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Things that are going on that you might want to know. 

 

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           In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, lawmakers have put off consideration of the $10 billion in Medicaid budget cuts, the nation’s largest health care program providing health care coverage for the poor.

            House leaders delayed Medicaid budget hearings for at least two weeks in order to debate hurricane relief legislation. While some Republicans are calling for discussions to continue after the delay, others said to cut Medicaid when so many poor people were disproportionately affected by the hurricane was politically impossible.

            Senate Finance Committee members, Republicans Gordon Smith of Oregon and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Democrats Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, sent a letter to Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, asking him to indefinitely postpone cuts to Medicaid and other programs for the poor.

            Congress has already approved over $60 billion in aid to the areas affected by Katrina but has yet to pass emergency legislation on health care. The White House and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are leaning toward supporting providing emergency relief health care through state Medicaid programs. The Medicare Rights Center is calling on the Administration and Congress to create a Disaster Relief Medicare to allow Americans displaced by the Hurricane to have access to physicians and hospitals during their dislocation.

            President George W. Bush has pledged that “the government is going to be with [hurricane evacuees] for the long haul” and will work to “cut through the red tape.”

 

 

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The Local Civil Rights Restoration Act will positively affect people with disabilities, especially in housing.  Will the mayor sign it into law?
Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/civilrights/20050916/3/1579

Human Rights Law: Will It Become An Issue In The Mayoral Campaign?
by Andy Humm
16 Sep 2005

The most comprehensive strengthening of the city’s human rights law in 14 years was passed overwhelmingly on September 15, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- who opposed the bill in public hearings -- is not saying whether he will sign it or not.

“This bill broadens the scope of the city’s human rights law, and adds protections for people who may currently be slipping through the cracks: couples who have entered into domestic partnerships and people who have experienced retaliation for reporting violations of the human rights law,” said Councilmember Gale Brewer, the chief sponsor of the legislation, The Local Civil Rights Restoration Act, Intro 22-A. “Perhaps more importantly, it clearly acknowledges that the city’s law often provides more protection than state and federal law." The bill would require the application of the stricter standards of city law when someone is discriminated against illegally in New York City.

"Intro 22-A sets the city human rights law free from being treated as nothing more than a carbon copy of its ever-narrowing state and federal counterparts," said Craig Gurian, a former staff member of the city's Human Rights Commission who is now executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York.

The vacancies on the United States Supreme Court were much on the mind of the bill’s sponsors. "Years of Republican administrations have taken their toll on state and federal laws designed to protect people from discrimination," said Councilmember Bill DeBlasio. "We have every reason to believe that the assault on civil rights will continue as President Bush continues to appoint conservatives to the federal bench.”

Almost a month ago, Avery Mehlman, the Human Rights Commission’s Deputy Commissioner for Law Enforcement, said they were “reviewing the latest form” of the legislation to see if it is acceptable to the Bloomberg administration. When the bill passed, he referred comment to the mayor’s press office where Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said, “We’re still reviewing it.” The mayor had 30 days to review after the bill's passage.

The timing is such that this legislation could become an issue in the mayoral campaign. Fernando Ferrer “strongly supports it,” according to his press office. "The Civil Rights Restoration Act is an important step towards ensuring that the civil rights of New Yorkers are construed by courts in the broadest possible terms," Ferrer said in a statement. "Equally important, we must ensure that we both strengthen the protections against retaliation for those who bring discrimination suits and increase the potential penalties on those who violate the law. Finally, I believe that it is simply the right thing to do to make clear that discrimination against domestic partners will not be tolerated in this city."

Ali Davis, legislative director for Brewer, said that the revised bill “came out of negotiations with the mayor’s office.” If Bloomberg does decide to reject the bill, she said, “the Council is willing to pass it over his veto."

Human Rights Commissioner Patricia Gatling testified against many of the key provisions of the legislation in April. When I wrote extensively about the bill in June, the administration was outright opposing it, though the administration does support a clause forbidding discrimination on the basis of “partnership status,” a compromise provision.

“This legislation poses a simple choice for the mayor," says Craig Gurian. "Align himself with progressive legislation supported by more than three dozen civil rights organizations, or facilitate the anti-civil rights agenda of the Bush and Pataki administrations. We hope the mayor abandons his opposition to the bill.”

Intro 22-A was backed by a coalition of more than 40 organizations, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Disabled in Action, Habitat for Humanity (New York chapter), Lambda Legal Defense, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

 



Help build the Network in 2005-2006, and increase civic participation of people with disabilities in NYC. Get your friends and associates involved. Visit www.dnnyc.net for more info, to join or renew membership, or call 212-251-4071 (Alexander Wood) or 212-251-4092 (Lawrence Carter-Long).

 

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City Council Passes Healthy Building Legislation

 
The NYC Council passed Intro.324-A, important legislation that will mandate new “green” design standards for all New York City public construction. The bill requires more stringent environmental standards for the construction and rehabilitation of municipal buildings including schools, hospitals and city offices.  Green building initiatives will save energy, produce less pollution, and conserve natural resources as well as restrict the use of certain types of harmful building materials.

In addition to city-owned buildings, Intro 324-A also applies to private development projects that receive more than $10 million in city funding.

It’s expected that regulations to improve energy efficiency and air quality will not only save money to the city and residents but also encourage the new building of more environmentally friendly structures.

Should you have questions email me at neal@tepel.org.


 



 

 

 

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Medicare Q&A Weekly Column
The Kaiser Family Foundation produces a weekly Q&A column that will be distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services explaining the basics of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. The columns provide consumer-oriented information with helpful advice for people on Medicare and their families as the drug benefit goes into effect.

Readers are encouraged to send in questions to the Foundation, which will respond to some of them in future columns.  Send your questions to Medicare Q and A. The Kaiser Family Foundation. 1330 G St., NW. Washington, DC  20005 or MedicareQ@kff.org.

Q: I hear that Medicare will begin to pay for prescription drugs next year, and that I will have to pay a monthly premium to get this coverage. I am healthy and take only one prescription. Do I have to sign up for a Medicare drug plan?  —Martha

A: Dear Martha,

It is smart to think about enrolling in a Medicare prescription drug plan before the new drug benefit goes into effect. Medicare does not pay for prescription drugs now, but starting in January, Medicare will help cover medication costs for people who enroll in one of the new prescription drug plans.

Between Nov. 15 and May 15, you and others on Medicare will have the option of enrolling in a Medicare plan that will help pay for prescriptions in 2006.

The first question to consider is whether to sign up for a Medicare prescription drug plan.  While it may be tempting to wait a year or two before signing up, there are good reasons to enroll in a Medicare drug plan for 2006 — even if you are in good health. The Medicare drug benefit is expected to reduce drug costs for most enrollees and protect against catastrophic drug expenses. To get this coverage, you will have to pay a monthly premium. Premiums are expected to be about $32 a month, but you may pay more or less depending upon which plan you choose. For many people, the coverage could be a good deal, since Medicare is subsidizing the cost. There is additional financial help for Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes.

Another reason to consider enrolling for 2006 is to avoid a financial penalty for late enrollment. Unless you have drug coverage that is at least as good as what will be offered by Medicare drug plans, such as retiree health benefits from an employer, you could be required to pay a premium penalty if you change your mind and sign up for a Medicare drug plan in a future year. The premium penalty would increase the cost of your Medicare drug coverage permanently.

If you sign up, there will be other decisions coming your way, not the least of which is choosing the Medicare drug plan that’s best for you. Tips for choosing a plan will be the topic of future columns.

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This column was prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent, non-profit private foundation based in Menlo Park, Calif., that is not affiliated with the Kaiser Permanente health plan. Do you have questions about the new Medicare drug benefit? Send your questions to Medicare Q and A. The Kaiser Family Foundation. 1330 G St., NW. Washington, DC  20005 or MedicareQ@kff.org. 



 

 

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August 26, 2005

Where to Get Help in Planning for Illness
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
To be ill and alone requires far more advanced planning than is required of those who live with their families. It is a predicament poorly understood by health care providers, who are likely to advise hiring a home health aid or other professional.

That is certainly helpful, if there is a way to pay for it, but not a replacement for the support and companionship of loved ones. An invaluable how-to book for those seeking to organize a broad-based caregiving network is "Share the Care" by Cappy Capossela and Sheila Warnock (Fireside, 1995, 2004).

The book was inspired by Ms. Warnock's experience caring, at different times, for two dying friends, one of them her co-author. In one of those instances, a therapist asked the terminally ill woman to assemble everyone she knew who might be of help in even the smallest way and together they developed a systematic way to parcel out responsibilities. The book is a manual for replicating the success and satisfaction of that experience. Further information is available online at sharethecare.org.

Organizations that offer help to family members of sick people also serve friends in their support groups and other activities even if their literature refers only to kin. A few organizations have been explicitly welcoming to friends in recent years, changing their vocabulary accordingly. But even with that change, expect a caregiver support group to overwhelmingly consist of family members who may, out of ignorance not malice, express surprise that someone who is "just a friend" has assumed such responsibility.

With that caveat, information is available from the following organizations:

Family Caregiver Alliance, caregiver.org, (800) 445-8106.

National Family Caregivers Association, nfcacares.org, (800) 896-3650.

Share, sharecancersupport.org, (866) 891-2392

CancerCare, cancercare.org, (800) 813-4673.

Also, the Transition Network, whose main purpose is encouraging women to thrive in retirement, will soon offer its membership a so-called Health Care Portfolio. The portfolio is a systematic way to assemble essential documents, checklists for preventive screening tests and inventories of doctors and medications so a wide circle of friends can more easily help out in a health crisis. Information is at thetransitionnetwork.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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 9/18/2005  mjg  Ó2003 carmelo gonzalez    webmaster@carmelogonzalez.com   www.CarmeloGonzalez.com

Last updated on 07/19/2008