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of the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities.
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in accessible formats upon request.
Suellen Jackson-Boner
Executive Director
Christine Dahlberg
Associate Director
Paul Shankland
Grants Manager |
Legislators address disability issues
While the recent session of the Indiana General Assembly focused primarily on budget and tax issues, it passed several other bills also affecting people with disabilities.
People who live in group homes and large institutions will benefit from enrolled act 1599, which increases the personal needs allowance from $36.50 to $52 per month, effective July 1.
The self-directed care services bill (House Bill 1252) permits eligible individuals who want to self-direct their care to do so. It allows parents and guardians – as well as people with disabilities – to train and hire personal assistants. It also provides a two-year registration period for personal assistance services.
Several bills addressed special education, including Senate Bill 290. Among other things, it requires an interagency task force to review services and funding sources available to children with disabilities and their families.Other bills addressed accreditation of disability service providers, various election laws and mental health drugs for Medicaid recipients.
Disability advocates were pleased with the defeat of several bills, including House Bills 1163 and 1258. HB 1163 would have allowed insurance companies to offer policies that denied coverage for up to two “preexisting conditions” and any secondary conditions
associated with such conditions for up to five years. HB 1258 would have required the state to use tobacco settlement dollars as a federal match to specifically go toward nursing homes.
“We opposed House Bill 1258 because it would have meant fewer dollars would be available for community living settings,” said Cris Fulford, ATTAIN executive director and COVOH director of governmental affairs/public policy. “Governor O’Bannon vetoed this bill, saying Medicaid needed the flexibility to serve people in the capacity it felt was most important.”
Although HB 1163 never reached a final vote, Fulford said it will be back. “This has come up four years in a row. It’s such a bad bill, but it will eventually get through.” She is assembling a health care task force to find legislative alternatives to the bill.
Disability advocates will be watching the special session starting May 14 and the General Assembly’s summer interim study committees, which will address a variety of disability-related issues.
Grant funds to increase housing access
With a grant of $114,576 in HOME funds, the Council, in partnership with the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, will promote the development of accessible and affordable housing for people with disabilities.
The funds will be used to provide information, training and technical assistance to Independent Living Centers, self-advocacy organizations and housing and support service organizations.
“The goal is to build the capacity of these organizations to help people access housing opportunities and participate in the development of state and community housing
planning processes,” said Council Executive Director Suellen Jackson-Boner.
The HOME Investment Partnership Program funds activities that create housing opportunities for low-income people. The grant will fund staff support from the Institute for the Study of Disability and Community, as well as Back Home in Indiana Alliance.
Grant funds will be used to train staff and develop information products, such as a publication for homeownership counselors, a trainer’s packet for disability advocacy groups, and supplemental materials for standard homeownership programs. They will also fund research about national practices in home modification and specifically a statewide survey about home modification activity in Indiana.
Project participants will assist in developing the Indiana Association for Community and Economic Development Home Ownership Education Curriculum.
State launches Medicaid buy-in program
Starting this summer, people with disabilities in Indiana will no longer have to choose between employment and medicaid benefits. July 1 marks the launch of the Indiana Medicaid buy-in program, called Medicaid for Employees with Disabilities or M.E.D. Works. It took Hoosier disability advocates only one year after the passage of the state buy-in legislation to get the program started.
People with disabilities who are working can apply for the program at the county Division of Family and Children offices starting July 1.
Medicaid buy-in legislation was passed last year in response to the federal Ticket to
Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999. Prior to that legislation, people with disabilities who were employed often lost Medicaid coverage because their earnings exceeded the income cap of 150 percent of the federal poverty level. With the new M.E.D. Works program, such people can now buy into Medicaid by paying monthly premiums.
“Premiums are based on your income,” said program director Andrea Vermeulen. People with disabilities whose income amounts to 150 to 175 percent of the federal poverty
level will pay a $48 premium, for example. Vermeulen said the maximum premium for
a person with a disability who is earning more than 350 percent of the federal poverty level is $187 per month. These amounts might change slightly as details are finalized.
Determining a person’s income level is somewhat complicated, Vermeulen said, because certain types of income will not be counted in a person’s total income calculation.
Those involved in the program will receive the same benefits and coverage as traditional Medicaid recipients.
Enrolled act 1950, which authorizes M.E.D. Works, also requires the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to apply for a federal Ticket to Work grant. When the grant is received it will probably fund education, outreach and training to increase employment of people with disabilities.
Two cases test ADA Protections
During the 2001-2002 session, the Supreme Court ruled on several cases that alter the definition of disability and change how the ADA protects people with disabilities. Two cases, one left to be decided this spring, are expected to have significant
ramifications.
The first case is US Airways v. Barnett. Robert Barnett, a customer service worker at the
airline, requested a transfer to a vacant mailroom job after injuring his back. The reassignment was granted, but in the airline’s seniority system, positions are “open for bidding” based on seniority every three months. When more senior employees requested mailroom positions, Barnett was transferred to a cargo position and was soon fired.
Barnett argued that “reasonable accommodation” includes adjusting seniority systems to accommodate workers with disabilities. US Airways argued that such accommodations would mean preferential treatment, not equal treatment, for workers with disabilities and would be an “undue hardship” for employees with seniority.
Supreme Court justices ruled on Apr. 29 that employees are not always entitled to the most favorable jobs intended for more senior employees. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not pre-empt company seniority systems, but exceptions can be made if people with disabilities can show “special circumstances.”
The other case to be decided this spring is Chevron U.S.A. v. Echazabal. Mario Echazabal was refused a job at a Chevron plant in California after a physical showed he had hepatitis C. The job would have exposed him to liver- damaging chemicals, and Chevron claimed it could not expose an employee to danger because of moral reasons and potential liability.
Echazabal’s lawyer told the justices the central issue in this case is “whether the employer or the employee gets to make the decision” about health risks associated with a job. He encouraged them to reject companies’ “paternalistic” attempts to make decisions
for potential employees.A decisions in this case is expected this spring.
Waiver to expand support services
People with developmental disabilities may qualify for a new Home and Community-Based Services Waiver from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
The Support Services waiver provides assistance to people who meet the criteria for admission to an Intermediate Care Facility for Mental Retardation, but who live at home and have less extensive support needs. People can enroll in the Support Services waiver program and remain on the waiting list for more extensive waivers.
“This waiver will do more to help families and people who provide informal supports. It will give families who want to care for their children or relatives some support to do so, making them better able to meet the needs of the person with the disability,” said Beth Setters, who handles waiver development and reporting for the Department of Disability, Aging and Rehabilitative Services.
Services provided under the waiver include:
- Respite care
- Community habilitation and participation
- Supported employment and pre-vocational services
- Transportation
- Specialized medical equipment and supplies
- Adult day services
- Physical, occupational, speech/language, music, recreational and psychological therapy
- Family and caregiver training
Services are capped at $13,500 per year, with a $2,000 limit on respite care.
The waiver went into effect April 1, 2002. To apply, visit a local Area Agency on Aging or Bureau of Developmental Disability Services office.
State seeks participants in Medicaid lawsuit
Although the Indiana Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) won its Medicaid class action lawsuit against the state, it cannot find the original plaintiffs: Hoosiers who were denied Medicaid coverage from Dec. 20, 1993 through 2001 because their disability status could be reversed.
The state estimates more than 22,000 people were denied coverage under strict regulations that stated if a
disability would improve with treatment, the state would not pay for such treatment.
ICLU attorneys told the Indianapolis Star that many people who were denied
coverage either died, never sought treatment (and thus never lost money) or simply cannot be found. The state told the Star it expects to find no more than 18,000 people, although it mailed letters to the last known addresses of everyone who had been denied coverage.
The lawsuit, Patricia Day v. Indiana, helped to expand Medicaid coverage, which is now extended to people who have disabilities expected to last four years or more if left untreated.
If you or someone you know was denied coverage under the old regulations, contact your local Division of Family and Children office before July 13, 2002.
Case management becomes entitlement for some
Indiana’s Medicaid program now offers Targeted Case Management (TCM) to people with developmental disabilities as an entitlement, not a waiver service.
Meeting the Intermediate Care Facility/Mental Retardation (ICF/MR) level of care is no longer necessary to qualify.
“You no longer go through an eligibility process for case management. All you have to do is document your developmental disability and be on Medicaid,” said Beth Setters of the Department of Disability, Aging and Rehabilitative Services.
TCM has two components: intake and ongoing. Intake activities include referrals
and applications for services. Ongoing services – provided by a case manager of the person’s choosing – include service planning and monitoring and other activities.
To request TCM, contact the Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services or a local Area Agency on Aging.
Of Note
LDA conference seeks vendors, presenters
The Learning Disabilities Association of Indiana (LDA-IN) 2002 conference will be Friday, Nov. 15, at the Indianapolis airport Adams Mark. The association is seeking vendors and presenters and especially welcomes parents of children with learning disabilities to attend and share their ideas. To be included on the mailing list, contact Barbara Uhrig at (317) 898-1295 (voice), (800) 284-2519 (voice) or bluhrig@inct.net (e-mail). Visit LDA-IN on the Web at www.inct.net/~bluhrig/.
New address for INAPSE Web site
The Indiana Association for Persons in Supported Employment (INAPSE) has a new Web address: inapse.org. The site contains local and national information about supported employment and employment-related news. The organization can be reached at its new e-mail address, inapse@inapse.org.
Phone relay service offers free TTs
The Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation is offering new SuperPrint 4425 TTs with printers to people whose current TTs are three years old or older. Those with a household income of $58,500 or less can obtain an application from any Indiana Community Agency for the Deaf office or e-mail Indiana Telecom Services at ITSDeaf@aol.com.
Company develops ’lip-reading’ cell phone
A Japanese telecommunications company is developing a lip-reading cell phone, Reuters news service reported. Sensors in the mouthpiece detect electrical signals from the user’s mouth muscles, and a speech synthesizer converts those signals to spoken words or text. The phone should be available in about five years, and could ease communications for some people with speech-related disabilities.
Indiana Governor’s Planning
Council for People with Disabilities
150 West Market Street, Suite 628
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
(317) 232-7770 voice
(317) 232-7771 TT
E-mail: GPCPD@gpcpd.org
Web site: www.state.in.us/gpcpd
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