NPN benefitsBlog

2009 COLA Jumps 5.8%

SSA announced Thursday, October 16 that the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increases for next year will increase Social Security and SSI benefit programs by 5.8 percent. The COLA is the largest increase since 1982.

In 2009, the average SSDI monthly check for a worker who is disabled will be $1064, up from $1006 in 2008. The Federal Benefit Rate (FBR) for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will rise next year to $674 a month for an individual, from $637,  and to $1011 for a couple from $956.

Several work-incentive related provisions which are also indexed to the CPI that is the basis for federal COLA adjustments will rise too. The SGA level that indicates so-called substantial work earnings has been raised to $980 per month. People who are disabled because of blindness have a higher threshold of $1,640 in 2009.

The amount of earned income that indicates a trail-work-period service month is up in the coming year to $700. The trial-work period is 9 service months spread over a 5-year period and permits an individual to test their ability to work without losing SSDI benefits.

Students with disabilities on SSI will now be able to deduct significant earnings under the Student Earned Income Exclusion excluding the first $1,640 of earned income in a month and up to $6,600 in 2009 when they work.

SSA Fact sheet on COLA

Federal Register announcement

National Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against SSA for Its "Fugitive Felon Program"

San Francisco, CA — Rosa Martinez couldn’t believe what she was reading.  The 52- year-old woman from Redwood City, CA had received a notice from the Social Security Administration informing her that she was losing her only source of income — her $870 per month of disability benefits — because of a 1980 arrest warrant for a drug offense in Miami, Florida.  Never mind that Ms. Martinez had never been to Miami, never been arrested and never used illegal drugs.

Unfortunately, Ms. Martinez is not alone.  She is one of over 100,000 elderly and disabled Americans who have lost their Social Security and SSI retirement and disability benefits because of an arbitrary and unlawful Social Security Administration policy.

This morning a class-action lawsuit challenging the SSA policy was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of Rosa Martinez and thousands of others who are losing the benefits they count on for survival in old age or incapacity because of this Social Security Administration policy.

SSA claims to be applying a 1996 law which prohibits payment of benefits to people who are “fleeing to avoid prosecution” for a felony.  Yet the Social Security Administration, in its odd application of this provision, makes no attempt to determine if the individual is actually fleeing or even knows that criminal charges are pending.  As long as they find a warrant with the person’s first and last name and Social Security number, they suspend the benefits with no further inquiry.  If there is no Social Security number on the warrant or it does not match the name, then they simply find someone receiving benefits who has the same first and last name and date of birth and suspend the benefits without even trying to ascertain whether this is really the individual named in the warrant.

The SSA knows that its policy violates the law.  Individuals have challenged the policy in court several times, and each time courts have ruled that the policy is unlawful and ordered reinstatement of benefits of the disabled and elderly beneficiaries.  Yet SSA continues to apply this policy without regard to the court rulings.  Today’s class action filing is the first attempt to end the policy altogether.

“The Social Security Administration knows its policy cannot be justified.” said Gerald McIntyre, Directing Attorney at the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles and one of the attorneys representing Ms. Martinez and the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit.  “The policy does nothing to catch those who really are fleeing from justice, but instead concentrates on those in whom law enforcement has no interest. Time and again, when courts have examined this issue they have found that the SSA’s policy violates the law.”

“This unlawful policy has a devastating impact on some of the most vulnerable members of society — the disabled and the elderly,” said David Fry, a partner at the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP, which has taken on the case pro bono.  “Most of those affected have no savings and no other source of income.  Without their benefits, they face the real and immediate threat of hunger and homelessness.”

“Social Security should not be looking for excuses to deny benefits, particularly in such unlawful and devastating ways," said Bill Lienhard, project director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center and co-author of a report on SSA’s practice of suspending benefits called Social Insecurity: How the Social Security Administration's "Fugitive Felon Program" Harms Disabled, Retired and Poor Americans Without Aiding Law Enforcement

After Rosa Martinez recovered from the shock, the fear and anxiety set in.  A recipient of Supplemental Security Income with no savings who is too disabled to work, Ms. Martinez relies on her monthly disability check to pay her rent, groceries and utility bills.  “Without my benefits, I don’t know how I’ll survive,” said Martinez.  “How could they take away my only income without even taking the time to check to see if the person on the warrant was really me?”

Plaintiffs are represented by National Senior Citizens Law Center, the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson, LLP, Urban Justice Center, Disability Rights California and the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County.

For further information and a copy of the complaint filed in court today, please call Gerald McIntyre at the National Senior Citizens Law Center (213-674-2900) or Emilia Sicilia at the Urban Justice Center (646-602-5688)

Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at Texas A&M Offers Disabled Veterans a Chance to Make Their Dreams Come True

by Chrystal Houston

John Reed owns the Double R Ranch, 30-acres in Gatesville, Texas, where he and his family raise horses and cattle. Reed has a big dream for his ranch: for it to be a refuge for disabled veterans and others with physical or emotional trauma. He wants it to be a place for soldiers, and their families, to find healing together

Until last year, Reed was a sergeant in the Army, serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Combat injuries led to medical retirement, leaving him with severe emotional issues as well as hearing loss and damaged knees. “I have real bad PTSD. The only place I feel comfortable is with my animals. I thought maybe that would work for others,” he said. Reed realized the need for this sort of operation when he returned from duty and found that his disability was destroying his marriage. While there were plenty of medical services available to him, he couldn’t find help for his wife and children, who needed to learn how to cope with the man who returned from the battlefield so changed.

Someday soon, Reed’s dream could be a reality, thanks to a new program offered at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School. He and 15 other disabled American veterans were the first to participate in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), which offered wounded warriors with vision and determination the tools needed to be able to make their businesses a success.

THE PROGRAM

Dallas resident Natasha Espinoza is the sort of student you’d expect to find at Mays. She’s young, trendily dressed, and full of excitement about her proposed business venture, Royal Recreation, a boutique for “sneaker freaks,” those that pay top dollar for rare footwear. You would never guess by looking at Espinoza that she is an Army veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, and that she struggles daily with debilitating injuries sustained during a tour of combat duty in Iraq.

It’s for people like Reed and Espinoza that the EBV program began in 2007 at Syracuse University. It was offered in consortium with that program through the Center for Executive Development at Mays, with UCLA, and Florida State University. Participants were required to complete a three-week on-line course prior to an eight-day residency on one of the four campuses. This crash course in small business start-up and operation is supported by a year of one-on-one mentoring from business faculty volunteers. One of the best features of the program is that it is 100 percent cost-free for participants. Donors underwrite the entire program, including travel and lodging.

Mays Interim Dean Ricky Griffin says that partnering with Syracuse in this venture was ‘the easiest decision [he’s] made in the past 15 months as dean,’ as Mays is a natural spot for this type of program.

“This university has a unique history that reflects a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a pervasive military culture,” Griffin said citing noted Aggie entrepreneurs such as Lowry Mays as well as the tradition of the Corps of Cadets, which enables A&M to produce more officers than any other school with the exception of the military academies.

A&M President Elsa Murano echoed Griffin’s thoughts. “The folks that are in this program are the epitome of one of the values that we treasure so dearly here at Texas A&M and that is selfless service…A&M has a legacy of loyalty and love of country.”

While on the A&M campus, participants heard from some of Mays best faculty who taught on a variety of topics, including innovation, sales, marketing, accounting, financing, supply chain, and business structure and strategy. Bootcamp was an accurate title. While the student vets may not have had to endure physical hardship, they did have a marathon of mental exercise to complete, culminating in a final presentation of their business plan in front of an audience of their classmates, local entrepreneurs, and faculty members. Participants were often faced with 12-15 hour days as they took a dream and crafted a workable business plan around it.

Guest presenters provided part of the curriculum as well. Successful entrepreneurs told participants about their own, real-world challenges. Daniel Scarborough from the National PASS Network presented daily about benefits and services the vets could take advantage of as they set out on their new venture. A banker and a law expert both gave participants advice about common pitfalls of entrepreneurs and helped them to get the inside track on those vital components of the business world.

There was a little time for entertainment, too, as the group was treated to a dinner at the Sam Houston Sanders’ Corps of Cadets Center. They toured the museum, ate real Texas barbeque, and visited with the next generation—Corps members that will soon be officers in the military. EBV participants also spent an evening at Messina Hof, a local winery owned by Mays graduate Merrill Bonarrigo ‘75 and her husband, Paul, who gave the would be-entrepreneurs a realistic look at what it takes to start a business.

THE PEOPLE

Those that took part in the program at Mays were a variety of ages, some in their early 20s others in their early 60s. Some were amputees, others had scars, several wore hearing aids. They were of different ranks, races, genders, and education levels, with varying lengths of service in all four branches of the service, but they were united by the shared experience of military life. It didn’t take long for the members of the group to unite into a close-knit family, helping each other with their projects and giving encouragement through the long and challenging classes.

Many of their business plans focus on veterans services, from websites that help others get the benefits they deserve, to affordable housing for the disabled. This group of entrepreneurs isn’t out to make millions for themselves; their focus on service extends beyond their military deployment. Take for example Orlando Casteneda, an Army vet from Arlington, Texas. When he was medically retired, he went to work raising money for scholarships for the children of disabled veterans. Discouraged with the number of businesses and individuals that said they supported the troops but wouldn’t open their wallets to show it, he determined that the best way to get the funds he needed would be to start a business and raise the capital himself.

Casteneda’s trade in customizable wearable art began while he was serving in Iraq: He drew a design on his patrol cap and people noticed. Friends liked it so much, they asked him to personalize their combat wear. In 2003, his vehicle hit a roadside bomb, leaving him with brain trauma that affects his vision, hearing, and memory. While recovering at a military hospital in Germany, his business continued to grow as he made personalized items for other patients. The light bulb moment came when he was offered $100 for a hat that cost him $3 to make. Today, his work can now be seen on celebrities such as rapper Lil Flip and NBA player Devin Harris. This kind of success only fuels Casteneda’s passion for using his art to raise money for other disabled veterans and their families.

Casteneda says he gained more than just business knowledge from the EBV program, he also found important business contacts: two other participants with previous business experience have agreed to serve as his CEO and chief marketing director. “If we make enough money, we’re going to be able to finance everyone else in the class,” he says, noting that his EBV classmates all had excellent ideas that he wants to be a part of.

“BOOTS ON THE GROUND” AT MAYS

Donald Martinez was medically separated from the Army only a few days ago. He has a two-inch, pink scar running down his right wrist, a memento of a humvee rollover. After multiple surgeries, he still can’t do a push up or fire a weapon. What is harder to see are the emotional scars he bears. He, like many veterans of this war, is a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, which leaves him sleepless, anxious, and unable to focus. His experiences with these unexpected setbacks motivate him in his new business venture as a financial advisor. His dream is to help young soldiers plan for financial security in life beyond the military, so that they can be prepared for whatever might happen when they go into the field.

“All of us in the [EBV] program joined the military before the war on terror, not knowing what we were getting into, unlike today’s officers and enlisted,” said Martinez. “Despite the war, people are still volunteering for the military, and that’s why I am doing what I am doing as a financial planner for those coming in. I want to provide them protection and service that I did not get when I came in.”

That preparedness is part of the military mindset–and part of the logo for the EBV program: a set of combat boots standing at attention. This image symbolizes troops at the ready, prepared for action. That idea was prevalent throughout the week of residency at Mays as the student vets equipped themselves for action with education.

To send the participants off into the real world with their new skills and knowledge, a formal graduation ceremony was held at the Annenburg Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library at the conclusion of the week. With much fanfare, the EBV participants entered through a saber arch provided by the Ross Volunteers. The Singing Cadets provided stirring entertainment, including Lee Greenwood’s “God bless the USA.” President Murano and other top A&M system administrators attended the event.

The capstone of the evening was an address from Texas Governor Rick Perry ‘72, who lauded the vets for their service. As a former Corps of Cadets member and Air Force captain, Perry’s remarks had special significance for the audience.“Texas has always been a place that has respected its veterans,” said Governor Perry. “Texans understand that men and women that have sacrificed for our freedoms are special individuals. Therefore, how can we take care of them?” He introduced a plan being developed by the state called The Texas Veterans Leadership Program, which will help returning soldiers to reorient into civilian life.

“The future of America is in young men and women’s hands, just like yours,” he told participants. “Thank you for giving back. Thank you for understanding that this country is great.”

For a closer look at this year’s participants and the program, visit the 2008 EBV Photo Gallery.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 EBV program. Details may be found at http://whitman.syr.edu/ebv/.

DOL Announces America's Heroes at Work Website

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a new online resource, America's Heroes at Work, designed to equip employers and the workforce development system with the tools they need to help returning service members affected by Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) succeed in the workplace.

Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act Introduced in US Senate

From our friends at the Bazelon Center Mental Health Law we learn that Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act on July 23. The bill (S. 3311) provides competitive grants to colleges and universities to fund a range of services, including expanding mental and behavioral health services, improving outreach and identification of students in need of services and creating a public health awareness campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. The legislation would also establish an interagency working group on college mental health to coordinate a national effort.

The Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act will help address the growing demand for mental health services on college campuses and improve the ratio of counselors to students. The bill has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Senate co-sponsors are needed to elevate the importance of this legislation.

SSA Website Redesign: A New Public Face?

The Social Security Administration(SSA) gets over 50 million hits a year (2006 data) to its website socialsecurity.gov. With that kind of internet traffic, SSA wanted needed to update and redesigned its website to make it more user friendly and usable. It is a matter of keeping up with current technology. Critics say SSA's old website was a product of inefficient design and outdated webpage browsing technologies. The new site, as SSA notes, "uses design principles in the industry by reducing [page] clutter, improving navigation, making better use of graphics, reducing the need to scroll down and prioritizing items on the page". SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue suggested in public comments that the web redo is SSA's new public face. It is an improvement in the agency's web design, but I wouldn't say SSA's website is a quantum leap in public service enhancement. How SSA is handling other more significant issues (like the disability backlog) is the real public face of the agency.

SSA's redesigned website divides the page into 5 topics representing SSA's 5 primary benefit service areas: Retirement, Survivors, disability, SSI and Medicare. SSA says that it "had several focus groups with members of the public and tested the new site for usability and compliance to ensure that those with disabilities could easily navigate its new Web site."

On SSA's website there is a short, online video that describes the new web changes. There is also a captioned version as well as a written transcript of the video for help people with visual and hearing disabilities. In addition, there is also a function that allows for larger print and there are different language versions of Social Security information for people with limited English proficiency.

There is a big reason that the Social Security needs a website that works better. SSA is pushing a lot of its service activities onto the web. This new site move toward accommodating more and more web- based services including applying for disability benefits and appealing SSA decisions that had been traditionally provided in SSA's local offices in face-to-face interaction with SSA representatives.

Demographics and economics are pushing SSA to become more internet savvy. Thomas Hughes, chief information officer at SSA, noted recently in an interview with Washington Technology that some 10 million people will retire in the next five years. SSA estimates this means 80 million baby-boomers will be eligible for benefits. Mr. Hughes does not expect SSA's workforce to grow along with the expanding base of customers(note this a current Administration policy decision of cutting the federal workforce that justifies his approach). Indeed the SSA workforce already been reduced by 7.1% in the last 5 years. Technology, Hughes says, is the only way to meet this demand. To that retirement surge add the Medicare Drug Prescription program, the staggering backlog of disability benefit cases and throw in a few Homeland Security functions and what we find is a huge mess. This mess IS the real public face of the Social Security Administration.

Instead of just relying on technology, the agency and Congress needs to budget some funds for additional workforce. Technology can make the process easier, but eventually in a human service organization you have to have humans giving service. It is hard fact to get around. The SSA programs are difficult to understand by design and are set up for SSA to be gatekeepers of the program. To abdicate that role in favor of seemingly broad-based, save-the-day kinds technological advances makes no sense.

Technically the new SSA website is a vast improvement over the older version, but keeping up with current web technology is no reason to spin this as some public service enhancement. It is not. Putting more and more of its SSA agency functions on the web works fine for people who are hooked up to the web. That is the fatal flaw. Many people who are aged and people with disabilities (SSA's major constituents) do not have access to the internet. Some people who are aged or disabled on limited fixed income just can not afford the $45 or so a month for an internet connection and purchase a computer system to get hooked up to the web. Too, it does little good, for example, to make it easy to appeal SSA decisions on the web if it takes 3 years of pencil whipping for that appeal to finally be decided. It is even more disturbing to learn that Social Security representatives have been instructed to "give priority to internet applications for benefits". Improvements to SSA's website should not mask the agency's fundamental service problems. It helps, but that is not the real service problem and the problem can't be solved by just a new website and a public relations spin on how great they are for recognizing the obvious.

If you have comments regarding the SSA's new site you can comment at new.homepage@ssa.gov.

Federal Minimum Wage Jumps 70 Cents

The federal minimum wage increases to $6.55 today. The increase is up 70 cents from $5.85. The increase is the second of 3 planned increases provided for by Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 that will eventually raise the minimum wage to $7.25. It is expected to have a wide impact for workers with disabilities and others working in low-wage jobs. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia already have higher minimum wage standards than the new federal requirement and are not affected.

President Loses On His Veto of Medicare Bill

On July 15, 2008, President Bush vetoed H.R. 6331, the “Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008". On that same day, the US House of Representatives and the Senate voted to override the President Bush veto of the bill. The House vote was 383–41 and the Senate vote was 70–26. H.R. 6331 became P.L. 110-275.

VA Announces On-Line Claims Disability Applications

WASHINGTON (July 16, 2008) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sent a press release to the National PASS Network this morning announcing today that on-line applications are now accepted from veterans, survivors and other claimants filing initial applications for disability compensation, pension, education, and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits without the additional requirement to submit a signed paper copy of the application.

Effective immediately, VA will now process applications received through its on-line application website (VONAPP) without the claimant's signature. The electronic application will be sufficient authentication of the claimant's application for benefits. Normal development procedures and rules of evidence will still apply to all VONAPP applications.

VONAPP is a Web-based system that benefits both internal and external users. Veterans, survivors and other claimants seeking compensation, pension, education, or vocational rehabilitation benefits can apply electronically without the constraints of location, postage cost, and time delays in mail delivery.

VONAPP reduces the number of incomplete applications received by VA, decreasing the need for additional development by VA claims processors. The on-line application also provides a link to apply for VA health care benefits.

According to the VA, over 3.7 million veterans and beneficiaries receive compensation and pension benefits from VA and approximately 523,000 students receive education benefits. Approximately 90,000 disabled veterans participate in VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program.

US Long-Term Care Financing Needs Change

According to a recent brief from the Center for Retirement Research, How Can We Improve Long-Term Care Financing? the existing system for providing long-term care in the United States is in significant need of change. About $200 billion each year for is spent by Americans for long-term care, but many older and disabled Americans still end up without needed care. Demographic changes indicate the system will be even more strained as a surge of aging Baby Boomers need to access to the system in the next decade.

Nearly 50% of long-term care in the United States is funded by Medicaid which provides a fairly comprehensive coverage for low- income Americans. The middle class is short changed in this system though. They can purchase expensive private insurance or rely on family members to provide the needed care. Few people purchase the long-term insurance coverage against the high costs of long-term care. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home was $74,095 a year in 2005. Medicare does not cover long-term care and only about 9 percent of the population ages 55 and older had any form of private long-term care insurance. Many Americans incorrectly believe that long-term care comes with Social Security and Medicare. This is the focus of the problem. Medicare only covers the first 100 days in a nursing home after a hospital stay and only skilled care is needed Studies show about 2/3 of people turning 65 in 2005 will need long-term care at some point and they will need that care for about 3 years. Clearly a huge problem is looming on the horizon.

There is wide agreement that there is a need for change to improve the system and make long-term care accessible to more Americans. However, predictably, there is little agreement on what kind of change is really needed. According the author of the brief, there are three approaches to addressing the problem by expanding the coverage and reducing costs. One approach is to enhance private long-term insurance by expanding federal and state subsidies. There is some debate, however, that costly subsidies are not a prudent use of limited public tax dollars. A second approach would be to create a new social insurance program like most countries in the western industrialized world. A third, and more likely scenario for the United States, would be to create a "hybrid" public-private that model that would require people to purchase private insurance through a government program and provide benefits like today's Social Security disability. This "benefit" would have more flexibility built in to take care of caregiving and assistive technology needs without the complex government regulations or private insurance limitations on services. It could work, but families will have to learn the skills needed to provide in-home care and how to hire and manage needed home health care workers.

As the author noted, current reforms that are being talked about today all have problems but they are at least an attempt to make long term care insurance more widely available by moving away from a Medicaid welfare based model to one of private and public funded insurance. Using an insurance model, the theory is that more people will be in the risk pool to spread the risk around and thus lower the costs.

The new proposals have some merit. It is a dialogue that must occur.

20% of Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression

Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slightly more than half have sought treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Today Is the First Annual World Autism Awareness Day

Back last year the United Nations acting on resolution by State of Qatar designated today (April 2nd) as the first of annual World Autism Awareness Day. The resolution further encouraged "all Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about autism throughout society"..

Following through on the challenge, Autism Speaks, a national in the US, has a Virtual Walk Celebrating World Autism Awareness Day to help raise money for research and awareness for autism spectrum disorders.

As part of a month long autism awareness campaign the CDC has updated its The Learn the Signs. Act Early website to help people to get involved.

The National PASS Network encourages advocates and organizations to support individuals with autism and pass the information along to heighten awareness about a disorder affecting millions of individuals and families around the world.

How the Military Has Repaid Iraq Vets With Permanent Disabilities

Bob Woodruff of ABC News has an interesting article recently, How the Military Has Repaid Iraq Vets With Permanent Disabilities. Why Soldiers With Traumatic Brain Injuries and Permanent Handicaps Are Considered Partially Disabled. The article, part of a series by Woodruff, is about how Americans are treating it's returning heroes who have traumatic brain injuries(TBI). It's estimated that 10-15% of Iraq GI's will returning to an ungrateful nation with serious TBI injuries they will have to live with the rest of their lives

According to Woodruff's article, veterans looking to the VA for disability compensation and assistance often have to prove they were exposed to blasts and have to follow an endless paper trail to substantiate injuries and medical records. The problem is that their injuries are such that they cannot pursue this endless runaround that would be difficult even for someone without injuries. The bottom line is with no one to provide assistance to these disabled veterans there is no help forthcoming. I'm also reminded of the neglect of Iraq veterans with a troubling statistic I saw from the DoD several months back noting that although more than 3 out of 10 soldiers met the criteria for a “mental disorder”, fewer than half of them received help.

It's a crying shame. We will wonder as a nation why the costs will pop up in other areas in the coming years. Look for our nation's homeless shelters to do a booming business serving unserved veterans. As a Vietnam Vet, I am reminded of the song Deja Vu All Over Again.

Dodd Introduces Disabilities Savings Act of 2008

On March 11, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, announced the introduction of the Disabilities Savings Act of 2008 at an event with Autism Speaks Co-Founders Bob and Suzanne Wright, Stuart Spielman, the father of a teenage son with Autism, Kathy Neas of Easter Seals, and families of children with autism and other disabilities.

The legislation is a significant move to help families for their children with lifelong disabilities. Senator Dodd notes that the legislation "provides families with an important tool to save the money they need for their unique needs and provide for their children long after they are gone.”

This legislation has a long way to go in a year filled with election politics, but this has a good chance of passage. What this does is removes the administration of support programs that help children with lifelong disabilities from the Social Security Administration. Currently such support is only available to families who can afford legal help to develop and administer what is called a Special Needs Trust. Moreover, Senator Dodd's DSA proposes to allow for job supports such as "employment training and support, transportation, and other related services". Such a move would make the use of the Social Security work incentives which are poorly administered by SSA less used. Access now is such a hassle that families don't use them when they are needed.

Below is a description of the program from Senator Dodd's office:

Disability Savings Act of 2008

Purpose:
To encourage individuals with disabilities and their families to save private funds for disability-related expenses to supplement, not supplant, benefits provided by other sources (including Medicaid and private insurance) so that people with disabilities can maintain health, independence, and quality of life.

Overview:

This legislation encourages individuals with disabilities and their families to save personal funds for their unique disability-related needs in Disability Savings Accounts (DSAs). The establishment of DSAs will promote the investment of private funds in the long-term well-being of individuals with disabilities through tax-advantaged savings tools, including a refundable tax credit for low-income savers, while protecting the beneficiary’s access to critical public supports.

Specifics:

DSAs will provide a tax-advantaged mechanism for individuals with disabilities to save money.

* Funds expended from the DSA for specific services such as education, medical services, employment training and support, transportation, and other related services will be tax-free.

* Interest on accounts with a balance of $250,000 or less is tax free.

* Low income earners will receive a refundable matching tax credit of up to $1000 for their contributions to the DSA.

* Funds from college savings plans and special needs trusts for the same beneficiary can be rolled into the DSA without penalty.

Beneficiaries of the account must be determined to be blind or disabled by the Social Security Administration or the Disability Determination Service of a state and be under the age of 65. The account can be held and managed by the beneficiary, their spouse or family member, or a legal guardian through a financial institution. The DSAs are designed to be easier to manage and set up than current savings mechanisms, which often require the expensive services of an attorney. Beneficiaries or their representative can expend funds directly from the account for services. Assets held in the fund will not be counted against eligibility for Medicaid and SSI or other federal support services.

Knowledge of Eye Health Lacking with Most Americans

Most Americans do not know the risks and warning signs of diseases that could blind them if they don't seek timely detection and treatment, according to recent findings of the "Survey of Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Eye Health and Disease".

Seventy-one percent of respondents reported that a loss of their eyesight would rate as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, meaning that it would have the greatest impact on their day-to-day life. However, only eight percent knew that there are no early warning signs of glaucoma, a condition that can damage the eye's optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness.

Fifty-one percent said that they have heard that people with diabetes are at increased risk of developing eye disease, but only 11 percent knew that there are usually no early warning signs. Only 16 percent had ever heard the term "low vision," which affects millions of Americans. Low vision is vision loss that standard eyeglasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery cannot correct, making everyday tasks difficult to do. Simple tasks like reading the mail, watching TV, shopping, cooking, and writing become challenging.

Hispanic respondents reported the lowest access to eye health information, knew the least about eye health, and were the least likely to have their eyes examined among all racial/ethnic groups participating in the survey. Forty-one percent of Hispanics reported that they had not seen or heard anything about eye health or disease in the last year, compared with 28 percent of Asians, 26 percent of African-Americans, and 16 percent of Caucasians.

New EEOC Rules for Vets with Service Connected Disabilities

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued two new question-and-answer guides for providing technical assistance for employers and veterans on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities.

The new guide for employers explains how protections for veterans with service-connected disabilities differ under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). The document further describes how the ADA in particular applies to recruiting, hiring, and accommodating veterans with service-connected disabilities. The EEOC enforces Title I of the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces USERRA, which applies to the reemployment of veterans with and without service-connected disabilities.

The second publication answers questions that veterans with service-connected disabilities may have about the protections they are entitled to when they seek to return to their former jobs or look to find their first, or new, civilian jobs. The document also explains changes or adjustments that veterans may need, because of their injuries, to apply for, or perform, a job, or to enjoy equal access to the workplace.

Mental Health Project/ Fifth Annual SoHo Art Auction

NPN is proud to support our friends at The Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center with their Fifth Annual SoHo Art Auction on Wednesday, March12, 2008, from 6-9 p.m. at Poltrona Frau, 145 Wooster Street (between Princeand Houston). All proceeds will support the Mental Health Project's advocacy for low-income and homeless New Yorkers with mental illness.

The Mental Health Project helps low-income New Yorkers with psychiatric disabilities break the devastating cycle of homelessness, hospitalization and incarceration and regain stability and independence.To find the people who need them most, The Mental Health Project goes to jails, psychiatric units,and shelters. They focus on essentials such as food, housing, medical care, and disability benefits. They work to discover gaps in the safety net and educate.organize, and litigate to close them.

Contributing artists include Richard Serra, Nan Goldin, Anders Goldfarb, Dina Bursztyn, Eric Pelka, Christopher Colvin, Kate Temple, Michael Lorenzini, Kate Temple, Laura Lienhard, and many more.

Preview Art and Bid Online You know you don't have to be a New Yorker to bid on this art work.

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Learn about NPN's similar project with our ArtWorks : Creative Industries Project where we are exploring ahead-of-the-curve business creation for artists with disabilities with new concepts in microloan funding and creative and sustaining use of the Social Security work incentives to fund self-employment for artists with disabilities. We are learning that art can offer significant opportunity for self-support for people with disabilities.

Medicare Senior Risk Reduction Demonstration/ AoA

As part of U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt's focus on prevention, HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina G. Carbonell has announced participation in a demonstration designed to help seniors stay healthy. Nine Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) programs and an Administration on Aging (AoA) Older Americans Act Information and Referral (I&R) program will participate in the Medicare Senior Risk Reduction Demonstration.

The CMS Medicare Senior Risk Reduction Demonstration is designed to evaluate whether health promotion and disease prevention programs currently offered by national private insurers and employers can be delivered by the Medicare program to encourage beneficiaries to engage in healthy lifestyles and practices that can help them maintain and improve their health and reduce the need for health care services for preventable illnesses, injuries, or complications.

Health & Human Services Publishes Strategic Plan FY 2007-2012

The U.S. Administration on Aging has informed the National PASS Network of its publication of the HHS Strategic Plan FY 2007-2012. This document provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service's priorities and activities for the next five years, and highlights the significant role the U.S. Administration on Aging is playing within the department to improve the health and well-being of older people and their family caregivers.

HHS Releases New Health Literacy Tool for Professionals Who Serve Older Adults

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has told NPN this morning that the agency has released a new health literacy tool for people who serve older adults. The Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults is designed to provide useful strategies and suggestions to professionals who work with older adults to help bridge the communication gap between professionals and older adults.

In a national assessment of health literacy, only three percent of the older adults surveyed were found to be proficient in health literacy. Persons with limited health literacy have more adverse health outcomes including less frequent use of preventive services, higher hospitalization rates, and more emergency room visits. For older Americans, difficulties with health literacy can complicate already challenging health problems since as many as 80 percent of older Americans have at least one chronic disease.

20% Can't Get Health Care in US

20% of Americans cannot afford health care, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

New Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Announced

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced on Tuesday (November 26) the members appointed to the Department of Health and Human Services' new Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. This committee coordinates efforts within the department to combat autism spectrum disorder through research, screening, intervention, and education. Secretary Leavitt says the committee will facilitate the efficient and effective exchange of information on autism activities among member agencies, and coordinate autism-related programs and initiatives. NPN is glad to see the federal goverment and Secretary Leavitt moving ahead on this important work to help families of children struggling with Autism.

"This important committee will play a key role in coordinating autism research, services, and education related to autism spectrum disorder," Secretary Leavitt said. "I'm pleased that its members bring to the committee a wide range and great depth of expertise, including research and program administration, advocacy and personal experience with the condition."

Authorized under the Combating Autism Act of 2006, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee advises the HHS Secretary and the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Secretary Leavitt delegated the authority to establish the committee to the NIH, which designated its National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to lead this activity.

The committee chair is Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of NIMH who noted "The committee's first priority will be to develop a strategic plan for autism research that can guide public and private investments to make the greatest difference for families struggling with autism,"

HHS is active in fostering research and making the results available to aid people with autism. Among the activities:

• NIH funding and expertise support the Autism Centers of Excellence program, which the agency launched after the Combating Autism Act was passed, to seek the causes of autism and new treatments for the disorder.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports a multi-state collaborative study to help identify factors that put children at risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and other developmental disabilities. The five-year study, called SEED (Study to Explore Early Development), is currently enrolling participants.

CDC has reported findings from the first and largest summary of autism prevalence data from multiple U.S. communities. These findings, which found autism spectrum disorders in approximately one in 150 children in these communities, was reported by the Autism and Development Disabilities Monitoring Network, which was designed to provide more consistent and reliable estimates.

For additional info on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee and notices and activities of upcoming meetings go to this website.

Veterans Day 2007: 1 in 4 Homeless Are Vets

Last week, just in time for Veterans Day, came the news about how our country is really doing when it comes to honoring our veterans. According to a report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington DC, veterans make up 11% of the adult population but they make up over 25% of the homeless population.

It's not like us old Vets didn't see it coming. On these pages as far back as Christmas, 2004, NPN has been commenting on what we are doing to vets (check our Veterans Issues page out). I'm not clairvoyant, it just as a Vietnam veteran I have seen this happen to many times before. You just kind of shake your head in disbelief and wonder what President Bush and the Congress are thinking. Looks like there are some things we just never learn as a country.

Homelessness is a symptom of a system failure. In the case of military veterans, the failing system is the VA and the so called veteran's readjustment programs. The system is broken; has been for several decades. The job programs really don't really work and never have. The veteran's preference for employment that are really not preferences at all but a vehicles for discrimination (if organizations actively work to get around the preferences, it's discrimination).

The way the Iraq War is being fought will virtually insure that many vets will have to deal with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorders or traumatic brain injuries. You know that's a lifetime challenge. American politicians are famous for talking about what they are gonna do, but short on what they really do. In the end the ones who are really pay is the vets. Many disabled vets will pay the individual costs of war all their life. When you don't have a job, no promising prospect of getting one and you have no place to live and no place eat in but the soup kitchens, we have a word for it in the US: homeless. Kind of not what we expected when the US Army told us to "be all you can be". It's a national disgrace.

Mobility Planning Services (MPS) Institute in April

The 2008 Mobility Planning Services (MPS) Institute will take place from April 21-24, 2008 in Washington, D.C. MPS brings together teams of leaders from the disability community and transportation industry to share information and strategies to improve access to transportation services in their communities. Registration deadline is December 21, 2007. Registration materials.

Advocates for Elderly and People with Disabilities Blast SSA for Cutting Benefits in Twisted Felon Law

Law for Hunting Fugitives is Stripping Survival Funds from Elderly, Poor and Disabled

Today NPN received a report from the Mental Health Project of the Urban Justice Center critical of the Social Security Administration for terminating the benefits of thousands of elderly, disabled, and poor Americans under the pretext of law enforcement. Thanks Bill.

In a new report entitled Social Insecurity; How the Social Security Administration's "Fugitive Felon Program" Harms Disabled, Retired and Poor Americans Without Aiding Law Enforcement, the Mental Health Project (MHP) finds that the Fugitive Felon Program ("FFP"), which is supposed to help police arrest wanted fugitives, is having the perverse effect of leaving thousands of retired and disabled people destitute and desperate.

Under the FFP, the Social Security Administration suspends the benefits of people who appear to have outstanding felony warrants or probation or parole violations, based on a crude computer match.

“This misguided policy is only making our neediest citizens more vulnerable” said Bill Lienhard, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center and an author of the report. “It is clear that the Social Security Administration is denying benefits to people who are not wanted by the police and who aren’t running from the law. By stripping them of subsistence benefits – that cover medicine, food and rent – the government is throwing their lives into a tailspin,” he stated.

Social Insecurity finds that the Fugitive Felon Program often suspends benefits of individuals whom the police have no interest in arresting. Since the program began in 1996, SSA has identified over 300,000 “fugitives” who were receiving benefits – but only 13.6% have been arrested.

“Law enforcement officials seek out and arrest only a handful of the individuals receiving SSI, disability, or retirement benefits who have outstanding warrants,” said Jennifer J. Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy in the Mental Health Project. “The other 260,000 recipients lose their benefits after law enforcement decides not to apprehend them. This policy has done nothing to make our streets safer. It has only had drastic effects on destitute and elderly individuals,” she stated.

The Social Security Administration also suspends the benefits of people who have no outstanding violations due to a severely flawed database matching system. SSA often suspends an individual’s benefits if the identifying information in warrants only loosely matches their own records.

In one instance, a New York City resident was named the subject of outstanding warrants in Massachusetts until his lawyers determined that the person named was a woman with a different Social Security number. Separately, a woman in Nevada had her retirement benefits suspended on a 34-year-old warrant – that was intended for a man living in New York City.

The biggest victims of the FFP are recipients with severe mental illness. In one study, nearly 60% of the recipients whose benefits were suspended suffered from severe mental disabilities, including mental retardation and schizophrenia.

“It is virtually impossible to regain these benefits once they are stopped,” said Lienhard. “For many poor, elderly and disabled people, becoming ensnared in the federal government’s fugitive felony program is devastating. The bureaucratic obstacles to reclaiming benefits are virtually impossible to overcome,” he stated.

In December 2005, in the case of Fowlkes v. Adamec, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that SSA’s suspension of benefits on the basis of a felony warrant, without any inquiry as to whether the recipient was actually “fleeing” prosecution or incarceration, was illegal. Following the Fowlkes decision, SSA announced that it would stop suspending or denying benefits on the basis of an outstanding felony warrant in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut – yet the majority of the country is still subject to its policy.

In light of the continuing impacts SSA’s policy is having across the country, the Urban Justice Center’s report recommends:

• The Social Security Administration should apply the Appeals Court ruling to the entire country and suspend benefits only if people are actually fleeing from justice;

• The Social Security Administration should refine its data-matching system to guard against mistakes and identity theft;

• The Social Security Administration should help people obtain information about alleged warrants and violations.

Here is a copy of the full report.