term services and supports if they become disabled.

The repeal was not a surprise. More than a year ago the administration abandoned plans to implement CLASS after it became clear that premiums for the program as designed — with participation to be voluntary rather than mandatory — would be too high to attract more than a tiny percentage of the population.

CLASS was flawed, but it was the first major effort in decades to provide an alternative to impoverishment and welfare for millions of working-age people who at some point will need long-term services and supports. With the decision to repeal CLASS rather than amend it, the nation has no viable strategy to help people finance their long-term care.

Moody's warns Maine about credit downgrade

Excerpt from: Portland Press Herald (click for full article)

 

The Obama administration allowed funding exemptions that will save the state $4.5 million in Medicaid costs in the last four months of the fiscal year ending June 30. However, it denied other exemptions that would have saved a total of $23 million to help offset a Medicaid revenue shortfall that's topping $100 million, according to Maine officials.

Moody's issued the warning as a "credit negative," which doesn't change Maine's bond rating but warns of a potential downgrade.

A lower credit rating could increase interest rates that the state pays to borrow money when it issues bonds.

"Moody's declaration of 'credit positive' or 'credit negative' does not connote a ratings change," spokesman David Jacobson said in a written statement. "We are stating what the potential impact of these actions and decisions could be on an issuer's credit rating."

The Estate Tax Provisions of the Fiscal Cliff Tax Act

Excerpt from: TaxProf Blog (click for full article)

 

As you may already have learned, in the first two days of 2013, Congress passed a tax compromise that averts the “fiscal cliff” and makes permanent the federal estate tax with an exemption of $5.12 million per individual and a tax rate of 40% for amounts over the exemption. But this news bite might leave you hungry for details about the estate tax, such as portability of the exemption, and the other wealth transfer taxes–the gift tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax. This post aims to answer your questions and serve as a useful resource.

What’s next for disability and long-term care?

Excerpt from: The Reality-Based Community (click for full article)

 

The fiscal cliff law does create a new commission which is tasked to come up with a solution to the financing problem, and also to address delivery and workforce issues….

We haven’t really done a good review of long-term care policies since the Pepper commission in 1990. It’s absolutely time that we do it again.

But this commission will be hamstrung by a very short time frame. Its members must be appointed within 30 days. The commission has to make its recommendations within six months after that. I honestly don’t think it’s possible to perform a serious review and deliver a set of serious proposals in six months.

It’s also concerning that this commission is not connected to any federal agency. Normally, you would think that something like this would have some connection with the Department of Health and Human Services, but it’s not. It’s floating around out there with no bureaucratic home.

Landers: Looking for an affordable answer to long-term care

Excerpt from: Dallas News (click for full article)

 

The fiscal cliff legislation passed last week killed off an unworkable long-term care insurance plan that was part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. In its place, Congress created a study commission to come up with a solution to one of America’s most difficult and expensive health care problems.

While most Americans will need long-term care in a nursing facility or at home, hardly anyone has insurance for it. We rely instead on family members, personal savings and — after going broke — on Medicaid.

Medicare does not pay for it.

That’s a hard set of choices for care that, in the Dallas area, can cost an average of $ 185 a day.