Tri County Independent Living Center

This means that our consumers in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties can now request

In addition, the C.A.T.E. website will soon be offering an 'E-Bay for Assisitive Technology' via the

A.T. Device Reutilization Program. This is where used equipment will be available by private parties.

So, if there is some sort of device that you would like to try out, or you know someone who

The Governor’s Proposed Budget allocates $36 billion ($13.6 billion General Fund) for the Medi-Cal Program. This reflects a decrease of $915.9 million ($678.7 million General Fund) from the 2007 Budget Act level. The Governor proposes to:

Reduce payments to most Medi-Cal providers by 10 percent, for savings of $33.4 million in 2007-08 and $720.9 million in 2008-09. Physicians, other medical providers, certain hospitals, some long-term care facilities, and managed care plans would receive reduced payments. Reductions also would affect service providers in the California’s Children’s Services Program, the Child Health and Disability Prevention Program, and the Genetically Handicapped Persons Program as well as county mental health programs.

Eliminate dental and other benefits for Medi-Cal recipients, for savings of $10 million in 2007-08 and $133.9 million in 2008-09. The elimination of dental benefits would affect only adult beneficiaries and would result in savings of $115 million in 2008-09. Other benefits that would be eliminated include acupuncture, audiology, optometry, optical, chiropractic, podiatry, psychology, speech therapy, and incontinence creams and washes.

Require eligibility for Medi-Cal services to be redetermined four times annually, for estimated savings of $92.2 million in 2008-09. Currently, eligibility is reevaluated annually for children and semi-annually for adults. At the same time, the Governor proposes to reduce payments to counties to determine eligibility for and administer the Medi-Cal Program, for savings of $75.8 million in 2008-09.

Stop paying Medicare Part B premiums for certain beneficiaries who are enrolled in both Medi-Cal and Medicare, for savings of $4.2 million in 2007-08 and $50.1 million in 2008-09. The Governor proposes to eliminate Part B premium assistance for Medi-Cal “share-of-cost” beneficiaries whose monthly medical expenses are not high enough to meet their “spend-down” requirement.

Delay payments due to certain Medi-Cal providers, managed care plans, counties, and Regional Centers in June, July, or August by one or two months.

The budget proposes an across-the-board 18% reduction in domestic and related services to take effect July 1, 2008 for all clients in receipt of those services. These services include non-medical services such as meal preparation and clean-up, laundry, food shopping and errands. The reduction is estimated to impact 96% of IHSS recipients.

Reduce the number of hours provided for certain non-medical domestic services – including meal preparation, laundry, and errands – for state savings of $109.4 million in 2008-09. The average IHSS recipient receives 37 hours of domestic services per month, which would decline to an estimated 30.4 hours per month under the Governor’s proposal. More than nine out of 10 of the state’s approximately 390,000 IHSS recipients (96 percent) receive domestic services.

Reduce funding for county operation of the IHSS Program by 10 percent for state savings of $10.2 million in 2008-09. In addition, this proposal would increase from 12 months to 18 months the period in which counties must reassess the condition of IHSS recipients.

Suspend the state’s June 2008 and June 2009 COLAs for SSI/SSP grants for savings of $23.3 million in 2007-08 and $300.3 million in 2008-09. SSI/SSP grants will help an estimated 1.3 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities meet basic living expenses in 2008-09.

“Pass through” the federal January 2009 COLA for SSI/SSP grants, which would increase the monthly grant for individuals from $870 to an estimated $881 and for couples from $1,524 to an estimated $1,540.

Revenues related to the Mental Health Services Act are projected to decrease by $177.2 million statewide in the current year and by $105.2 million in the budget year impacting available funds for local Mental Health Services Act programs.

Reduce funding for AIDS programs by $11 million in 2008-09. This reduction includes a $7 million cut in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program by discontinuing the coverage of several classes of drugs and a $1.6 million reduction in support for local programs that provide HIV education and prevention.

Reduce state support for Developmental Centers, which are direct-care facilities that serve persons with developmental disabilities, by $21.2 million in 2008-09, primarily by delaying the expansion of the Porterville Developmental Center’s Secure Treatment Program (STP) and reducing operating and equipment expenses. The Administration estimates that the delayed expansion of the STP will require consumers to remain in county jails longer before entering the program.

Reduce state support for Regional Centers, which purchase and coordinate services for persons with developmental disabilities, by $235.1 million by extending policies intended to contain costs, such as freezing payment rates for specified program categories. In addition, the Governor proposes to freeze payment rates for all remaining providers with whom the Regional Centers negotiate, for savings of $14.2 million in 2008-09, and reduce state support for the Supported Employment Program by $7.7 million by reducing the reimbursement rate for job coaching services.

Reduce support from Proposition 99 funds for the California Healthcare for Indigents Program by $12.8 million; for the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, which serves individuals who are medically uninsurable, by $4.3 million;

Spend $771 million in Proposition 1C bond proceeds in 2008-09. Proposition 1C of 2006 authorized $2.85 billion in general obligation (GO) bond proceeds for various housing-related programs.

Spend the remaining $36.8 million in Proposition 46 bond proceeds in 2008-09. Proposition 46 of 2002 provided $2.1 billion in GO bond proceeds primarily to develop affordable housing and promote homeownership.

Fully fund Proposition 42 at $1.5 billion. Proposition 42 allocates proceeds from the state sales tax on gasoline for transportation purposes. This transfer has been suspended in prior years, but Proposition 1A of 2006 severely limits the conditions under which this can occur, leading the Governor to note, “the state cannot achieve budgetary savings from Proposition 42 and therefore no budget balancing reduction to Proposition 42 is proposed.” Increase vehicle registration fees by $11 per vehicle to support the California Highway Patrol, to generate an expected $385 million in 2008-09 and $522 million at full implementation in 2009-10.

Use PTA funds to support certain activities traditionally funded from the General Fund. This proposal would continue policy established as part of the 2007-08 budget agreement. The Governor’s proposal would allocate $371.9 million from the PTA for debt service on transportation-related GO bonds, $82.7 million to fund the minimum payment due on outstanding Proposition 42 loans, and $140.9 million in transportation costs incurred by Regional Centers funded by the Department of Developmental Services. Appropriate $4.7 billion to support projects funded by Proposition 1B, the bond authorized by the voters in November 2006.

Governor proposes to create a strategic growth council to coordinate state agency activities and investments related to air and water quality, natural resource protection, affordable housing, transportation, climate change, and sustainable land use.

The Lighthouse SF is now accepting applications for the Frances S.
Miller Equipment Scholarship Fund. This fund was created form the
estate of Frances S. Miller, a California Braille transcriber, who was
dedicated to the belief that everyone should have access to language and
literature. Each year the fund grants $2,500 to a qualified applicant
needing equipment that will help them live independently.

The application process includes filling out a questionnaire and writing
an essay. The deadline for submitting the application packet to the
Lighthouse SF is Friday, September 21, 2007 at 4pm.

Anyone interested in receiving an application packet should contact
Ellen Lord at 415-694-7359 or email her at elord@lighthouse-sf.org
<mailto:elord@lighthouse-sf.org>.

Brand New Accessibility Coalition Scores Gains in Phone Services

Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) Applauds FCC's New Disability Accessibility Requirements

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report and Order, "Disability Access Requirements Extended To VoIP Services" at its monthly open meeting. The FCC Order levels the playing field so that interconnected Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers must meet similar requirements for providing access to people with disabilities that wireline and wireless providers currently meet.

"We applaud this significant step forward in making sure persons disabilities will not be left behind or left out of the next generation of phone services using Internet technologies," says Jenifer Simpson, of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), a cofounder and spokesperson for the Coalition.

The Order does three things for persons with disabilities. It extends the accessibility and usability requirements of Section 255 of the Communications Act to VoIP service providers. It requires VoIP providers to contribute into the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services(TRS) Fund. It also requires VoIP service providers to meet the same TRS obligations that traditional phone companies must meet, such as connecting relay service users via 711, the nation's free access number to reach a relay service center.

"Companies using new phone technologies should make their products and services accessible and usable for people with vision loss. Why should I have to ask someone to place a phone call for me just because some company forgot to design phone services with my needs in mind?" asks Mark Richert of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), another co-founder of the disability coalition supporting the FCC action. "And, if we can't get our telephone bills in Braille, how do they expect us to pay them?"

"New contributors into the relay services fund are important because the number of traditional phone customers is continuing to decline," explains Karen Peltz Strauss of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD, Inc.), also a founder of the new disability coalition. "Relay services are absolutely essential for people with hearing and speech disabilities."

"The 1996 Telecommunications Act required phone companies and manufacturers to make services and products disability accessibility and usable," adds Jenifer Simpson. "Here we are, eleven years later and some companies still forget to design at the front end for the needs of people with all kinds of disabilities, leaving them behind as the rest of the population gets to use all kinds of new and exciting communication technologies. Everyone's getting pretty fed up with not being able to use these innovative gadgets and services. This FCC action is a good step forward, but it's time for the whole communications industry to take a giant step forward. We want to see accessibility in all products and services in the marketplace."

COAT is a new coalition of disability organizations, launched in March 2007, to advocate for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other Internet protocol (IP) technologies. The Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology, or COAT, consists of over 67 national, regional, and community-based organizations dedicated to making sure that as our nation migrates from legacy public switched-based telecommunications to more versatile and innovative IP-based and other communication technologies, people with disabilities will benefit like everyone else. More information about the disability coalition is available at website http://www.coataccess.org

SOURCE: AAPD

North Coast Journal
Weekly magazine of north coast politics, people, and art. Based in Arcata.

Who Will Care for You?

"There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers;

those who are currently caregivers; those who will be caregivers; those who will

America is facing a critical shortage of competent and compassionate caregivers.

Right now about 40 percent of people over 60 and 1.9 million paid caregivers share

the burden of providing home care for older or disabled Americans. This doesn't take

into account the significant number of people who go completely without the help

The situation will worsen as boomers age. In just 20 years, fully one-fifth of all

Americans will have celebrated their 65th birthday. Older people today are healthier

than in the past and are living longer. But as they age, boomers will likely require

United States will need between 5.7 million and 6.6 million caregivers. The question

nature of the work makes them vulnerable to a variety of physical ailments, particularly

responsibilities with the arduous physical and emotional stress of providing care

for a loved one. The U.S. economy loses about $33 billion each year in productivity

because of employees who are also family caregivers and who must be absent or late to work.

met with difficulties in trying to organize caregiving services for his older brother.

He realized that if he, a person of means, was hard-pressed to find caregiving solutions

Springdale, Ark. In 2006 it joined forces with the International Longevity Center,

a policy and education center in New York, to create the Caregiving Project for Older

What we've found is that America arguably has no caregiving system at all. As the

burden on family caregivers grows, the shortage of paid caregivers worsens. There

unpleasant work conditions and lack of career development all contribute to the shortage.

Much needs to be done—figuring out the best ways to recruit and train caregivers;

establishing a financial plan to support this huge cadre of health workers. These

challenges must be faced and accomplished soon, so that in 2030 no one will have


ABOUT	ALERTS	ANIMALS	BUSINESS	CONTACT	DOWNLOAD	DONATE


HOME	EXPO	FORUMS	LINKS	CLASSIFIEDS	NEWS	SERVICES