This week we’re reading about new federal initiatives to advance hiring for Americans with disabilities, recommendations for integrated health care, health and wellness trends for older adults, and advancements in telemedicine. The White House is launching TechHire, a new initiative to work with communities to get more Americans trained for well-paying technology jobs, including Americans [...]
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What We’re Reading: March 2, 2015
This week we’re reading about proposed changes to Medicare Advantage for 2016, plus an emerging training model for providers serving individuals with ASD. The 2016 Medicaid Draft Call Letter is out, and everyone is sharing their two-cents. Reuters is highlighting the draft’s 0.9 percent cut in Medicare Advantage payments, while Kaiser Health News is focusing in [...]
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What We’re Reading: Feb. 16, 2015
This week we’re catching up on recent Hill hearings on SSDI and mental health reform, plus state trends toward formularies and the like for prescription drugs for mental health conditions. The debate on SSDI reform is underway following last week’s Senate Budget Committee hearing on the long-term health of Social Security. POLITICO magazine is exploring [...]
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What We’re Reading: Feb. 9, 2015
This week we’re reading a slew of new federal reports on SSDI, employment and mental health, plus making design and technology accessible. As Congress and the White House tee up their respective SSDI reform proposals, the National Council on Disability weighs in with their own: “Securing the Social Contract: Reforming Social Security Disability.” Also released [...]
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What We’re Reading: Feb. 2, 2015
This week we’re reading more in the ongoing home care regulation story, the latest SS-DI participation rates plus commentary on the program’s design, and more. Disability Scoop reports that the U.S. Department of Labor has filed a notice of appeal contesting a recent federal court ruling that put a stop to a 2013’s regulation’s home [...]
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What We’re Reading: Jan. 26, 2015
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. 19, 2015
Caregiver wage, overtime protections struck down. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said this week that the U.S. Department of Labor overstepped its authority when it moved to mandate pay protections for caregivers. (Disability Scoop, Jan. 16) Congress seeks to limit transfers between Social Security and Disability funds. A sweeping rules package the House approved at [...]
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What We’re Reading: Jan. 12, 2015
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. 29, 2014
Judge strikes down wage boost for some home workers. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said part of the rules approved last year conflict with federal law that has long exempted third-party providers of in-home care for the elderly and disabled from complying with minimum wage and overtime laws. The decision. (AP, Dec. 22) With caregiver [...]
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What We’re Reading: Dec. 15, 2014
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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