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

 

55

 

Advocates for blind fight reorganization of Education agency

By Brian Friel

 

The restructuring of a federal agency, if it registers at all outside the bureaucracy, usually produces a stifled yawn.

But on May 26, a thousand or more blind and disabled people -- some with guide dogs, others in wheelchairs -- circled on the sidewalk in front of the Education Department's headquarters in southwest Washington. The protesters came to vilify the assistant secretary responsible for the planned reorganization of a 125-person branch of the department, the little-known Rehabilitation Services Administration.

"If you listen to John Hager, you are bound to be a beggar," the sign-wielding crowd chanted at the behest of James Gashel, head lobbyist for the National Federation of the Blind.

Protesters pushed a 7-foot-tall Grim Reaper, festooned with a "Department of Education" label, into a casket and then six protesters in top hats served as pallbearers to carry him away. "This must be the vestige of John Hager," Gashel said. "We can take him down."

The melodramatic display and the singling out of Hager -- a former lieutenant governor of Virginia who has been bound to a wheelchair since he contracted polio from a vaccine in the 1970s -- shows the lengths to which advocates for the blind will go to protect obscure programs that deliver hundreds of millions of dollars a year in services.

In this fight, the Bush administration says the scheduled changes are just necessary streamlining, but the blind have pulled out all the stops to prevent what they call a concerted effort to diminish a program built specifically to help them. Most Americans with disabilities are served by broad federal programs administered for all categories of disabled people, not by disability-specific efforts. But "there's a long-standing precedent" for blind-specific programs," Gashel said in an interview.

At issue is Hager's announced plan to close the RSA's 10 regional offices and to cut half of the agency's staff. The agency oversees 80 state vocational rehabilitation programs -- about 25 administering only to the blind -- which dispense about $2.7 billion a year in federal grants to help the disabled live independently and get jobs. Hager, a Republican, wants the remainder of the RSA staff to oversee the programs from Washington.

Hager also told disability advocates at a May 24 meeting that the administration plans to eliminate the RSA's Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, rolling its responsibilities into offices that oversee programs for people with other disabilities. "The blind are only 4 percent of all disabilities," Hager said in an interview. "We're restructuring in a functional manner ... to adopt a standard approach."

The reorganization will free up $8 million in administrative expenses that can be used to provide more direct services to people with disabilities, Hager argued. The changes will also ensure standard practices across the country and eliminate regional offices as the "middlemen" between state rehabilitation agencies and RSA headquarters, according to an Education Department fact sheet. Hager is also pushing Congress to demote the RSA commissioner's post from one that requires Senate confirmation, and instead make the position an executive branch appointment.

As assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, Hager oversees the RSA as well as $11 billion a year in grants that Uncle Sam gives to states for special-education programs in public schools. Eliminating Senate confirmation would make the line of authority at the RSA clearer, Hager said. RSA commissioners have tended to clash with their superiors; in a recent example, RSA Commissioner Joanne Wilson, a Bush appointee, resigned in March in opposition to the proposed changes.

Wilson has since gone to work for the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind to lobby against Hager's plans.

Speaking at the protest outside her former office, Wilson said the proposal is part of a strategy to diminish specialized services, not just for the blind, but for all people with disabilities. Her fears are partly based on another administration proposal that would give governors the power to lump vocational rehabilitation grants into a larger pool of federal job-training money. That proposal, pushed primarily by the Labor Department, has failed to gain traction in Congress, which is currently working on a reauthorization of federal job-training programs, including the RSA, through the Workforce Investment Act.

The federation for the blind and other disability advocacy groups have lobbied against the job-training consolidation plan, telling members of Congress that the disabled need a special, dedicated program. The Labor Department's arguments that folding the disability program into the larger job-training budget would give the disabled access to a larger pool of employers and that special services would be protected have thus far not proved persuasive. Labor's proposal has not been included in either the House-passed or the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee-approved versions of authorizing legislation.

While disabled groups have been largely united against the Labor Department proposal, less consensus exists about the blind federation's view of the threat from the RSA changes. The disabled lobby includes more than 100 groups, about 40 of which co-sponsored the federation's protest outside the Education Department.

But the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, the largest umbrella group for disabled advocates, did not endorse the event, because some of its member organizations are willing to give the Education Department the benefit of the doubt that its plans for the RSA are designed to improve operations. Charles Harles, executive director of the Inter-National Association of Business, Industry, and Rehabilitation, who also does work for the consortium, said, "We have avoided taking a position, because there were divergent views on that issue." Nancy Starnes, vice president for the National Organization on Disability, another generally conservative group, said her group supports the administration. "If they're telling me this is the most efficient way to deliver equitable services, I'm willing to give them a chance," Starnes said.

But the protest did garner the support of several important groups, including the National Association of the Deaf and the American Association of People with Disabilities. In addition, four former RSA commissioners -- Wilson, Fredric Schroeder of the Clinton administration, Robert Humphreys of the Carter administration, and Edward Newman of the Nixon administration -- spoke at the rally against Hager's plans. The four also signed a protest letter sponsored by the federation that appeared as a full-page ad in The Washington Times on May 26.

In the letter, the four said that eliminating Senate confirmation of their former position would weaken disability advocacy within the executive branch. "The voice of the executive branch's advocate for people with disabilities will be silenced, and Congress's long-standing involvement in the selection of the program's leadership will be undermined," the letter read.

The federation also persuaded Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., to circulate a letter calling on Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to explain in detail the administration's rationale for the RSA restructuring. "We're in the dark," Osborne said in an interview. "We're just asking for clarification from the administration on its plans. We're concerned if its planning was insufficient and if they would let people fall through the cracks."

The federation and other disabled advocates upset by the proposed RSA restructuring are urging lawmakers to adopt language in appropriations legislation to block the Education Department plans. At the grassroots level, activists are contacting members of Congress to fight the changes. The House version of the Workforce Investment Act reauthorization includes a provision eliminating Senate confirmation of the RSA commissioner position. A compromise pushed by Osborne would grandfather in a Senate-confirmed RSA commissioner already serving when the act is signed into law, but so far the Bush administration has not nominated a successor to Wilson. The Senate version of the bill does not change the RSA commissioner's status.

Hager criticized the protesters for linking the RSA changes to the Labor Department's job-training consolidation proposal, saying the two are unrelated. The job-training plan "is a Department of Labor proposal," he said, "and most people don't think it's necessarily going to pass this year. And if it did, they're not taking into account all the hoops governors would have to jump through" to consolidate programs, Hager continued. "They mixed their issues and got people confused about what they were talking about."

Gashel said the timing of the RSA changes and the Labor Department proposal make Hager's assertion impossible to believe. "It strains credulity," Gashel said.

Asked if the federation-led protest had any effect on his plans, Hager said, "Not really."

Many advocates say their main complaint is that Hager didn't consult with them sufficiently on his plans. "Dept. of Ed ignores the voice of the disabled," read one of the signs at the recent protest. Hager said he will take the advocates' concerns into account. But the federation of the blind isn't buying it, and the fight now moves to Capitol Hill.

 

 

 

 

56

 

 

Specter Threatens an End Run To Get Vote on Stem Cell Bill

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 22, 2005; A05

With prospects dimming for a simple Senate vote on a bill to loosen President Bush's restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) threatened yesterday to circumvent the political logjam by attaching the wording to the appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services.

"I don't like to put it on an appropriations bill, but we waited long enough," a frustrated Specter told reporters in the Capitol. The strategy, he said, is a "fall-back position which I have avoided up 'til now."

Specter is a lead sponsor of a bill, passed by the House in May, that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to conduct research on medically promising stem cells derived from embryos that are destined to be discarded by fertility clinics. Such cells are off-limits to federally funded scientists under the policy Bush set in 2001. The bill, which polls indicate has broad support and has been considered sure to pass in the Senate, could trigger a showdown with Bush, who has promised a veto.

Although Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) promised months ago to bring the Senate version to the floor, the field has become muddied by the filing of at least six competing bills that would restrict embryo research in various ways. Senators on both sides of the aisle have been unable to agree on which should be brought to the floor and under what terms.

As chairman of the subcommittee overseeing HHS appropriations, Specter said he was in a position -- in consultation with other senators -- to add the stalled bill as an amendment.

Frist spokeswoman Amy Call suggested the prospects for a vote are not dead. "We keep working for a discrete and clear debate and vote on the House bill and other ideas in this sphere," she wrote in an e-mail.

 

57

 

CDF Family Income & Jobs Update, July 8
FOOD STAMPS

The Food Stamp Program is our nation’s best defense against hunger which makes it so difficult for children to thrive and learn, and for families to achieve self-sufficiency.  Only 54 percent of those eligible for Food Stamps, fewer than 26 million, receive them even though it is an entitlement program.  Among those receiving food stamps are the neediest segments of the population; more than 95 percent of food stamp benefits go to households with incomes below the poverty line, and many of the remaining beneficiaries are near-poor elderly or disabled persons.

The Fiscal Year 2006 Congressional Budget Resolution instructs the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to design policies to cut $3 billion in five-year spending from programs under their jurisdiction by September 16, 2005.  These programs include farm subsidies; however, the Food Stamp program seems to be the most vulnerable to cuts. In addition, the House bill to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program (H.R. 240) would allow five state food stamp block grants and give the executive branch extraordinary authority to change Food Stamp Program rules.  This could have a devastating impact on food stamp recipients.

The Food Research and Action Center, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and America’s Second Harvest are coordinating a sign-on letter regarding this issue.  For more information see:  http://www.frac.org/Legislative/Budget_06/Alerts/07.07.05.html


 

 

 

58

 

 

 

New report on AIDS and agriculture in West Africa

 


 

A recent report on AIDS and its impact on agricultural communities in West Africa, prepared by FAO's Farm Management and Production Economics Service, gives important new information about the disease's spread in rural areas. HIV/AIDS is beginning to have a crippling effect on subsistence farmers and their families, for whom survival depends on a delicate balance between the number of hands available to work the fields and the number of mouths to feed.

The report presents details of the spread of HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire and its effects on rural households. Short case studies are also given.

Experts now estimate that AIDS is spreading twice as fast as they previously thought. They calculate that 20.8 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are HIV positive, two-thirds of the total global figure. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that of the 5.8 million men, women and children newly infected with the AIDS virus in 1997, 4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.

The new FAO Report "Impact du VIH/SIDA sur les systèmes d'exploitations agricoles en Afrique de l'Ouest ("The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Agricultural Production Systems in West Africa") highlights the devastating interplay of HIV/AIDS and poverty. Poverty increases the risk of people contracting the virus, and it magnifies the impact of the disease on the victim's family.

The link between mobility and the virus is also stressed. The profiles of AIDS victims in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire give mobility as one of the defining characteristics. Of the 88 deceased AIDS victims studied in Burkina Faso, only one had never left his village for an extended period of time.

While the search for work continues to propel people towards the cities - which are centres of HIV infection - AIDS is increasingly the force that drives the sick and dying back home. The return of a sick relative places often unbearable burdens on farming families. The patient needs feeding, nursing and accompanying for costly treatment. A sick man may bring one or more wives with him, who may also be infected, and children. Lack of institutional support means that the burden of the disease falls almost entirely on the family. Tools and livestock are sold to meet medical and funeral expenses. Vital work in the fields is left undone and production and income fall. The extra income that the victim previously contributed to the household also ceases.

The report calls for action at regional, national and local levels to help some of the world's poorest communities face the threat of AIDS. Jacques du Guerny, Chief of the FAO Population Programme Service (SDWP) and FAO Focal Point for AIDS, stressed the "potential indirect but very important role that agricultural policies and programmes, by alleviating rural poverty, empowering rural women, encouraging changes in migratory movements, etc, can play in mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS in rural communities" (Full text of interview with Jacques du Guerny).

19 December 1997

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59

 

10 Insurers Approved to Market Drug Benefit
 
 By Christopher Lee
 
  The 42 million Americans on Medicare will face a dizzying array of choices for government-subsidized prescription drug coverage next month when private health insurance companies begin jockeying to sign them up for the new benefit.
 
 Ten large insurers have been given the green light to market the new drug plans to consumers starting Oct. 1, Medicare officials said yesterday. Because other companies will offer coverage on a regional basis, participants in every state will have at least 11 providers to choose from. In some they will have as many as 20 choices, with some providers offering multiple plans.
 
 Enrollment begins Nov. 15. Coverage takes effect Jan. 1.
 
 "Medicare is taking a historic step," said Mark B. McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "Thanks to the strong competitive response, everyone with Medicare will be able to choose a drug plan that addresses their individual concerns about cost and coverage and convenience. These premiums will be lower than expected in many cases."
 
 No details were available about specific plans yesterday. McClellan said that plans with premiums of less than $20 a month will be available in every state. Plans with premiums exceeding $37 should be rare, he said.
 
 Beneficiaries also can choose to get drug coverage through Medicare Advantage plans, which offer comprehensive health care through HMO and PPO-like systems and serve about 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries.
 
 The new drug benefit, passed amid furious political wrangling on Capitol Hill in 2003, is the most significant and expensive expansion of Medicare since the creation of the federal health program for the elderly and disabled in 1965.
 
 The cost to the federal government is expected to be $720 billion over the first 10 years. The benefit is being rolled out at a time of persistent budget deficits and mounting expenditures for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and relief and recovery efforts from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The fiscal pressures are so daunting that some conservative Republican lawmakers have called for delaying implementation of the new benefit, but the Bush administration has rejected that idea.
 
 In general, the drug benefit will work like this: After an individual pays a $250 annual deductible, Medicare will cover 75 percent of drug costs up to $2,250. The coverage then stops until the recipient has spent an additional $2,850 out of pocket, after which Medicare covers 95 percent of drug costs.
 
 President Bush has said the new benefit will save retirees an average of $1,300 a year. The government expects as many as 30 million people will sign up for it for 2006.
 
 There are about 1.75 million Medicare beneficiaries in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Eighteen providers will offer stand-alone drug plans in Maryland and D.C., and 16 will do so in Virginia. Several Medicare Advantage plans in each area will offer the drug benefit, as well.
 
 Tricia Neuman, director of the Medicare Policy Project at the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, said the large number of providers means the new benefit is off to a good start. But there is still uncertainty over how many people will enroll, how easily they will sort through the options and whether some providers will drop out over time.
 
 "Choices can present opportunities, but the question is: What will seniors do when they face so many choices?" Neuman said. "Some will comparison shop, others might be heavily influenced by marketing and some may be paralyzed by so many choices. . . . Not everybody should sign up, because some people already have adequate coverage."
 
 Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit group that helps seniors navigate Medicare rules and benefits, said the number and complexity of the plans mean consumers will be hard-pressed to make informed decisions. The fact that so many companies will be angling for market share by emphasizing the most appealing features of their plans, and perhaps playing down the negative ones, will only make the task harder. And because the companies can make their pitches through telemarketing, there are concerns about fraud and identity theft, Hayes said.
 
 "It's going to be open season for bad guys to exploit vulnerable older Americans," he said. "Some legitimate companies will play by the rules, but let's face it -- it's an open invitation for confused consumers to give out personal information."
 
 McClellan said the government has hired private contractors to help it detect fraudulent schemes and improper business practices.
 
 The Medicare agency also will provide tools to help consumers find a plan that best fits their needs, he said. On Sunday, Parade magazine will carry an insert with basic information about the drug benefit. Beginning in mid-October, consumers will be able to call an 800 number and check the agency's Web site (
http://www.medicare.gov/ ) to get help with plans. Also, next month, the "Medicare & You" handbook distributed to beneficiaries each year will contain details about plan choices.
 
 "Based on costs, coverage and convenience, we will help people find a personalized plan that is best for their specific needs," McClellan said. "We want to make sure seniors get the help and support they need. . . . There are going to be a lot of resources to help people sort through the information."
 
 The 10 companies that will offer the benefits nationwide are Aetna Life Insurance Co., Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., Coventry Health & Life Insurance, Medco Containment Life Insurance Co., Memberhealth Inc., Pacificare Life and Health Insurance Co., Silverscript Insurance Co., Unicare, United Health Care Insurance Co. and Wellcare Health Plans

 

 

 

 

 

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 9/30/2005  mjg  Ó2003 carmelo gonzalez    webmaster@carmelogonzalez.com   www.CarmeloGonzalez.com

Last updated on 07/19/2008