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Defending the success of the Iraq War a defiant Bush bragged “[there are] more cell phones in the hands of Iraqis than before.” And guess what some sod has been laid in a Najaf soccer field. That is no consolation to Maggie Dee, a significantly disabled woman living in Northern California who worked through most Read more…
My pharmacist in California was alarmed when I told her that ALL people now on both Medicare and Medicaid would be forced onto the new Medicare prescription drug program (Part D). “Medicaid will pay for most all drugs people need,” she said. “Medicare will be less of a benefit.” With the onslaught of the Bush Read more…
If you are disabled and rich or somewhat well-off and lived in New Orleans you probably got out of the city before the levees broke and flooded some 60% of the parishes. If you are rich and use a wheelchair you probably had a van with a ramp or car of your own with gas Read more…
Bush and the Congress slashed $10 billion from the Medicaid budget for this coming year. Medicaid is the primary public health care program for impoverished persons that serves over 53 million people. The cut is clearly an attack on poor people and it may wind up killing disabled and chronically ill persons before all is Read more…
Bush and his cohorts rushed to Washington this past week end to conduct special sessions of Congress so that Bush could sign a bill that would mandate the Terri Schiavo case be heard in the federal district court. “It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans Read more…
Most any day more attacks are leveled at poor people who rely on government programs such as health care and housing subsidies. Section 8 and Medicaid have particularly been targeted for cuts that will result in reductions in services. It is clear that the states are in dire financial straits and clearer still that the Read more…
While on the national front ADAPT has been waging its campaign against the institutional bias in Medicaid that keeps nursing homes flush and disabled people unnecessarily captive in them, Governor Schwarzenegger would like to eliminate California’s In Home Supportive Services program (IHSS) turning back the clock. The state-only funded IHSS program is a pioneer project Read more…
I use a power wheelchair that Medicare rightly paid for some six years ago. Were I to need another one today I would be in for the fight of my life to get it. That’s because Medicare has made some stealth decisions that the public has not been informed about. One such decision is to Read more…
It was predicted by Business Week in the 90s and assumed by disability groups that in the Information Age disabled workers would get a shot at improving their employment lot. Technology makes it possible for significantly disabled persons to use computers and Information Technology (IT) promised plenty of office deskwork. One spin Business Week put Read more…
Terminating items in a budget can be a fun affair. Just ask Gov. Schwartzenegger who is selling massive cuts to health and welfare services to the public in private California malls. All three of his major speeches last week were in malls with stores in the background and with consumers and small business owners as Read more…