Declaration for Independence

A Call to Transform Health and Long Term Services for Seniors and People with Disabilities



What We’re Reading: March 30, 2015

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This week we’re following the latest on the home care regulation, plus a new proposal to align the Affordable Care Act’s wellness provisions with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008; more on the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) fix and empowering workers with disabilities. The Obama administration is [...]

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What We’re Reading: Feb. 23, 2015

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This week we’re reading about reporting standards for schools, new resources for advancing employment of people with disabilities, transparency and healthcare reform, and more. Schools held to more stringent academic reporting standards are more likely to mainstream children with disabilities by as much as 16 percentage-points higher, according to a new study featured on Disability Scoop. [...]

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What We’re Reading: Jan. 26, 2015

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Disability advocates sharply critical of plan to ease testing. Current regulations allow students with the severe cognitive disabilities to take alternate assessments as opposed to the general, grade-level tests required of most students. Only 1 percent of all students — or roughly 10 percent of those with disabilities — can be counted as proficient by [...]

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What We’re Reading: Jan. 12, 2015

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On day one, the new Congress launches an attack on Social Security. The rule hampers an otherwise routine reallocation of Social Security payroll tax income from the old-age program to the disability program. Such a reallocation, in either direction, has taken place 11 times since 1968, according to Kathy Ruffing of the Center on Budget and [...]

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What We’re Reading: Dec. 22, 2014

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Bill boosting financial security for individuals with disabilities clears U.S. House, awaits passage in Senate. When his daughter Audrey was 4 years old, Rick Hodges went to a financial planning seminar — “like a dutiful dad,” he recalled. But he knew immediately it was of no help. “All these plans are designed for people with [...]

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What We’re Reading: Dec. 15, 2014

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Is Medicaid expansion reducing disability claims? The total decline in Social Security Income claims in states that expanded Medicaid in the first six months of 2014 was 11.2 percent, compared with 10.0 percent in non-expansion states. (Modern Healthcare, Dec. 6) Report - “Parity or Disparity: The State of Mental Health in America, 2015.” Massachusetts scores [...]

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What We’re Reading: Dec. 8, 2014

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House approves tax-free disability accounts, bill moves to Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve a bill that would establish a new way for people with disabilities to save money without risking their government benefits. The Achieving a Better Life Experience, or ABLE, Act passed by a vote of 404 to 17 [...]

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What We’re Reading: Nov. 10, 2014

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The best jobs for people with disabilities (Forbes, Nov. 4) As of March 2014, a 1973 federal law designed to protect disabled people from job discrimination got additional teeth, prompting companies to be more proactive about hiring people with physical or mental challenges. Justice department monitoring disability access at polls (Disability Scoop, Nov. 4) Despite [...]

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What We’re Reading: Oct. 13, 2014

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HUD publishes Section 811 and Section 202 proposed rule (NCSHA Blog, Oct. 9) HUD published in the October 7 Federal Register a Proposed Rule for implementing statutory reforms made to the Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities and Section 202 Housing for the Elderly programs by the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of [...]

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