On Target is a monthly publication
of the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities.
We welcome your suggestions for newsletter content and
ideas concerning the actions of the Council. On Target is made available
in accessible formats upon request.
Suellen Jackson-Boner
Executive Director
Christine Dahlberg
Associate Director
Paul Shankland
Grants Manager |
Amendments limit Patients' Bill of Rights provisions
Advocates for patients' rights expected to be pleased when the House of Representatives passed its version of the Patients' Bill of Rights (H.R. 526) on Thursday, Aug. 2. But last-minute amendments left many concerned about the effectiveness of the House bill. Though the Senate and House versions grant essentially the same patient protections, the means of enforcing them are at the center of a fierce debate.
The last-minute amendments to the House version were the result of a quiet agreement between President George W. Bush and Rep. Charlie Norwood of Georgia. Norwood has been the primary advocate for a strong Patients' Bill of Rights for six years.
The Bush-Norwood amendment grants one critical factor - the right for patients to sue their insurers or HMOs in state court where awards are generally higher. Bush initially wanted all suits against HMOs to be tried in federal court where awards would not be as high.
However, state court awards would be restricted by federal caps. The amendment sets a $1.5 million cap on awards for punitive damages and pain and suffering, while lost wages and other certain financial losses could be claimed in full. In contrast, the Senate version (S. 1052) places no limit on pain and suffering damages and caps punitive damages at $5 million, although awards would be subject to existing state caps.
The Bush-Norwood amendment also creates a presumption in the courts that independent reviews of denied claims are correct if they favor the insurer or HMO. Results that favor the patient would not carry the same presumption. This creates a heavier burden of proof for patients and makes it more difficult for them to prevail in court.
According to many Democrats, patient advocates and others involved with the bill, the weakened right to sue in the House version is worse than no bill at all. Some recent court cases have favored patients over HMOs, and some states have increased patients' protections, so a bill with a limited right to sue might shift the tide in the courts to favor HMOs and insurers instead of patients.
"The House of Representatives failed to pass a bill that would provide true patient protections for our nation's health care consumers," said Judy Waxman, deputy executive director of Families USA.
The House and Senate versions still contain many provisions that are essentially identical. Both versions guarantee patients emergency care at the nearest hospital, access to specialists, prescription drugs, clinical trials and an independent review of denied claims.
These provisions might mean very little, however, without a way to enforce them. To be effective, the Patients' Bill of Rights must include remedies for patients who are denied appropriate medical treatment. This includes a significant right to sue.
Families USA (www.familiesusa.org), a nonprofit organization that dedicates itself to the rights of health care consumers, urges advocates to contact their elected representatives before the conference committee meets in September. The message: to support only a version that includes a meaningful right to sue, and to encourage them to express this opinion to colleagues on the conference committee. For information about how to contact your representatives, visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.
Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities in partnership with the National Organization on Disability.
Dial-up service provides access to local news
People with visual disabilities now have a more convenient, accessible way to get their news. Each day, Indiana Reading and Information Services volunteers record sections of Indiana newspapers onto a telephone voice message system called the Nina Mason Pulliam Statewide Dial-up Service. Callers can access this service with a private password and touch-tone telephone.
The service is an improvement on Central Indiana Radio Reading Inc., the radio reading service that reads the entire newspaper to listeners in the Indianapolis area who have a special receiver. The new service is available statewide and allows listeners to choose only the articles or sections they are interested in.
"There are currently 16 Indiana papers that we offer as part of the menu. It's really unlike any other service in the country, in that individuals can access their hometown news," said Lori Plummer, media relations manager for WFYI.
For people with visual disabilities, that is a significant benefit.
"Many of our consumers have just lost their sight and they're unable to read the newspaper. They don't know what's going on locally," said Treva Chupp, a program assistant at the Independent Living Center of Eastern Indiana. She coordinates volunteers for the service in the Richmond area.
Callers to the statewide dial-up service can hear sections such as the front page, TV listings, obituaries and lifestyle sections. Availability of other sections, including sale and grocery advertisements and job listings, depends on the newspaper. "We want the main things to be covered, like the local news, but if possible we want to have those extra things covered," Chupp said.
The service is not available to everyone. "We do ask that individuals present some sort of certification of a print impairment on the application form," Plummer said. A physician, ophthalmologist or other medical provider can give this certification.
For more information or an application, call toll-free (877) 854-0077 (voice) or visit www.wfyi.org. Members of the state library's Talking Book program are automatically registered and should call to receive a password.
Participating newspapers:
- Chronicle Tribune (Marion)
- Indianapolis Star
- Journal & Courier (Lafayette)
- Kokomo Tribune
- Kokomo Perspective
- South Bend Tribune
- The Elkhart Truth
- The Goshen News
- The Herald-Times (Bloomington)
- The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne)
- The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne)
- The Post-Tribune (Gary)
- The Republic (Columbus)
- The Star Press (Muncie)
- The Times (Hammond-Merrillville-Munster)
- Tribune-Star (Terre Haute)
711: The new way to access Relay Indiana
Indiana residents can now dial 711 to access Relay Indiana - a TT (text telephone) service enabling people with hearing and speech disabilities to communicate via the telephone.
The new number should ease concerns about remembering different relay numbers when traveling, and prompt those unfamiliar with relay service to return relay calls.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued an order to all telecommunication carriers to implement 711 nationwide for relay service by Oct. 1. Indiana is four months ahead of schedule! Existing Relay Indiana toll-free numbers will continue to work.
Relay Indiana is a public service of Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation (InTRAC) and Sprint Corporation. For more information, contact Sprint Relay Customer Service at (800) 676-3777 (TT/voice) or InTRAC at (877) 446-8722 (TT/voice).
Relay Indiana Toll-Free Access Numbers
711 - TT/voice/VCO/ASCII
(800) 743-3333 - TT/voice/VCO/ASCII
(877) 743-8231 - Speech-to-Speech
Unable to access 711?
If you can't access Relay Indiana dialing 711, call a customer service representative at your local telephone company.
Voice users
If you hear tones after you dial, do not hang up! A relay operator will answer within a few seconds.
Amendments spoil IDEA
Both the U.S. Senate and the House versions of a bill renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) - now on its way to a conference committee - include an amendment that damages the effectiveness of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The Norwood amendment to House bill H.R. 1 and the Session amendment to Senate bill S. 1 would allow school personnel to discipline students with disabilities in the same way they would discipline students without disabilities. It would also allow them to suspend or expel these students without providing ongoing educational services.
According to iCan.com, the amendments will "essentially repeal several vital IDEA provisions."
In addition, the amendments alter IDEA independently of the reauthorization process scheduled to begin in 2002.
According to Rod Paige, Secretary of Education, the Bush administration is strongly urging Congress to delay consideration of all IDEA - related amendments until a thorough review of IDEA can be done in preparation for IDEA reauthorization, and not as part of the ESEA reauthorization.
The amendments state the new discipline provisions apply only to "truly dangerous" students. However, advocates believe many more students with disabilities will be affected because of the broad, subjective discretion granted to school officials.
The National Parent Network on Disabilities (NPND) has been closely following this issue, and now asks for a public rallying cry. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer (D-3) are part of the conference committee working to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill when the legislative session begins. NPND asks the public to contact Bayh and Roemer now to tell them the amendments cancel vital protections for students with disabilities and should not be included in the final version of the bill.
For more information about the bill and related amendments, visit the Center for Law and Education at www.cleweb.org.
Rep. Roemer:
- E-mail: tim.roemer@mail.house.gov
- South Bend phone: (219) 288-3301 (voice)
- Washington, D.C. phone: (202) 225-3915 (voice)
- Washington, D.C. fax: (202) 225-6798
Sen. Bayh:
- E-mail: senator@bayh.senate.gov
- Indianapolis phone: (317) 554-0750 (voice)
- Washington, D.C. phone: (202) 224-5623 (voice)
- Washington, D.C. fax: (202) 228-1377
Action alert
Title I of the Assistive Technology Act (ATA) has supported state grant programs for assistive technologies since 1998 - but is now in jeopardy. Unless Congress enacts an amendment by Sept. 30, some states will lose this funding because of a sunset provision in the original bill.
In Indiana, this means Assistive Technology through Action in Indiana, Inc. (ATTAIN) could lose funding within two years. ATTAIN is a community-based service providing technology information, training, access and more.
The National Council of Independent Living Centers (NCILC) requested public support of this program. Indiana's only member of the House Committee on Education is Rep. Tim Roemer (D-3). NCICL recommends Hoosiers call, write or e-mail to encourage Roemer to support an amendment to the Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Bill to save Title I of the ATA. Tell him the program is vital to people with disabilities using assistive technologies.
(For Rep. Roemer's contact information, see "Amendments spoil IDEA" at the top of this page.)
Mark your calendar
An "Autism and Nutrition" and "Nutrition in Development Disorders and Managed Care" teleconference will take place at 1 p.m. (central time) on Thursday, Sept. 27. Presented by the Cincinnati Center for Developmental Disorders, the Indiana Link for Tele-conference and the Indiana Department of Health, the teleconference will take place in the following locations:
- Evansville: Purdue Extension, 4-H Center
- Fort Wayne: Parkview Memorial Hospital
- Hammond: Purdue University
- Indianapolis: Indiana State Department of Health, Rice Auditorium
For more information, contact Darlene Magnabosco at (317) 233-1350 (voice) or e-mail dmagnabo@isdh.state.in.us.
Justice For All to disband
After six years of advocating for people with disabilities, the Justice For All (JFA) network was absorbed by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) on July 26, the 11th anniversary of the ADA. JFA turned its e-mail list over to AAPD, which will continue to send advocacy alerts using the JFA name. Jonathan Young, JFA moderator, said the decision should help bring more organization and structure to advocacy efforts across the nation.
Of Note
Conference around the corner
The 2001 Indiana Conference for People with Disabilities is fast approaching. Watch your mailbox in September for a registration form. If you do not receive a form by the end of September, or if you would like a quantity of the forms to distribute among your organization, please contact the Council at GPCPD@gpcpd.org (e-mail) or (317) 232-7770 (voice). The deadline for conference registration is Nov. 16 and the scholarship application is due Oct. 15.
GPC to e-mail urgent news
To keep you informed of up-to-the-minute news, we will be sending out urgent news via e-mail. If you are interested in receiving this e-mail newsletter, please e-mail Christine Dahlberg at cdahlberg@gpcpd.org.
October marks Employment Awareness Month
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEA Month), a program of Congress and the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. The theme for this year's program is "Think Ability," which seeks to break down attitudinal barriers people with disabilities face in the workforce and community.
Award honors accessible cities, towns
To mark the 11th anniversary of the ADA, the National Organization on Disability (NOD) has announced a $25,000 "Accessible America 2001" competition. Sponsored by United Parcel Service, it encourages cities and towns to showcase the ways in which people with disabilities participate in and contribute to their communities. To enter, mayors must submit a three-page statement describing how their citizens with disabilities participate in community life. The deadline for entry is Dec. 31. For more information, contact NOD at 910 16th St., NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C., 20006, call (202) 293-5960 (voice) or visit www.nod.org.
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
|