In This Issue

Health Care Reform
Be Informed and
Take Action

Dear Friends,

People with disabilities need health care reform. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Between 17 and 28 percent of people with disabilities are estimated to be uninsured, depending upon impairment or health condition.

• People with disabilities experience significant health and health care disparities compared with the general population.

• Research reveals that cost is the primary factor that explains why more than one in three people with disabilities put off seeking care, skip medications, or go without necessary equipment.

• Inadequate coverage means limited access to specialists, assistive devices and equipment, prescription drugs, mental health care, and care coordination.

• Health care facilities and services are still not fully accessible, 19 years after enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

• The institutional bias in the Medicaid program means that many people with disabilities must live in nursing homes or other restrictive institutions rather than in homes of their own.

Do the current health care bills respond to these issues? Yes and no. The following summaries and analyses help clarify the answers:

• A brief news summary that compares proposed key reforms

• The Kaiser Family Foundation side-by-side comparison of major health care reform proposals

• A summary of the Senate's Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) provision

• The Bazelon Center's analysis of how the health bills affect people with mental health disabilities

• The L.A. Times on the role of insurers — "Health Care Insurers Get Upper Hand"

What can you do?

• See Health Care for America Now for news, updates, and calls to action

• See the White House Health Insurance Reform Action Guide - Summer 2009

• See The Arc's action alert: "Health Care Reform: Now It's Personal"

And as a tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy, write to your Senators and Congresspeople to tell them (and please personalize):

In honor of Senator Kennedy, stand firm on health care for all, including:

• A public option

• Coverage for pre-existing conditions

• Affordability

• Long term care

• Full coverage - durable medical equipment

"...the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

    Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 1980

© 2009

Resources

Read the health care reform bills:

• House Energy and Commerce Committee

• House Ways and Means Committee

• House Education and Labor Committee

• Senate HELP Committee

CCD Principles for Health Care Reform from a Disability Perspective

NCIL Position Paper on Universal Health Coverage and scroll down to Position Papers

The Barrier Free Healthcare Initiative

In California - Disability Health Coalition

Research

Understanding the Health Care Needs and Experiences of People with Disabilities: Findings from a 2003 Survey, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

B. Altman and A. Bernstein, Disability and Health in the United States, 2001–2005 (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2008)

Combined Federal Campaign #11944

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