Saint Paul important event WEDNESDAY!!! Come!!

STOP THE EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES!
Cerenity Care Center near 7th and Arcade, St Paul, MN
Wednesday, 12 Oct 2011, 3:00 PM
This is a public rally to build public awareness around corporate and public policy decisions to close nursing homes. Every time a home closes, the residents who called it "home" are being evicted! We need to stop the cuts to nursing home jobs and public funding for critical services our seniors deserve!


Message from host: Cerenity Care Centers have just announced the closings of two nursing homes vital to their communities - Dellwood Place on the east side of St Paul and Bethesda HE Cerenity Care in South St Paul. Big business decisions and policy makes need to be accountable for their life-changing decisions! Many seniors do not long survive such traumatic changes in their lives and this is a real JOBS CUTS issue for all of the caregivers and staff who are losing their jobs and losing their American Dream!

Status: Public, open for RSVP, 21 attendees (max. 300)

Address:
    753 7th St East (Map)
    St Paul, MN 55106

http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/attendees/index.html?id=31867-8592068-CBe5utx&event_id=121768

Demos: Shocking impact of local cuts on disabled people revealed

Demos: Shocking impact of local cuts on disabled people revealed

When the HHS cuts were highlighted at long last, my thought was - "okay, now the law suits begin and they will prove more costly than the ALEC-proscribed 'cures'"

Well, the UK is a bit ahead of us in all this -- here's what to expect -- -LAW SUITS.  LAW SUITS. LAW SUITS in all kinds of areas no one ever thought would come to pass.

Coping with the Cuts, 2011

Research published by think tank Demos exposes the impact that local budget cuts are having on disabled people and indicates that some councils are making cuts to disabled people’s services without knowledge of the number or needs of people in their area.

*snip*

interviewing disabled families and their support

providers in three local authorities we have found that disabled

people often have to cope with the impact of multiple cuts

simultaneously—the people we spoke to were experiencing

increases in service charges, restrictions or reductions in

direct payments, and service closures all at the same time. The

cumulative effect on disabled families is that even cuts and

changes that seem evenly spread across services can converge

on individual families and have a disproportionately negative

effect. This is rarely taken into account in (local or national)

spending strategies and again underlines the importance of

robust impact assessments based on ‘real’ data from those

using services.

It is worth remembering that the successful legal

challenge to changes to care eligibility and cuts in

Birmingham were based on a lack of consultation with local

service users and an insufficient impact assessment.

136

The

presiding judge said, ‘even in… straitened times the need

for clear, well-informed decision making when assessing the

impacts on less advantaged members of society is as great, if

not greater’.

137

A more recent legal challenge by the National

Deaf Children’s Society against Stoke on Trent City Council

is also based on the lack of a proper impact assessment of the

cuts to deaf children’s services,

138

while at the time of writing,

the Isle of Wight was awaiting a High Court decision as to

whether a full judicial review should be undertaken regarding

its decision to increase care eligibility.

139

A Community Care survey suggests, in fact, that legal

challenges to local authority care policies have increased by

45 per cent this year.

140

Nonetheless, we did not carry out this analysis of local data

and mapping to name and shame local authorities or to fight the

budgetary cuts being made; instead we wanted to demonstrate

that a budgetary reduction need not inevitably lead to frontline cuts,

higher charges or poorer quality services. There are

ways—some innovative, some everyday and common-sense—to

mitigate the impact of the cuts on the front line and protect

disabled people from a reduction or restriction of services.

~ The most powerful testimony against cuts to the disabled ~

An eloquent man named Kurt Rutzen, who lives with cerebral palsy, sums up what extreme cuts to public services will mean to disabled people. He’s testifying to the Minnesota Senate, but the same story could be told in dozens of states across the country, and in Washington.



Originally submitted by Brandon W. Found on MNSenateDFL’s YouTube Channel.

Disability Rights Activists Are Even Invisible Getting Arrested on Capitol Hill by Janine Jackson

Published on Monday, May 9, 2011 by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)

Disability Rights Activists Are Even Invisible Getting Arrested on Capitol Hill

by Janine Jackson

Elite media’s selective disdain for public activism is well known. Still, you’d think some things would garner a word or two. Like 300 disability rights activists, a couple hundred in wheelchairs, occupying the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. The May 2 demonstration was organized by the rights group ADAPT to protest Republican budget plans for Medicaid. Ninety-one people were arrested and carted off by Capitol police.

Yet days after the rotunda protest, and another action the next day in which 300 demonstrators gathered outside the Longworth House Office Building, many getting inside to Rep. Paul Ryan's second floor office where 10 were arrested, the country's big media have taken no notice. Accounts in Politico (5/2/11) and the Hill (5/3/11) were all a search turned up.



ADAPT organizer Mike Ervin explained that it’s not just the roughly 35 percent funding cuts to Medicaid in the GOP’s budget proposal that concern the disability community, but the plan to convert states' federal shares into block grants. Many people with disabilities rely on Medicaid “for the assistance we get every day to live in our communities," rather than institutions.

As for the claim, from Ryan's Roadmap Plan, that block granting "allows states maximum flexibility to tailor their Medicaid programs to the specific needs of their populations," Ervin says, "That's like saying Jim Crow laws give states more flexibility to decide who gets to drink at their water fountains. Flexibility is basically a code word for abandonment."

People with disabilities (one community that anyone can join at any moment) and their advocates are right to worry their concerns won't be heard by lawmakers, to the extent that that involves dealing with a press corps that, evidently, can't even see them.

© 2011 FAIR

Janine Jackson is FAIR's program director and and producer/co-host of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. She contributes frequently to FAIR's magazine, Extra!and co-edited The FAIR Reader: An Extra! Review of Press and Politics in the '90s (Westview Press).

41 problems with the [MN] Health and Human Services bill

by: The Big E Wed Apr 27, 2011 at 18:00:00 PM CDT

Republicans think it is important that the wealthy don't pay the same tax percentage as we do.  They believe that the wealthy are magical job creators who create more jobs when they don't pay as much in taxes.  To make sure that the wealthy don't pay their fair share, Republicans are proposing deep cuts in the Health and Human Services budget. Lucinda Jesson is the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services and today she outlined 41 concerns she has with the bill.  Here are a few of the highlights (or low-lights) of the damage Republicans want to do: Repeal of the expansion of Medical Assistance to adults without children. Prevent health care waivers and reforms from being implemented. Higher costs for enrollees in state health care programs. Eliminate "optional" services, including therapies, eyeglasses and prosthetics. Kick 7,600 people off of MinnCare. Stop complying with the Affordable Care Act. Eliminate waivers which provide a safety net for 5,800 disabled Minnesotans. Cuts to General Assistance. Eliminates tribal child welfare grants. Slashes grants for adults with mental illness. Slashes children's mental health grants. No funding for Minnesota sex offender program growth. Here is the letter concerning the disputed numbers. Here is the letter from Commissioner Jesson spelling out the 41 major concerns the department has with the HHS bill

The Big E :: 41 problems with the Health and Human Services bill

Tags: welfare, lucinda jesson, Affordable Care Act, minncare, disabled, general assistance, Poor, medicaid, Cuts, health and human services, HHS, deficit, budget, 2011 legislature, legislature,

MN-CCD: Current Legislative Proposals Limit Access to Services for Minnesotans with Disabilities

MN-CCD: Current Legislative Proposals Limit Access to Services for Minnesotans with Disabilities

Current Legislative Proposals Limit Access to Services for Minnesotans with Disabilities

April, 2011

*This document will be updated periodically as proposals evolve and change*

Limited Access to Health and Long-term Care Services

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills both cut disability waiver programs. The House proposes to freeze spending as of March 2010, requires the same number of people to be served as were enrolled at that time, and requires DHS to reduce services provided and freeze enrollment before reducing provider rates to achieve the savings specified. The House also proposes to cap enrollment at the end of March 2010 for the DD, CADI, and TBI waivers. No one currently receiving services is removed, reduction is achieved through attrition. The Senate proposes to freeze enrollment at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2011 for the DD, CADI, and TBI waivers.

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill repeals funding set aside for alternatives for those losing personal care assistance (PCA) services. This funding would have provided a minimum level of PCA services to 2,800 Minnesotans with disabilities who will lose access to more comprehensive PCA services this July. Total amount cut: $8,028,000 (Line 780 in HF 927).

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill contains a 20% cut in wages for PCAs providing services to relatives. These are cuts in wages that are being used to pay rent and purchase food. In many of these cases, a non- relative PCA provider is simply not an option, whether due to uncompensated miles that a PCA would have to travel in rural areas or because many individuals need PCA assistance off and on throughout a 24-hour period. Total amount cut: $23,774,000 (Line 530 of HF 927).

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill contains potential additional cuts to waivered services if other savings don’t materialize. The bill proposes to apply to the federal government for a “Global Waiver (CHOICE)” that could reduce the states’ requirements for serving Minnesotans on Medical Assistance (Medicaid), as well as for a waiver to repeal the early expansion of Medicaid. If these prove not to be viable, Minnesotans with disabilities could see even further cuts to their already tenuous community-based service system. These cuts would be in addition to those already proposed in the bill. Total amount cut: $300,000,000 in rate cuts to service providers.

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts Children and Community Services Act (CCSA) county grants. Some counties use these funds to provide the minimal support needed for an individual with a disability to be able to engage in meaningful daily activities, or for respite services. Total amount cut: $22,000,000 (Line 165 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts Family Support Grants. These grants are small amounts of funding that families use to prevent out of home placement of their children with disabilities. Total amount cut: $4,131,000 (Line 310 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill eliminates Medical Assistance coverage of eyeglasses, prosthetics, dentures, and rehabilitation therapies. This cut applies to adults ages 18 and over who are on Medical Assistance. The rehabilitation therapies include speech, occupational, and physical therapy. These and the other services mentioned all help individuals to maintain or reacquire the skills necessary to continue to live as independently in the community as possible. Total amount cut: $12,060,000 (Line 165 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts mental health services for children and adults. These cuts include reducing adult mental health grants, eliminating children’s mental health screening grants and early intervention services, eliminating school-linked mental health grants, and eliminating metro area adult mental health crisis grants. Total amount cut: $49,378,000.

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills repeal the early expansion of Medical Assistance. This will leave 100,000 Minnesotans, many of whom have disabilities, without health insurance or access to health care. As a result, many such persons will delay needed care resulting in more severe medical conditions which will be more difficult and expensive to treat. Such treatment will be uncompensated, putting additional economic strain on our hospitals which will also experience a rate cut as required by the bill. Total amount cut in House: $457,932,000 (Line 798 in HF 927); Total amount cut in Senate: $921,296,000 (Line 787 in SF 760).

Limited Access to Employment Services

The Senate Jobs and Economic Growth and Development Omnibus bill freezes Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) funding at current levels. VR provides counseling and support services funding to help people with disabilities find jobs. VR operates as a federal/state partnership, drawing down $3.71 federal dollars for every $1 of state appropriation. Without an increase in the state match appropriation, $7,644,992 will be returned to the federal government at the end of the current Federal FY. An additional $11,936,100 will be returned in Federal FY 12, and fewer Minnesotans with disabilities will be able to access these services.

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills cut the MA-EPD (Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities) program. This is a state program started in 1999 that has allowed people with disabilities to pay a monthly premium to access needed Medicaid services as an incentive to join the workforce. About 7,000 people are now using this option. The House and Senate propose to have these individuals pay more to keep these job supports in place by having their monthly premiums increased by 100 percent in some cases and turning over more of their monthly Social Security checks to the government.

Limited Access to Special Education Services

The House and Senate Education Omnibus bills eliminate the 4.6% growth factor for special education aid and special education excess cost aid, which results in a $286 million dollar cut for FY 12-13.

Limited access to Transportation Services

The House and Senate Transportation Omnibus bills cut funding for public transit budgets, including Metro Mobility. Many people with disabilities can’t drive due to physical or cognitive limitations. Many who could drive can’t afford the expensive vehicle modifications that would make it possible. The Senate cuts general fund spending on transportation by $41 million for FY 12-13, while the House cuts transportation spending by $138 million for FY 12-13.

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cut special transportation services. These services help individuals with disabilities get to and from their necessary medical appointments, appointments that help them to maintain their health and independence. Total amount cut: $1,529,000 (Line 711 in SF 760).

Click here to take survey

April 27, 2011

MN-CCD: Current Legislative Proposals Limit Access to Services for Minnesotans with Disabilities

Current Legislative Proposals Limit Access to Services for Minnesotans with Disabilities

April, 2011

*This document will be updated periodically as proposals evolve and change*

Limited Access to Health and Long-term Care Services

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills both cut disability waiver programs. The House proposes to freeze spending as of March 2010, requires the same number of people to be served as were enrolled at that time, and requires DHS to reduce services provided and freeze enrollment before reducing provider rates to achieve the savings specified. The House also proposes to cap enrollment at the end of March 2010 for the DD, CADI, and TBI waivers. No one currently receiving services is removed, reduction is achieved through attrition. The Senate proposes to freeze enrollment at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2011 for the DD, CADI, and TBI waivers.

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill repeals funding set aside for alternatives for those losing personal care assistance (PCA) services. This funding would have provided a minimum level of PCA services to 2,800 Minnesotans with disabilities who will lose access to more comprehensive PCA services this July. Total amount cut: $8,028,000 (Line 780 in HF 927).

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill contains a 20% cut in wages for PCAs providing services to relatives. These are cuts in wages that are being used to pay rent and purchase food. In many of these cases, a non- relative PCA provider is simply not an option, whether due to uncompensated miles that a PCA would have to travel in rural areas or because many individuals need PCA assistance off and on throughout a 24-hour period. Total amount cut: $23,774,000 (Line 530 of HF 927).

The House Health and Human Services Omnibus bill contains potential additional cuts to waivered services if other savings don’t materialize. The bill proposes to apply to the federal government for a “Global Waiver (CHOICE)” that could reduce the states’ requirements for serving Minnesotans on Medical Assistance (Medicaid), as well as for a waiver to repeal the early expansion of Medicaid. If these prove not to be viable, Minnesotans with disabilities could see even further cuts to their already tenuous community-based service system. These cuts would be in addition to those already proposed in the bill. Total amount cut: $300,000,000 in rate cuts to service providers.

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts Children and Community Services Act (CCSA) county grants. Some counties use these funds to provide the minimal support needed for an individual with a disability to be able to engage in meaningful daily activities, or for respite services. Total amount cut: $22,000,000 (Line 165 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts Family Support Grants. These grants are small amounts of funding that families use to prevent out of home placement of their children with disabilities. Total amount cut: $4,131,000 (Line 310 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill eliminates Medical Assistance coverage of eyeglasses, prosthetics, dentures, and rehabilitation therapies. This cut applies to adults ages 18 and over who are on Medical Assistance. The rehabilitation therapies include speech, occupational, and physical therapy. These and the other services mentioned all help individuals to maintain or reacquire the skills necessary to continue to live as independently in the community as possible. Total amount cut: $12,060,000 (Line 165 in SF 760).

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cuts mental health services for children and adults. These cuts include reducing adult mental health grants, eliminating children’s mental health screening grants and early intervention services, eliminating school-linked mental health grants, and eliminating metro area adult mental health crisis grants. Total amount cut: $49,378,000.

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills repeal the early expansion of Medical Assistance. This will leave 100,000 Minnesotans, many of whom have disabilities, without health insurance or access to health care. As a result, many such persons will delay needed care resulting in more severe medical conditions which will be more difficult and expensive to treat. Such treatment will be uncompensated, putting additional economic strain on our hospitals which will also experience a rate cut as required by the bill. Total amount cut in House: $457,932,000 (Line 798 in HF 927); Total amount cut in Senate: $921,296,000 (Line 787 in SF 760).

Limited Access to Employment Services

The Senate Jobs and Economic Growth and Development Omnibus bill freezes Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) funding at current levels. VR provides counseling and support services funding to help people with disabilities find jobs. VR operates as a federal/state partnership, drawing down $3.71 federal dollars for every $1 of state appropriation. Without an increase in the state match appropriation, $7,644,992 will be returned to the federal government at the end of the current Federal FY. An additional $11,936,100 will be returned in Federal FY 12, and fewer Minnesotans with disabilities will be able to access these services.

The House and Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bills cut the MA-EPD (Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities) program. This is a state program started in 1999 that has allowed people with disabilities to pay a monthly premium to access needed Medicaid services as an incentive to join the workforce. About 7,000 people are now using this option. The House and Senate propose to have these individuals pay more to keep these job supports in place by having their monthly premiums increased by 100 percent in some cases and turning over more of their monthly Social Security checks to the government.

Limited Access to Special Education Services

The House and Senate Education Omnibus bills eliminate the 4.6% growth factor for special education aid and special education excess cost aid, which results in a $286 million dollar cut for FY 12-13.

Limited access to Transportation Services

The House and Senate Transportation Omnibus bills cut funding for public transit budgets, including Metro Mobility. Many people with disabilities can’t drive due to physical or cognitive limitations. Many who could drive can’t afford the expensive vehicle modifications that would make it possible. The Senate cuts general fund spending on transportation by $41 million for FY 12-13, while the House cuts transportation spending by $138 million for FY 12-13.

The Senate Health and Human Services Omnibus bill cut special transportation services. These services help individuals with disabilities get to and from their necessary medical appointments, appointments that help them to maintain their health and independence. Total amount cut: $1,529,000 (Line 711 in SF 760).

Great Austrailian Show about Disability and Societal Prospectives

Public Statement made in Press Conference

Hello, my name is Nichole Villavicencio. I am here in support of the MN Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MN-CCD). As a Citizen Lobbyist for people with disabilities, I am frustrated by the continued cuts to services for citizens with disabilities. Some of the services I receive through Medical Assistance include Personal Care Attendant services as well as coverage of my eyeglasses and dental services.

Although I am concerned with a number of the proposed cuts to disability services included in current legislation, one cut that will impact me personally is the proposed elimination of coverage of eyeglasses for adults on Medical Assistance included in the Senate Health and Human Services omnibus bill. On average, I get one pair of eyeglasses every year. I have had glasses every year since I was six years old. I am very near sighted and I have a stigmatism. I am on SSI and I struggle to pay the bills that I have now, so without this eyeglasses coverage I wuold not be able to afford a new pair of glasses. Without a proper pair of glasses, I could not drive my wheelchair. Being able to drive my wheelchair allows me to be the active member of my community that I am - working and volunteering are just two examples of what I contribute to my community. Another service that I access is coverage of my dental services. The Senate Health and Human Services omnibus bill also includes a proposal to eliminate coverage of dental services for adults on Medical Assistance. This would prevent me from seeing a dentist, which would eventually create more costly and avoidable dental issues for me.

For myself and the other disability advocates that I work with, these proposed cuts are frightening. I’m tired of the legislature telling me to compromise the quality of my life. The proposed cuts before us will jeopardize not only my freedoms, but also my ability to be a tax-paying contributor. Thank you to all here and I can take further questions after the news conference.



--Nichole L. Villavicencio
http://capablemn.org/

Cell: (507)206-8400