Granite State Independent Living

Advocacy Network

Elected officials make decisions on issues that affect your life. Join the GSIL Advocacy Network to stay on top of these important issues and let your representatives know how you feel. Remember - they were hired to work for you!

Sign up today and receive e-mail alerts on current disability related legislation. To join the advocacy network click on the following link "subscribe advocacy network" and send us your contact information. It's that easy! Examples of past alerts are listed below.

Contact Division III Finance Committee Members Today! APTD Work Session Scheduled Tomorrow at 10:30 A.M.

QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES
Posted 8/20/2007

As the Presidential Candidates canvas the state over the coming months, you may have an opportunity to ask them a question or two as they vie for your vote. Here are a number of questions you may want to consider asking should you have the chance, or they may trigger you to think of other questions that are important to you.

If you do have the opportunity to discuss one of the following topics with one of the candidates, please let us know their response so we can share it with others.

Thanks

CIVIL RIGHTS

What would you do to fulfill the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities?

Do you support the ADA Restoration Act of 2007?

EDUCATION

What would you do to improve education opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities?

Do you support full federal funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

EMPLOYMENT

What would you do to reduce employment barriers, improve employment opportunities, and increase the employment rate of people with disabilities?

HEALTH CARE

What would you do to ensure that people with disabilities have access to affordable, quality health care that is responsive to their individual needs?

HOUSING

What would you do to increase the availability of affordable, accessible, integrated housing opportunities in the community for low and moderate income people with disabilities and their families?

LONG TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS

How would you ensure America's increasing need is met for home and community-based long-term services and supports such as personal assistance services and respite care?

People with disabilities depend on Medicare and Medicaid for their long term care needs but there is a big disconnect between the programs and coordination of services. What would you do to address the lack of coordination?

TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

What measures would you propose to ensure that consumer electronic and telecommunications devices are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities?

TRANSPORTATION

What would you do to expand access to affordable, accessible transportation for people with disabilities, especially in rural areas?

VOTING

What steps would you take as President to ensure that voters with disabilities are able to vote privately and independently, consistent with the requirements of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)?

Senate Co-Sponsors needed for S. 1881, the ADA Restoration Act of 2007
Posted 8/17/2007

When President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law in 1990 he proclaimed, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion come tumbling down.”

As posted in a previous alert, on the 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, H.R. 3195 the Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act of 2007 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. 181 co-sponsors have signed on including NH Representatives Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes thanks to your efforts.

We need to do it again. Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate and co-sponsors are needed. Contact our U.S. Senators Gregg and Sununu and ask them to co-sponsor S. 1881, the ADA Restoration Act of 2007.

Tell them the Courts have weakened the civil rights of people with disabilities through narrow interpretations of the ADA that have had consequences that Congress never intended when they passed the original ADA in 1990. Tell them this legislation is desperately needed by people with disabilities to fulfill the promise of the ADA and harmonize it with other civil rights laws.

Contact for both Senators is below as well as a description of the Act.

Thanks for your support!!!

Senator Gregg
http://gregg.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Washington Office
393 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3324

Berlin Office
60 Pleasant Street
Berlin, NH 03570
(603) 752-2604

Concord Office
125 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 225-7115

Manchester Office
41 Hooksett Road
Manchester, NH 03104
(603) 622-7979

Nashua Office
170 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
603-577-3823

Portsmouth Office
16 Pease Boulevard
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 431-2171

Senator Sununu
http://www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

WASHINGTON, DC
111 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2841

BERLIN
60 Pleasant Street
Berlin, NH 03570
(603) 752-6074

CLAREMONT
50 Opera House Square
Claremont, NH 03743
(603) 542-4872

MANCHESTER
1589 Elm Street
Suite 3
Manchester, NH 03101
(603) 647-7500

NASHUA
170 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
(603) 577-8960

PORTSMOUTH
One New Hampshire Avenue
Suite 120
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-9560

ADA Restoration Act of 2007

In recent years, a number of Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the protections available to people with disabilities within employment settings.

Courts are quick to side with businesses and employers, deciding against people with disabilities who challenge employment discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated him or her unfairly.

Courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is too disabled to do a job but not disabled enough to be protected by the ADA.

People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness who manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. or mitigating measures are viewed as too functional to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

People denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job or because the employer does not want people like that in the workplace are also denied the ADA's protection from employment discrimination.

The House and Senate will be acting upon a proposal in the near future to restore some of the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that have been weakened by court decisions over the past seventeen years. Some of the provisions of the proposed legislation will restore the ability of persons with disabilities to hold state and local governments liable for employment discrimination, clarifies the definition of “qualifying individuals with a disability who use aids and assistive devices” to be protected by the law as well as other changes in the remedies and enforcement provisions.

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and ask them to Co-sponsor the Community Choice Act of 2007

Posted 8/6/2007

Below you will find an action alert from NCIL in regards to recruiting co-sponsors for the Community Choice Act of 2007, S. 799 and HR 1621 (formerly known as Mi-Cassa).

The Community Choice Act would establish a consumer-controlled attendant care program under each states Medicaid program, expanding options and choice in our service delivery model for NH residents.

Please contact our four members of congress and ask them to co-sponsor this crucial legislation. Their contact information is below.

Your advocacy efforts make a difference. On 8/3 Rep. Paul Hodes signed on as a co-sponsor to the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work.

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INDEPENDENT LIVING (NCIL)

ACTION ALERT

Congress is heading home the month of August. Now is the time to contact your Senator or Congressman and urge them to support Senator Tom Harkin’s Community Choice Act of 2007 S.799 and Representative Danny Davis’s companion bill in the House of Representatives, H.R 1621.

It is critical to remind your elected representatives about the important role the Community Choice Act plays in consumer choice and independence. The Community Choice Act of 2007 gives individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care equal access to community-based services and supports, like attendant services across the nation. The Community Choice Act is about individual CHOICE. It allows an individual to choose to receive their care in the community, rather than in an institutional setting.

We need to use the August recess to collect more co-sponsors for the Community Choice Act!

The NCIL web site (www.ncil.org) has a copy of Dr. Mitch LaPlante’s report Estimating the Expense of a Mandatory Home- and Community-Based Personal Assistance Services Benefit Under Medicaid as well as talking points on the Community Choice Act of 2007.

The Senate Finance Committee will be holding a hearing on Long Term Care September 25, 2007. This is an historic day that all of us have earned though years of hard work. We need to show the Committee how much support there is among people with disabilities for this legislation, so we need as many co-sponsors as possible!

Together we can and will make a difference! Thank you for your advocacy efforts!

Representative Paul Hodes Co-Sponsor 1621
http://hodes.house.gov/contact.aspx

Washington Office
506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5206 Fax: (202) 225-2946
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm

Concord Office
114 North Main Street, Second Floor, Concord, NH. 03303
Phone: (603) 223-9814 Fax: (603) 223-9819
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm

Nashua Office
147 Main Street, Nashua, NH. 03060
Phone: (603) 579-6913 Fax: (603) 579-6919
Hours: Monday through Wednesday 9am to 5pm, Thursday 11am to 7pm, Friday 1pm to 5pm

Keene Office
29 Center Street, Keene, NH 03431
Phone: (603) 358-1023 Fax: (603) 358-1025
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm

Littleton Office
32 Main Street, Room 110, Littleton, NH 03561
Phone: (603) 444-7705
Hours: Monday 8am to 1pm and Thurs 1pm to 5pm and by appointment

Berlin Office
80 Main Street, Berlin, NH 03570
Phone: (603) 752-4680
Hours: By Appointment

Representative Carol Shea-Porter Co-Sponsor 1621
http://shea-porter.house.gov/contact.shtml

Washington D.C. Office
1508 Longworth HOB
Washington DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5456

Manchester Office
33 Lowell Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603) 641-9536
Fax: (603) 641-9561

Washington Office
393 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3324

Berlin Office
60 Pleasant Street
Berlin, NH 03570
(603) 752-2604

Concord Office
125 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 225-7115

Manchester Office
41 Hooksett Road
Manchester, NH 03104
(603) 622-7979

Nashua Office
170 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
603-577-3823

Portsmouth Office
16 Pease Boulevard
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 431-2171

Senator Sununu Co-Sponsor S. 799
http://www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

WASHINGTON, DC
111 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2841

BERLIN
60 Pleasant Street
Berlin, NH 03570
(603) 752-6074

CLAREMONT
50 Opera House Square
Claremont, NH 03743
(603) 542-4872

MANCHESTER
1589 Elm Street
Suite 3
Manchester, NH 03101
(603) 647-7500

NASHUA
170 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
(603) 577-8960

PORTSMOUTH
One New Hampshire Avenue
Suite 120
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 430-9560

Co-sponsors needed for ADA Restoration Act of 2007
Posted 7/30/2007

On July 26th, the 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced H.R. 3195, the Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act of 2007.

Please contact Representative Hodes and ask him to co-sponsor H.R. 3195. His contact information is below. Representative Carol Shea-Porter has already signed on as a co-sponsor so no need to contact her.

Representative Paul Hodes
http://hodes.house.gov/contact.shtml

Washington D.C. Office
506 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone:(202) 225-5206

District Office
114 North Main Street
Second Floor
Concord, NH 03301
Phone:(603) 223-9814

A description follows below. Thank you for your support!!!

ADA Restoration Act of 2007, H.R. 3195

In recent years, a number of Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the protections available to people with disabilities within employment settings.

Courts are quick to side with businesses and employers, deciding against people with disabilities who challenge employment discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated him or her unfairly.

Courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is too disabled to do a job but not disabled enough to be protected by the ADA.

People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness who manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. or mitigating measures are viewed as too functional to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

People denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job or because the employer does not want people like that in the workplace are also denied the ADA's protection from employment discrimination.

The House and Senate will be acting upon a proposal in the near future to restore some of the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that have been weakened by court decisions over the past seventeen years. Some of the provisions of the proposed legislation will restore the ability of persons with disabilities to hold state and local governments liable for employment discrimination, clarifies the definition of “qualifying individuals with a disability who use aids and assistive devices” to be protected by the law as well as other changes in the remedies and enforcement provisions.

Medicaid Durable Medical Equipment and Services Bill Scheduled Next Week
Posted 5/4/2007

HB 826 - AN ACT relative to coverage of medically necessary services and items under the medical assistance program, passed the N.H. House and is scheduled for a Senate hearing next Tuesday.

We need people to testify and make an impact on the Senators. Please let us know if you can come testify on the importance of equipment and services to your health and independence. The hearing dates, time, and information about the bill are below.

HB 826 - AN ACT relative to coverage of medically necessary services and items under the medical assistance program.

Date: 5/8/2007
Time: 10:45 AM
Location: State House RM 103, Concord, NH
Committee: Health and Human Services
Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2007/HB0826.html

HB 826 Talking Points

1. Under current NH DHHS regulations many pieces of durable medical equipment and supplies are not covered items that can be crucial to an individual’s health and welfare. The intent of HB 826 is to support persons with special health care needs and disabilities with coverage of medically necessary service and items under the medical assistance program so that they may live in their home and communities as independently as possible and with the maximum ability to be mobile and exercise self care.

2. Durable medical equipment often makes it possible for people to remain in their homes and communities who otherwise could not. It is appropriate and timely for the legislature to take a comprehensive look at coverage of medical equipment and supplies that could be cost-effective alternatives to institutionalization and other costlier services and assure that laws and policies are rational, flexible and supportive of the State’s commitment to home and community-based care.

3. Examples of services or items that could be provided if an individual can meet the specified standard are adult disposable diapers, wheelchair accessories and repairs, and grab bars.

4. Lack of coverage of certain medical equipment, supplies and services is inhumane and inefficient, and can be “penny-wise and pound-foolish” when the result is to jeopardize an individual’s health or safety, or require costlier services such as inpatient hospitalization or nursing home care.

5. HB 826 is intended to help assure that adults with disabilities and functional impairments can access durable medical equipment, medical supplies, services and supports that are medically necessary and that meet certain objective criteria. Specifically, an item not otherwise covered would be provided if, in the case of a particular individual, it would prevent serious detrimental health consequences of an illness or condition, prevent hospitalization or other institutionalization or prevent the need for a more costly covered service or item.

6. This bill will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to consider an individuals needs before denying an item or service, or identifying certain items as “excluded,” as long as coverage of the item or service is allowable under the federal Medicaid program and the criteria for coverage has been met for the individual. The needs and circumstances of each individual will be considered.

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Contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and ask them to Co-sponsor the Community Choice Act of 2007
Posted 4/18/2007

The bipartisan legislation would increase access to community-based services and other supports for Americans with disabilities and older Americans. There are two versions of the bill, one in the House and one in the Senate (they both have the same content). S.799 is the Senate version, and H.R.1621 is the House version. More information about the bills as well as contact information for your elected officials is below.

Senator Gregg Co-Sponsor S. 799

http://gregg.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator Sununu Co-Sponsor S. 799

http://www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

Representative Paul Hodes Co-sponsor H.R. 1621

http://hodes.house.gov/contact.shtml

Representative Carol Shea-Porter Co-sponsor H.R. 1621

http://shea-porter.house.gov/contact.shtml

The Community Choice Act

The Community Choice Act of 2007 gives individuals who are eligible for nursing home services or other institutional care equal access to community-based services and supports, like attendant services. The legislation also provides enhanced federal matching funds to help states develop their long-term care infrastructure and grant funds to help states increase their ability to provide home and community-based services. Finally, this bill creates a demonstration project to evaluate service coordination and cost sharing approaches for those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare services.

The Community Choice Act is about individual CHOICE. It allows an individual to choose to receive their care in the community, rather than in an institutional setting. There is nothing in the Act, which takes away the right of an individual to receive their services in an institutional setting, if they so choose.

The Community Choice Act of 2007, amends title XIX of the Social Security Act to make community- based attendant care services an alternative for Medicaid recipients who are “institutionally eligible.”

Under Community Choice, states would receive up to five years enhanced match rate (FMAP) for attendant care services and some administrative activities to enable states to develop their long-term care infrastructure. The bill also provides funds to support system change grants to help states increase their ability to provide home and community based services and creates a demonstration project to evaluate service coordination and cost sharing for dually eligible persons with disabilities.

Specific provisions include:

To be eligible for Community Choice, individuals must be Medicaid eligible AND determined to be “institutionally eligible”; that is, they have received a medical determination that they require the level of care provided in a nursing home or similar institution.

Community Choice would offer eligible individuals attendant care services to assist with, or enhance the skills necessary to accomplish, activities of daily living and health-related functions. It also offers assistance with backup systems to ensure continuity of services (beepers, etc.) and training in how to select and supervise attendants.

Eligible individuals can receive attendant care services according to an approved plan of services based on an assessment of functional need. Consumers can choose attendant services provided under an agency/provider or other consumer-controlled model. The consumer would choose and manage the attendant care services.

Consumer Choice DOES NOT provide for such things as a) room and board, b) special education or vocational rehabilitation services, c) assistive technologies, d) durable medical equipment, or e) home modifications.

Community Choice requires States to work in collaboration with consumers, family members, and providers to develop and implement the program. States must maintain existing state funding levels for existing community-based care, in addition to the Community Choice funds that they receive. States are also required to put quality assurance systems into place to monitor and evaluate their community-based consumer choice services.

The Community Choice Act is about individual CHOICE. It allows an individual to choose to receive their care in the community, rather than in an institutional setting. There is nothing in the Act which takes away the right of an individual to receive their services in an institutional setting, if they so choose.

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Senate Passes Stem Cell Bill
Posted 4/12/2007

The U.S. Senate passed S.5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, by a vote of 63-34 yesterday. Senator Gregg voted for the bill while Senator Sununu voted against it.

The Bill will now go to the House where it is expected to pass and then on to the President for his signature. The President has threatened to Veto the Bill in which case it will go back to the Senate for a vote to override the Veto.

We need to keep the pressure on Senator Sununu and let him know his vote did not go unnoticed. E-mail the Senator and express your disappointment for his lack of support on S.5 and that his position is against 75% of Americans view on this issue. This is important because of the President’s Veto threat. The Senate needs 67 votes to override the Veto so we need Senator Sununu’s support.

Also, e-mail Senator Gregg and thank him for his continued support of Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Click on the links below to reach the Senator’s contact information.

Thanks for your continued efforts!

Senator Sununu
Web Form: www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

Senator Gregg
Web Form: gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Back to the top

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on a bill supporting federal funding of Embryonic Stem Cell research today at 5:45pm.

Call Senators Gregg and Sununu and ask them to support S. 5, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007.

Contact and background information is below.

Senator Gregg
Web Form: gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Senator Sununu
Web Form: www.sununu.senate.gov/webform.html

STEM CELL INFORMATION

The National Institutes of Health has stated that stem cell therapies could hold the promise of treating Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

This research could benefit thousands of NH’s citizens and millions across the county. Tell Senators Gregg and Sununu your story and how this research could potentially affect your quality of life or your family or friends.

Recent polls show that the majority of Americans support embryonic stem cell research. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research poll results in May 2006 revealed that nearly three-quarters of Americans support embryonic stem cell research and want the Senate to vote on federal funding for stem cell research.

AMERICANS SUPPORT THE USE OF STEM CELLS TAKEN FROM EXCESS EMBRYOS BY MORE THAN A 6-TO-1 MARGIN. (AUGUST 2004)

A Harris poll taken in August 2004 found that 73 percent of Americans believe stem cell research should be allowed, while only 11 percent oppose it. Support for stem cell research increased markedly since a similar poll, taken in 2001, found that 61 percent supported it while 21 percent opposed it.

Most Americans favor embryonic stem cell research. (June 2004)

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 71 percent of Americans are in favor of embryonic stem cell research, compared with only 22 percent who oppose it.

If you get a response from the Senators, please let us know.

Thanks

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has made great strides in improving voter accessibility for people with disabilities. A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives could set back this progress if passed in its current form. H.R. 811 calls for an unrealistic deadline for every voting machine to produce an accessible voter-verifiable paper ballot by next year. Unfortunately this technology does not currently exist.

Contact your Representative and tell them to move the paper ballot deadline back in H.R. 811 to allow time for new voting systems to be developed, certified for use in elections, and funded.

Contact information is below followed by a more detailed description of the issue.

Thank you for your continued advocacy efforts.

Representative Paul Hodes
http://hodes.house.gov/contact.shtml

Washington D.C. Office
506 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone:(202) 225-5206

District Office
114 North Main Street
Second Floor
Concord, NH 03301
Phone:(603) 223-9814

Representative Carol Shea-Porter
http://shea-porter.house.gov/contact.shtml

Washington D.C. Office
1508 Longworth HOB
Washington DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5456

Manchester Office
33 Lowell Street
Manchester, NH 03101
Phone: (603) 641-9536
Fax: (603) 641-9561

Dover Office
104 Washington Street
Dover, NH 03820
Phone: (603) 743-4813
Fax: (603) 743-5956

ACTION ALERT:
PROTECT ACCESSIBLE VOTING

Contact your members of Congress and tell them to protect our right to vote privately and independently in next year's Presidential elections. The leading election reform bill, introduced by Congressman Rush Holt, H.R. 811, includes an unrealistic deadline for every voting machine to produce an accessible voter-verifiable paper ballot by next year. Tell your Congressional representatives to move that paper ballot deadline back to allow time for new voting systems to be developed, certified for use in elections, and funded.

When the Holt bill's paper ballot requirement is coupled with the access requirements of the Help America Vote Act, it will require election officials to purchase technology that does not currently exist. The Holt bill seems to acknowledge this problem because it requires the federal government to study how best to make it's voter-verifiable paper ballots accessible to voters with a wide range of disabilities, and requires the government to report on its findings by January of 2010. In the absence of these findings, how can election officials move forward with a 2008 deadline for accessible paper ballots?

BACKGROUND

Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 811, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act on February 7 of this year. This bill currently has 200 cosponsors and bipartisan support. The bill is

expected to pass the House, and is considered the leading election reform vehicle that is moving in this Congress. It was slated for mark up in the House Committee on Administration last Thursday, but the mark up was postponed at the last minute. We anticipate that the bill will be marked up and sent to the House floor for a vote soon after Congress returns from their current recess. Once it passes the House, we anticipate that the Senate will want to act quickly on a parallel piece of legislation.

The Holt bill would amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by making a number of major changes to the nation's elections system. It requires all changes to be in place for the primaries in next year's presidential election. If enacted into law, the Holt bill will require that all polling places use equipment in the 2008 presidential race that can produce an accessible, voter-verifiable paper ballot. The bill includes other requirements that would substantially change election practices, but for purposes of this alert we are focusing on the paper ballot requirement.

Because of the requirement in the 2002 Help America Vote Act that all polling places have at least one accessible voting machine by 2006, we have seen signficant improvement in voting accessibility since the 2002 elections. AAPD does not want to move backward on accessibility, and we have been advocating along with other disability and civil rights groups that any voter verification system must meet HAVA's requirements that voters with disabilities can access that system with privacy and independence. Unfortunately, we are still awaiting the development of an accessible voting machine that can meet the Holt bill's paper ballot requirement and that has been tested and certified for use in elections.

We are working with other disability advocates to convince members of the House and Senate that the 2008 paper ballot deadline in the Holt bill is unrealistic, and will in effect force election officials to either violate the paper ballot requirements of the bill or violate the accessibility requirements of HAVA and the bill. We have also been advocating that new funds must be made available to enable election officials to purchase equipment once there is equipment that meets the bill's requirements, which will likely take several years to be developed.

The Holt bill requires the federal government to study how best to make it's voter-verifiable paper ballot accessible to voters with a wide range of disabilities, and requires the government to report on its findings by January of 2010. We do not understand why the bill's paper ballot requirements take effect two year's before the completion of this important study.

We encourage you to contact your Congressional representatives and urge them to move back the paper ballot deadline in the Holt bill, and take any other steps necessary to ensure that voters with disabilities will be able to vote privately and independently in next year's critical presidential elections.

YOU’RE STORIES AND TESTIMONY NEEDED!
Posted: 3/5/2007

Have you or do you know of someone who has been denied medically necessary services or durable medical equipment under the NH Medicaid program? We need your stories!

Come and testify on how important these services and equipment are to your health and wellbeing. This is an opportunity to improve coverage of essential items.
If you can not make the hearing, please send me your story and we will submit it for you. The hearing dates, time, and information about the bill are below.

HB 826 - AN ACT relative to coverage of medically necessary services and items under the medical assistance program.
Date: 3/12/07
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Legislative Office Building RM 205, Concord, NH
Committee: Health and Human Services & Elderly Affairs
Bill text: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2007/HB0826.html

HB 826 Talking Points

1. Under current NH DHHS regulations many pieces of durable medical equipment and supplies are not covered items that can be crucial to an individual’s health and welfare. The intent of HB 826 is to support persons with special health care needs and disabilities with coverage of medically necessary service and items under the medical assistance program so that they may live in their home and communities as independently as possible and with the maximum ability to be mobile and exercise self care.

2. Durable medical equipment often makes it possible for people to remain in their homes and communities who otherwise could not. It is appropriate and timely for the legislature to take a comprehensive look at coverage of medical equipment and supplies that could be cost-effective alternatives to institutionalization and other costlier services and assure that laws and policies are rational, flexible and supportive of the State’s commitment to home and community-based care.

3. Examples of services or items that could be provided if an individual can meet the specified standard are adult disposable diapers, wheelchair accessories and repairs, and grab bars.

4. Lack of coverage of certain medical equipment, supplies and services is inhumane and inefficient, and can be “penny-wise and pound-foolish” when the result is to jeopardize an individual’s health or safety, or require costlier services such as inpatient hospitalization or nursing home care.

5. HB 826 is intended to help assure that adults with disabilities and functional impairments can access durable medical equipment, medical supplies, services and supports that are medically necessary and that meet certain objective criteria. Specifically, an item not otherwise covered would be provided if, in the case of a particular individual, it would prevent serious detrimental health consequences of an illness or condition, prevent hospitalization or other institutionalization or prevent the need for a more costly covered service or item.

6. This bill will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to consider an individuals needs before denying an item or service, or identifying certain items as “excluded,” as long as coverage of the item or service is allowable under the federal Medicaid program and the criteria for coverage has been met for the individual. The needs and circumstances of each individual will be considered.

7. The bill maintains a definition of “medically necessary” that is reasonable and appropriate, and has been used by the Department in the past. Putting this definition in statute assures that the legislature establishes the definition and will prevent the department from restricting coverage by creating a more restrictive definition in the future.

Program	Cost to Individual
MEAD	Tiered Premiums
Home and Community-Based Care Waiver	Cost of Care Contribution (taken from individual’s income after deduction of basic needs costs)