Congress Passes Bill to Expand Respite Care Services
Thanks to the hard work of advocates across the country, Congress recently approved legislation that would provide help to the nearly 50 million caregivers nationwide. The Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2005 (H.R. 3248/S.1283) was passed by the House on December 6 and by the Senate on December 8, 2006. This bill, which the President is expected to sign, authorizes $289 million for grants to help build accessible, community-based respite care services. This includes funding for developing state and local respite programs, training and recruiting respite care workers and volunteers, and providing information to caregivers about available services.
Respite care provides temporary assistance for individuals who are providing care to family members or other loved ones with disabilities or chronic health conditions. Respite services have been shown to reduce stress and improve the physical health of caregivers, help to sustain marriages and, very importantly, to delay or prevent the need for institutionalization.
Respite services also are cost-effective. A recent study estimated that productivity losses to US businesses as a result of employees’ caregiving responsibilities cost businesses a staggering total of $33.6 billion each year. Providing adequate respite care could reduce these costs, in addition to saving money by reducing institutionalization.
United Spinal Association is a member of the Lifespan Respite Task Force, a coalition of more than 180 national, state, and local organizations which joined together to advocate for passage of the Lifespan Respite Care Act.
New Congress Leaders Say Stem Cell Research Will Be a Top Priority
Incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has pledged that the House of Representatives will introduce and pass legislation on stem cell research funding and other key Democratic priorities within the first 100 “legislative hours” of the new Congress that begins in January. Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has also promised to make funding for stem cell research a top goal.
Pelosi has stated that bills on stem cell research and other priority issues will be introduced on January 4, the first day of the new legislative session. Since it is not completely clear how “legislative hours” would be defined, the first 100 “legislative hours” could potentially stretch over several weeks. Other priority issues for the House Democrats include changing the Medicare prescription drug program to allow the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, lobbying reform, implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations, reducing interest rates for student loans, and increasing the minimum wage.
In July, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 was passed by both Houses of Congress but vetoed by President Bush. Pelosi has said that she hopes to pass a stem cell bill in the new Congress by a “veto-proof” majority. Overriding a veto would require a two-thirds majority in both Houses: 67 out of 100 votes in the Senate and 290 out of 435 in the House. The bill that was passed last July received 63 votes in the Senate and 206 votes in the House. Battle Won on Access to Power Wheelchairs
The war is far from over, but advocates-including many United Spinal members-scored a major victory this fall by convincing Medicare to rescind the most destructive elements of some policy changes that would have severely restricted access to power wheelchairs.
Medicare originally proposed a number of changes to the power mobility device (PMD) benefit, which included major cuts in reimbursement for the more technologically-advanced power wheelchairs and a requirement that an individual must be unable to “stand and pivot” in order to be eligible for these more advanced wheelchairs.
But due to the huge outcry from consumers, suppliers, and advocates across the country, Medicare backtracked on a number of the announced new policies, ultimately eliminating the worst changes, including the “stand and pivot” requirement. While there were still some reimbursement cuts, the size of the cuts was significantly reduced. The new policies, as revised, took effect November 15.
It is unclear at this point what impact the new reimbursement levels and other changes will have on access to PMDs. United Spinal and our coalition partners will be watching the effect of the changes closely to ensure that if there is an adverse impact on consumers, it is brought to the attention of Medicare and Congress right away.
We also plan to move forward aggressively in the new Congress to ensure that the Medicare Independent Living Act, a bill to eliminate the “in the home” restriction, is reintroduced and to solicit cosponsors for the bill. To receive email updates and action alerts on this critical legislation, sign up for the United Spinal Advocacy Network at www.unitedspinal.org/advocacy.
Restoring the Americans with Disabilities Act
In a number of decisions in recent years, the Supreme Court has made it increasingly more difficult for employees to meet the definitional standard of “disability” as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, courts have dismissed many cases brought by employees under the ADA because they are not found to be disabled according to the definition in the Act.
Advocacy groups, including United Spinal, contend that the Supreme Court has set the standard too high, and this standard does not reflect the original intent of the ADA to protect persons with disabilities in the workplace. Because of these decisions, disability rights groups have been working with Congress for the past several years on restoring the ADA to its original scope and intention- to protect all persons with disabilities in the workplace from discrimination.
Specifically, disability rights advocates contend, the Supreme Court has unduly restricted the definition of disability by excluding persons who take medicine or use assistive devices for their disability. This interpretation of the ADA has diminished the protections that were intended with its passage some 16 years ago.
United Spinal is a member of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), which has been working on ADA restoration for the past several years. With the election of a new Congress, there are exciting opportunities to work with legislators on the passage of meaningful legislation to restore the ADA. Strategies are being developed to determine the most effective way to gain bipartisan support for legislation that will establish a clear standard for the definition of disability and to restore the original intent of the ADA to include qualified individuals with disabilities in the workplace. We will keep you posted on developments with this legislation.
