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

Bill would let voters with disabilities sign with stamps

Excerpt from: Lansing State Journal (click for full article)

 

If state Rep. Andy Schor has his way, voting will be uneventful the next time Lee Abramson casts his ballot.

The East Lansing man — unable to hold a pen because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — won’t have to vote twice or have an election official pay him a visit. He’ll simply sign his ballot envelope with his signature stamp and know his vote will be counted.

Schor took action Friday by proposing to change election law that narrowly dictates how voters with disabilities must sign their absentee ballots.

Demystifying the Fiscal Impasse That Is Vexing Washington

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

 

Many Americans must be wondering: What is all this about a “fiscal cliff”? And why did it receive so little attention during the presidential campaign?

Well, it’s complicated — the so-called cliff, that is. And most solutions are politically painful. In a rare show of bipartisanship, or mutual protection, both parties ducked the debate until after the election. What follows is an attempt to demystify the issue, which President Obama and the lame-duck Congress now are struggling over, and which may occupy them right through the holidays.

Q. What is the fiscal cliff?

A. The term refers to more than $500 billion in tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect after Jan. 1 — for fiscal year 2013 alone — unless Mr. Obama and Republicans reach an alternative deficit-reduction deal. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, who is not known for catchy phrases, coined the metaphor “fiscal cliff” last winter to warn of the dangerous yet avoidable drop-off ahead in the nation’s fiscal path. It stuck.

Ala. governor rejects state exchange, Medicaid expansion

Excerpt from: The Hill (click for full article)

 

Another Republican governor on Tuesday formally refused to set up an insurance exchange under President Obama's healthcare law.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said the state will not establish an exchange and also will not participate in the law's Medicaid expansion.

National conservatives are pressuring GOP governors to reject both exchanges and the Medicaid expansion, hoping to cause problems for "ObamaCare" by complicating the implementation process now that repeal is off the table.

Bentley joins a handful of other GOP stalwarts who have said they won't proceed with either policy. Their approach comes with risks, though, namely by ensuring a far greater federal role in their states' healthcare systems.

Medicaid expansion decision looms for many states

Excerpt from: Politico Pro (click for full article)

 

Clues about governors’ intentions for Medicaid expansion are beginning to seep out of tight-lipped state capitals, and it may be the start of a deluge.

Most have kept silent until now, waiting for the presidential election to determine whether the Affordable Care Act — and its optional Medicaid expansion — would survive. But President Barack Obama’s reelection, combined with looming budget deadlines in all of the indecisive states, could force their hands.

Millions of Americans’ access to health care is in the balance. Under the ACA, nearly all adults earning under 138 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for Medicaid in states that undertake the expansion. The early estimates that the law would get 30 million or more uninsured Americans covered were based on the assumption that all 50 states would expand their programs, insuring 16 million additional people.

Already, a handful of governors have indicated that they’ll use their state budget process to make a decision about Medicaid.

Clues about governors’ intentions for Medicaid expansion are beginning to seep out of tight-lipped state capitals, and it may be the start of a deluge.

Most have kept silent until now, waiting for the presidential election to determine whether the Affordable Care Act — and its optional Medicaid expansion — would survive. But President Barack Obama’s reelection, combined with looming budget deadlines in all of the indecisive states, could force their hands.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83787.html#ixzz2CtBAKPmt

Clues about governors’ intentions for Medicaid expansion are beginning to seep out of tight-lipped state capitals, and it may be the start of a deluge.

Most have kept silent until now, waiting for the presidential election to determine whether the Affordable Care Act — and its optional Medicaid expansion — would survive. But President Barack Obama’s reelection, combined with looming budget deadlines in all of the indecisive states, could force their hands.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83787.html#ixzz2CtBAKPmt

Kerry promotes treaty for disabled people

Excerpt from: News Telegram (click for full article)

 

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., is seeking to extend the work of his late colleague through ratification of a treaty that would guarantee equality for people living with disabilities.

Marking more than two decades since passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law that was sponsored by the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Mr. Kerry is hoping to move the Treaty on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through the full Senate.

It would set international standards and seek to provide disabled Americans with equal rights and accommodations when they travel, live, or study abroad.

“This is about who we are as Americans,” Mr. Kerry said in a prepared statement. “We lead the world to make sure people are treated with dignity and respect. This is the right thing to do.”

What Do the Election Results Mean for Seniors?

Excerpt from: Elder Law Answers (click for full article)

 

Now that the votes are counted (almost all of them, anyway) and President Obama has a second term, what does it mean for seniors? While President Obama's re-election means Medicare and Medicaid as we know them will likely be preserved at least for the next four years, many challenges are still ahead.  

One of the biggest outcomes of the election is that the Affordable Care Act (ACA – a.k.a. "Obamacare"), which candidate Mitt Romney had promised to repeal, will almost certainly remain as law and be fully implemented.  The law is already beginning to close the gap in Medicare’s prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole," as well as providing free preventative care for Medicare recipients. The ACA also included a number of provisions aimed at improving long-term care and helping recipients remain in their homes rather than be forced into nursing homes, and these will continue to be carried out.

There may be some issues ahead, however.  Before the end of the year, Congress will try to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff," which is what will happen if it fails to act on continuing at least some of the Bush-era tax cuts and fails to prevent automatic spending cuts that it agreed to as part of last year's deficit reduction deal.  Many economists believe that the combination of the two could send the fragile economy back into recession.  Lawmakers are now trying to agree on a "grand bargian," alternative spending and revenue measures that will will help reduce the deficit while not damaging the economy. 

Although Medicare and Medicaid will likely maintain their current structures, cuts may be made during these negotiations or later. The President still has to deal with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, many of whom want to cut spending and entitlement programs.

Improvements sought for health insurance law

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

 

While the future of the 2010 health care law stabilized with the re-election of President Obama, both Democrats and Republicans say now is the time for them to come together to fix it.

"They need to actually create some solutions together," said Don Berwick, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "I've had a few conversations with people from both sides; everyone resonates with the idea that something needs to happen."

Until Tuesday, when Obama's future was determined, Republicans opposed to the law waited for a change in administrations that would allow them to repeal the law. That will not happen now with a Democrat in the White House for the next four years. Repeal is no longer an option, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called it the law of the land.

But changes are imminent. "It's pretty clear to me that the [law] will not end up the way it is now," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former economic policy adviser to 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Coming Together to Tackle Unemployment Among Veterans

Excerpt from: Huffington Post (click for full article)

 

Now that Campaign 2012 is quickly becoming a distant memory -- and as the effort to build bridges after a hotly-contested race intensifies in Washington and across our great nation -- here's something that we can all agree is an important problem that we can all help solve: unemployment for veterans with disabilities.

Every American has a role to play. Every community has a job to do in this all out effort to help this highly skilled, virtually untapped, human resource -- veterans of the best military force in the world -- secure good, competitive careers. We all can help these injured heroes become independent, productive tax payers, and help them reach their full potential.

How can we tackle this problem?

Paralyzed Veterans of America does it through our Mission: ABLE campaign. The jobs piece of that is called PAVE, Paving Access for Veterans Employment-- which involves all sectors in finding a sustainable solution to unemployment. Through PAVE, we connect directly with injured veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spinal cord injury centers. Our growing network of career counselors across the nation work with these awesome potential employees every step of the way in that journey back to the work force.

Federal Deficit Talks Could Impact Obama’s Moves On Health Law

Excerpt from: Kaiser Health News (click for full article)

 

President Barack Obama’s victory preserves the federal health overhaul that he championed. The law, which withstood a challenge at the Supreme Court last summer and was bitterly assailed by Republicans during the campaign, is slated to move forward with Democratic control of the White House and Senate.

But some analysts predict the mounting pressures to reduce federal spending will complicate efforts to implement the law, known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In addition, the end of the campaign season may signal the end of the Democrats’ reluctance to work with opponents on tweaking provisions of the law that have raised concerns.

Criticizing the law before the election would not have been “politically smart,” said Dan Mendelson, chief executive of the consulting firm Avalere Health who oversaw health programs at the Clinton administration’s Office of Management and Budget. But with Obama’s victory and Democrats’ ability to hold onto the Senate, "I think that adjustments are on the table" as part of a larger deal to reduce the federal deficit, he said.

Fallin Weighs Medicaid Expansion, Health Insurance Exchange

Excerpt from: Tulsa World (click for full article)

 

A spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin says she isn't rushing into a decision about accepting federal funding for a state Medicaid expansion under the provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act - although her own milestone for that decision has now come and gone.

Meanwhile, her administration seems to be opening the door to the possibility that the state will establish a state-based health insurance exchange, an issue that had seemed to be resolved.

The federal law - "Obamacare" to its critics - would provide Medicaid services to all families at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level as one of its primary means of reducing the number of uninsured Americans.

The federal government would pay for 100 percent of the cost of newly eligible Medicaid patients for three years and then gradually shifts costs to the state until a 10 percent cap was reached in 2020.

But when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that that part of the federal law was unconstitutional, it made state participation in the Medicaid expansion essentially optional. Several Republican governors quickly announced that they would not accept the money, but Fallin has put off a decision, repeatedly saying she didn't want to make a call until after the presidential election.