The Arc Reacts to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on the Affordable Care Act

The Arc | For People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“People with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been waiting for generations for the insurance reforms put in place by the Affordable Care Act. Today’s ruling removes any doubts that the law Congress enacted should stand and will benefit millions of people with and without disabilities. It ends discriminatory insurance practices and makes health coverage more affordable and accessible – important protections which too many people with disabilities have been deprived of for too long.

“But the ruling is not perfect for people with I/DD. 

Read the full response by Marty Ford, Director of Public Policy for The Arc

Washington, DC – The Arc released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act
Posted on June 28, 2012 by The Arc

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The Arc of the United States advocates for the rights and full participation of all children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Arc Reacts to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision on the Affordable Care Act | The Arc Blog



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   Autism Speaks Response to U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act

'Enjoying The Hi-5s of Autism - A Family Experience' at 'Enjoying The Hi-5's of Autism - A Family Experience' - 11 minutes ago

"The need for people with autism to get good quality care is Autism Speaks' first priority. Today's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act provides clarity to our efforts to achieve that mission. It should be noted that the decision does not affect the autism insurance reform laws enacted by 31 states. ... Congress required such treatment be included as an essential health benefit and the U.S. Supreme Court has held the act constitutional. It is now the obligation of HHS to respect the intent of Congress by insisting all states ... more »

More information on The Affordable Care Act

House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Holds Hearing on Son-of-the-ADA-Notification Act

Sam at Disability Law - (june 28, 2012)

Yesterday, the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on H.R. 3356, the "ACCESS (ADA Compliance for Customer Entry to Stores and Services) Act," which is the latest version of the oft-proposed ADA Notification Act. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lungren, testified, as did business owner Lee Ky, disability rights lawyer Andy Levy, and defense lawyer David Warren Peters. You can find their written testimony, as well as the video of the hearing, at the link above.

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TEDMED - redefining the word 'disabled'

Aimee Mullins TEDMED 2009 Record breaking athlete Aimme Mullins delivers an outstanding talk that properly redefines the word 'disabled'.

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Congress Takes On Outdated Disability Terminology - Disability Scoop

www.disabilityscoop.com

More than a year after the federal government replaced mental retardation with intellectual disability in many laws, officials are looking to shift away from other offensive terms too.

More TEDMED (Technology Entertainment Design + Medicine) that may interest the Developmental Disabilities, Sensory Processing, Disabilities Rights and Special Needs communities --

Michael Graves TEDMED 2011 Following a stay in a rehab center, the architect realized that most hospitals ignore critical resident needs. He set out to change all that with attractive, efficient, patient-centered rooms. Andrew Dawson (Day 2) TEDMED 2011 Dawson, a performance artist, portrays the experience of one man's loss of proprioception, a sense of where our bodies are in space, and how he learned to think about movement again. Sekou Andrews and Steve Connell TEDMED 2011 Laugh more, stretch, quiet the mind. The spoken-word artists do an inspiring, fiery riff on how to get and stay healthy, and how our own good health inspires our mood, relationships and success. Mehmet, Lisa and Daphne Oz TEDMED 2010 Dr. Oz, his wife Lisa, and daughter Daphne explain that the foundation to a strong family is a supportive marriage, healthy eating, and hands-on parenting. Frances Jensen TEDMED 2010 As an expert on epilepsy, Frances Jensen speaks about brains, teenagers and the link between both. David Pogue TEDMED 2009 David Pogue explains how the iPhone might save your life!

Eric Topol TEDMED 2009 Eric talks about the frontiers of wireless medicine!

Paul Jacobs TEDMED 2009 Paul Jacobs (CEO Qualcomm) discusses the advancements in wireless health technologies.

Cheryl Pegus TEDMED 2011 How do we get cutting-edge medicine to our neediest communities? Walgreens' Chief Medical Officer speaks about how pharmacies can also be healthcare providers.

Aneesh Chopra and Farzad Mostashari TEDMED 2011 Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health IT at the DHHS, and Chopra, the U.S. CTO, talk about how open access to electronic health data can reform physician pay and patient care.

Regina Benjamin TEDMED 2011 The U.S. Surgeon General talks about how preventive health care can help fight leading causes of death, and why it's so hard for doctors to provide it.

Craig Fugate TEDMED 2010 Craig Fugate talks about how FEMA and the federal government are learning to respond faster and more effectively to national disasters.

Alexandra Drane TEDMED 2010 Truly passionate talk about 'Engaging with Grace" on the 'end of life' issue. Have you talked with the people you love? Don't miss this brief, yet very powerful presentation from Alexandra Drane.

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"Life on the Autism Spectrum can be ENJOYable."

Advocacy Center Legislative Agenda - April 9, 2012

Grassroots Action Center
Voter Voice
Legislative 2012 Priorities
April 9
Advocacy Center Legislative Agenda

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'Enjoyable School Year'

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#TBTL - Think Beyond the Label

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Differences in Care

'Differences in Care'

via White House Disability Group

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

HHS Announces New, Refined Survey Standards to Examine, Help Eliminate Differences in Care Based on Race, Ethnicity, Sex, Primary Language, or Disability

  

The Department of Health and Human Services today released final standards to more consistently measure race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status, thereby improving our ability to highlight disparities in health status and target interventions to reduce these disparities.

"It is our job to get a better understanding of why disparities occur and how to eliminate them. Improving the breadth and quality of our data collection and analysis on key areas, like race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, is critical to better understanding who we are serving," Secretary Sebelius said. "Today, through these new standards, we are providing a new set of powerful tools to help us achieve our vision of a nation free of disparities in health and health care."

The Affordable Care Act requires new standards for the collection and reporting of health care information based on race, ethnicity, sex, and primary language. Making data standards consistent will help identify the significant health differences that often exist between and within ethnic groups, particularly among Asian, Hispanic/Latino and Pacific Islander populations.

For example, a study showed that the diabetes-related mortality rate for Mexican Americans (251 per 100 000) and Puerto Ricans (204 deaths per 100 000) was twice as high as the diabetes-related mortality rate for Cuban Americans (101 deaths per 100 000). However, this information would have remained unknown if only the umbrella terms of "Hispanic" or "Latino" had been used.

By adding Mexican American and Chicano/a, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Other Hispanic Latino/a or Spanish origin as explicit categories required on all HHS-sponsored health surveys, we can better capture the individual ethnic group challenges that are often found within minority populations. This specificity allows us to better measure and track health differences in these populations and target interventions appropriately.

The new data collection requirements also will improve researchers' ability to consistently monitor more dimensions of health disparities among people with disabilities. Collection of all data will take place under HHS’ longstanding, strict commitment to protecting privacy.

"Many racial and ethnic minorities, people with limited English proficiency, people with disabilities, and other populations face unique health challenges, often have reduced access to health care and often pay the price with poorer health," said Garth Graham, M.D., MPH, HHS deputy assistant secretary for minority health. "Today we are implementing an important provision of the Affordable Care Act that reinforces our commitment to reducing these health disparities. These new standards will help us carry forward the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and our work to address disparities in people with disabilities as well."

The standards, effective upon publication today after accepting comments on proposed standards, apply to health surveys sponsored by HHS, where respondents either self-report information or a knowledgeable person responds for all members of a household. The standards will be used in all new surveys and at the time of major revisions to current surveys.

For more information on the final data standards, visit minorityhealth.hhs.gov/section4302.

{U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Minority Health - Final Data Collection Standards for Race, Ethnicity, Primary Language, Sex, and Disability Status Required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act - HHS on Oct. 31, 2011, published final standards for data collection on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language and disability status, as required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act [PDF | 1.6 MB].

The law requires that data collection standards for these measures be used, to the extent practicable, in all national population health surveys. They will apply to self-reported information only. The law also requires any data standards published by HHS comply with standards created by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Proposed standards were published on June 29, 2011, and public comments were accepted until August 1, 2011.  http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/ }

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