United Spinal's Action Online Magazine

Ticket to Work Is 10!

| WORKING WORLD

By Tamar Asedo Sherman

Ticket to Work Is 10!

The Social Security Administration is marking the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (Ticket Act) by launching the Choose Work web site (www.choosework.net). It is intended for people with disabilities who receive Social Security disability benefits (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and want to return to work. “Choose fulfillment, choose earnings, choose work” is the program’s slogan.

If you’re not familiar with the Ticket Program, the site introduces you to the resources that are available to you. You can view short videos; [...]

Care or Cure?

Yes, I absolutely want to walk again, but I do not have to walk again. [...]

Nonsensology

I wanted to try to create a Jabberwock, and I soon got my chance. [...]

Hoop Dreams in Mazar-e Sharif

| SPORTS ROUNDUP

Jess Markt (in white) brought his knowledge of wheelchair basketball to Afghanistan.

By Tom Scott

In late October 2009, Jess Markt, a 33-year-old Oregon native with a T6-7 spinal cord injury arrived at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan’s capital city after an exhausting 30-hour journey from New York. Built in the early 1960s during a period of modernization, the airport was now primarily used by U.S. Armed Forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the ongoing War in Afghanistan. Markt’s grogginess melted away as international security forces with their automatic rifles at the ready stared with curiosity [...]

Doing Nothing is the Worst Possible Outcome for Health Care Reform

By Peggy Hathaway

Some people are fed up with health care reform (HCR) and think it may be just as well that Congress is deadlocked. The truth is, now is the absolute worst time to tune out from HCR, which in danger of becoming victim to petty partisan politics as the 2010 elections approach. If given a choice between doing what’s right for all Americans in terms of reform and doing what’s right for themselves in order to get re-elected, don’t kid yourself, our representatives in Congress definitely need our input to make the best choice.

Truth: Premiums for health insurance are [...]

Final Report for the United We Ride National Dialogue Now Available

From our friends at United We Ride: www.UWRdialogue.org

Between November 2nd and 13th of last year, you along with more than 3,500 stakeholders from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia participated in the United We Ride National Dialogue. Following the conclusion of the National Dialogue, an Independent Panel of Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration conducted a review and analysis of the content and identified emerging themes and key recommendations for the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM). The CCAM will be reviewing the themes and recommendations submitted to develop their [...]