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

“High Concentrations” of NY’ers with Disabilities Live in Flood Zones

Excerpt from: Public News Service (click for full article)

 

A high concentration of people with disabilities live in flood-prone areas of New York such as Zone A, advocates say, so planners need to take that into account for future storms.

All told, says Susan Dooha, executive director of the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York, some 118,000 people with disabilities were living in the city's major flood zone when Superstorm Sandy made its terrible impact. In one part of Zone A, she says, the occupancy rate for people with disabilities is nearly twice that of the rest of the city.

"That suggests that planning for the Zone A areas and recovery efforts should be concentrated heavily on the needs of people with disabilities."

U2's the Edge Launches Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund

Excerpt from: The Rolling Stone (click for full article)

 

U2 guitarist the Edge has expanded his Music Rising initiative with a new Hurricane Sandy relief fund. Music Rising will donate an initial $250,000 to aid in rebuilding music programs in the tri-state area affected by Hurricane Sandy in October. For more information, visit Music Rising's website. 

Health plans, participants hit by Sandy get a break

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

 

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued guidance for parties connected to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans that have been adversely affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Department of Labor states that it understands that plan fiduciaries, employers, labor organizations, service providers, participants, and beneficiaries may have plan compliance-related problems over the next few months.


The relief provided in this guidance applies to employee benefit plans, plan sponsors, and plan service providers that were located on October 26, 2012 in one of the counties or Tribal Nations that have been identified as covered disaster areas because of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, and is in addition to the Form 5500 relief furnished by the IRS earlier.

Although much of the guidance involves retirement plans, including such issues as participant contributions and loan repayments, there is some relief for group health plans and participants.

NY Seeks Medicaid Funds for State's Sandy-affected Healthcare Providers

Excerpt from: WNYC News (click for full article)

 

State health officials are asking the federal government for almost a half-billion dollars worth of special Medicaid funding for hospitals, nursing homes and clinics affected by Sandy.

Much of the money is to repair damaged buildings and equipment . But much of it is also intended to compensate places that either have closed and lost patients, or stayed open and received evacuees.

“Providers’ lost revenues … are of paramount concern for the Medicaid program,” wrote New York Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson, in a letter to U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Many of the facilities receiving displaced patients are in dire fiscal situations today, and taking on additional patients is destabilizing their fragile financial conditions.”

Disabled people especially vulnerable in calamities such as Hurricane Sandy

Excerpt from: Media dis&dat (click for full article)

 

Evacuating during Hurricane Sandy was a nightmare for the able-bodied, but many disabled New Yorkers felt a frightening level of despair and abandonment.

During disasters like Hurricane Sandy, "disabled people are really left to die. . . .It's really survival of the fittest," said Reginald Ragland, 59, who relies on a power wheelchair and is still living in a Middle Village nursing home while he waits for heat and hot water to be restored in his NYCHA apartment in Far Rockaway.

There's no official count of disabled people who died in the latest storm, but their stories are prominent in the news: John Paterno, 65, a legally blind man with cerebral palsy who was partially paralyzed, drowned in his Midland Beach home. Family members watched helplessly as Herminia St. John, 75, perished in her Gramercy Park apartment when the power outage stopped her oxygen machine.

For Disabled New Yorkers, Effects From Hurricane Sandy to Linger For Months

Excerpt from: DNAinfo.com (click for full article)

 

Winsome Williams knew she'd have to act fast when the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy began pouring into the Shore Parkway apartment she shares with her adult daughter, who has cerebral palsy and relies on an electric wheelchair to get around.

"I saw the water rising faster and faster and said, 'How am I going to get her out?'" Williams recalled.

Soon, firefighters were carrying a tearful Schevon, 32, up to a relative's third-floor apartment in the walk-up building where she lives.

Mother and daughter survived — but Schevon's $5,000 electric wheelchair didn't.

Neither did the $2,000 hospital bed that allowed her to sleep slightly elevated and not gag. Meanwhile, the fate of the $7,000 device known as a DynaVox that allowed Schevon to communicate by pressing a touch-screen was unclear.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, disabled New Yorkers say they have even greater obstacles to overcome to recover from the storm. The loss of handicap-accessible apartments and important equipment has left some in difficult situations.

Winsome Williams knew she'd have to act fast when the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy began pouring into the Shore Parkway apartment she shares with her adult daughter, who has cerebral palsy and relies on an electric wheelchair to get around.

"I saw the water rising faster and faster and said, 'How am I going to get her out?'" Williams recalled.

Soon, firefighters were carrying a tearful Schevon, 32, up to a relative's third-floor apartment in the walk-up building where she lives.

Mother and daughter survived — but Schevon's $5,000 electric wheelchair didn't.

Neither did the $2,000 hospital bed that allowed her to sleep slightly elevated and not gag. Meanwhile, the fate of the $7,000 device known as a DynaVox that allowed Schevon to communicate by pressing a touch-screen was unclear.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, disabled New Yorkers say they have even greater obstacles to overcome to recover from the storm. The loss of handicap-accessible apartments and important equipment has left some in difficult situations.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121113/kensington/for-disabled-new-yorkers-effects-from-hurricane-sandy-linger-for-months#ixzz2CgHDKoEd

Winsome Williams knew she'd have to act fast when the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy began pouring into the Shore Parkway apartment she shares with her adult daughter, who has cerebral palsy and relies on an electric wheelchair to get around.

"I saw the water rising faster and faster and said, 'How am I going to get her out?'" Williams recalled.

Soon, firefighters were carrying a tearful Schevon, 32, up to a relative's third-floor apartment in the walk-up building where she lives.

Mother and daughter survived — but Schevon's $5,000 electric wheelchair didn't.

Neither did the $2,000 hospital bed that allowed her to sleep slightly elevated and not gag. Meanwhile, the fate of the $7,000 device known as a DynaVox that allowed Schevon to communicate by pressing a touch-screen was unclear.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, disabled New Yorkers say they have even greater obstacles to overcome to recover from the storm. The loss of handicap-accessible apartments and important equipment has left some in difficult situations.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121113/kensington/for-disabled-new-yorkers-effects-from-hurricane-sandy-linger-for-months#ixzz2CgHDKoEd

Winsome Williams knew she'd have to act fast when the floodwaters from Hurricane Sandy began pouring into the Shore Parkway apartment she shares with her adult daughter, who has cerebral palsy and relies on an electric wheelchair to get around.

"I saw the water rising faster and faster and said, 'How am I going to get her out?'" Williams recalled.

Soon, firefighters were carrying a tearful Schevon, 32, up to a relative's third-floor apartment in the walk-up building where she lives.

Mother and daughter survived — but Schevon's $5,000 electric wheelchair didn't.

Neither did the $2,000 hospital bed that allowed her to sleep slightly elevated and not gag. Meanwhile, the fate of the $7,000 device known as a DynaVox that allowed Schevon to communicate by pressing a touch-screen was unclear.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, disabled New Yorkers say they have even greater obstacles to overcome to recover from the storm. The loss of handicap-accessible apartments and important equipment has left some in difficult situations.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20121113/kensington/for-disabled-new-yorkers-effects-from-hurricane-sandy-linger-for-months#ixzz2CgHDKoEd

Suit May Go On in Disaster Plan for the Disabled

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

 

A judge has agreed to allow a class-action lawsuit to proceed against New York City alleging a systemic failure in addressing the needs of the disabled population in planning for emergencies and disasters.

The lawsuit was filed last year after Tropical Storm Irene; the lawyers have contended that there were significant gaps in the city’s plans to accommodate people with disabilities at city shelters or to evacuate them from high rises, among other claims.

Judge Jesse M. Furman of Federal District Court in Manhattan cited  Hurricane Sandy’s impact in support of granting class-action status to the plaintiffs: the city’s estimated disabled population of about 900,000 people.

The judge wrote that it was impossible to know “if or when disaster will strike the city, but — as the tragic events of the past few weeks make abundantly clear — it is beyond ‘mere conjecture’ that another disaster, whether natural or man-made, will occur and that it will seriously affect members of the proposed class.”

Jack Johnson Donates $50,000 to Sandy Recovery Efforts

Excerpt from: Rolling Stone (click from full article)

 

Jack Johnson has donated $50,000 to various Hurricane Sandy relief and recovery efforts as many New York and New Jersey residents remain displaced or without electricity.

Along with contributions to the Food Bank for New York City, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Save the Children, Waves for Water, GlobalGiving and Direct Relief International, Johnson also shipped 3,000 sweatshirts and thermal shirts from his merchandise warehouse to Waves for Water, which will distribute the items to those in coastal communities further set back by the winter storm that just hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. 

In addition to his own donations, Johnson is encouraging fans to support recovery efforts in any way possible, from donations of money, food or supplies to volunteering through groups like HandsOn Network, NYC Service and Jersey Cares. 

Johnson is not the only artist to lend a hand to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Lady Gaga is donating $1 million to the American Red Cross, and  Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Sting, Billy Joel and many more joined forces for NBC's "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" telethon, which raised $23 million for the Red Cross.

Treasury and IRS Expand Availability of Housing for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Excerpt from: IRS.gov (click for full article)

 

As part of the administration’s continued support for states and local partners impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today announced that they will waive low-income housing tax credit rules that prohibit owners of low-income housing from providing housing to victims of Hurricane Sandy who do not qualify as low-income. The action will expand the availability of housing for disaster victims and their families.

Because of the widespread devastation to housing caused by Hurricane Sandy, the Treasury Department and the IRS will temporarily suspend income limitation requirements and non-transient requirements for qualified low-income housing projects that provide housing to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The President has declared that major disasters exist in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, making federal funding available to affected individuals in designated counties through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. FEMA has also approved Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) in New York and New Jersey for eligible disaster survivors who have a continuing need for shelter because they are unable to return to their homes for an extended period of time. Individuals and business owners who sustained losses can apply for assistance from FEMA by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) via mobile device at m.fema.gov, or online at www.disasterassistance.gov.

IRS Announces Qualified Disaster Treatment of Payments to Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Excerpt from: IRS.gov (click for more information)

 

The Internal Revenue Service today alerted employers and other taxpayers that because Hurricane Sandy is designated as a qualified disaster for federal tax purposes, qualified disaster relief payments made to individuals by their employer or any person can be excluded from those individuals’ taxable income.

Qualified disaster relief payments include amounts to cover necessary personal, family, living or funeral expenses that were not covered by insurance. They also include expenses to repair or rehabilitate personal residences or repair or replace the contents to the extent that they were not covered by insurance. Again, these payments would not be included in the individual recipient’s gross income.

The IRS also announced that the designation of Hurricane Sandy as a qualified disaster means that employer-sponsored private foundations may provide disaster relief to employee-victims in areas affected by the hurricane without affecting their tax-exempt status. Like all charitable organizations, employer-sponsored private foundations should follow the guidance in Publication 3833, Disaster Relief: Providing Assistance Through Charitable Organizations, in providing assistance to employees or their family members affected by Hurricane Sandy.