Declaration for Independence

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



What We’re Reading: March 2, 2015

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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. 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: Feb. 16, 2015

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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

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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

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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

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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. 19, 2015

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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

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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: Jan. 5, 2015

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Federal court ruling allows minimum wage exemptions for home care companionship services. On December 22, 2014, a federal district court judge vacated part of a federal Department of Labor (DOL) rule preventing home care provider organizations from seeking an exemption to paying minimum wage and overtime. (Open Minds, Jan. 4) Federal hiring of people with [...]

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