Health and Disability

Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2009

To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide funds to States to enable them to increase the wages paid to targeted direct support professionals in providing services to individuals with disabilities under the Medicaid Program.

• Short: Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2009 as introduced.
• Official: To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide funds to States to enable them to increase the wages paid to targeted direct support professionals in providing services to individuals with disabilities under the Medicaid Program. as introduced.

2/4/2009--Introduced.
Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2009 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide funds to states to enable them to increase the wages paid to targeted direct support professionals in providing services to individuals with disabilities under the Medicaid program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, to audit a sample from among the states in order to assess the effectiveness of progress made in reducing or eliminating the wage gap between targeted and reference direct support professionals through funds under this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the wage equalization and recruitment and retention of direct support professionals who are providing services and supports to individuals with disabilities……
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OpenCongress - U.S. Congress - H.R.868 Direct Support Professionals Fairness and Security Act of 2009

In the wake of the American Insurance Group (AIG) bonus scandal, the Senate approved an amendment to the budget bill that would eliminate bonuses paid to nursing homes and other government contractors that "fail to meet basic performance requirements."…….

mendment 892 targets nursing homes among other industries. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pays more than $312 million a year in quality-of-care bonuses to nursing homes that provide below average care and have past violations of health and safety regulations, according to Coburn's Web site. The amendment also ends bonuses awarded to contractors and government executives responsible for over-budget projects and programs that fail to meet basic performance requirements……

Budget amendment would end bonuses for nursing homes with violations - McKnight's Long Term Care News

Empowered at Home Act of 2009

A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to improve the State plan amendment option for providing home and community-based services under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes.

• Short: Empowered at Home Act of 2009 as introduced.
• Official: A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to improve the State plan amendment option for providing home and community-based services under the Medicaid program, and for other purposes. as introduced.

2/13/2009--Introduced.
Empowered at Home Act of 2009 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the income eligibility level for home and community-based (HCBS) services for elderly and disabled individuals. Gives states the option to provide HCBS services under a waiver to eligible individuals whose income does not exceed 300% of the supplemental security income (SSI) benefit rate. Gives states the option to provide HCBS waiver services to individuals for whom such services are likely to prevent, delay, or decrease the likelihood of an individual's need for institutionalized care. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award assistance grants to states electing to provide HCBS waiver services under Medicaid through the state plan amendment option. Reauthorizes Medicaid transformation grants at increased funding and specifies additional permissible uses to facilitate the provision of HCBS and other long-term care (LTC) services. Directs the Secretary to award grants on a competitive basis to eligible states to conduct an evidence- and community-based health promotion program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow:
(1) a tax deduction for premiums on qualified LTC insurance contracts; and
(2) a tax credit for certain caregivers taking care of individuals with LTC needs. Revises requirements for the model regulation and model Act concerning LTC insurance consumer protections and the excise tax for failing to meet requirements for such protections. Amends SSA title XIX, with respect to treatment of the income and resources of HCBS waiver services recipients who would otherwise be institutionalized, to repeal the state option for (thus requiring) application to such individuals of spousal impoverishment protection requirements. Allows states to elect to exclude up to six months of the average cost of nursing facility services from an individual's assets or resources for purposes of eligibility for HCBS waiver services. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to revise certain data reporting forms and systems to ensure uniform and consistent state reporting under this Act. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on:
(1) the provision of home health services under different state Medicaid plans; and
(2) the extent to which states offer consumer self-direction of such services, or allow for other consumer-oriented policies with respect to them.
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OpenCongress - U.S. Congress - S.434 Empowered at Home Act of 2009

Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the establishment of ABLE accounts for the care of family members with disabilities, and for other purposes.

• Official: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the establishment of ABLE accounts for the care of family members with disabilities, and for other purposes. as introduced.
• Short: Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009 as introduced.
• Short: ABLE Act of 2009 as introduced.

2/26/2009--Introduced.
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009 or the ABLE Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish tax-exempt ABLE accounts for individuals with a disability to pay certain expenses of such individuals, including expenses for education, housing, transportation, employment support, medical care, and certain life necessities. Defines "individual with a disability" as an individual who is eligible to receive certain supplemental security income benefits under the Social Security Act.
Allows individual taxpayers a tax deduction, up to $2,000 per year, for contributions to an ABLE account. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to Congress on the use of ABLE accounts and the effect of the tax deduction for contributions to such accounts.
Requires ABLE accounts to be disregarded in determining eligibility for Medicaid benefits and for purposes of determining eligibility for other means-tested federal programs.
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OpenCongress - U.S. Congress - H.R.1205 Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009

Knowing a person's past and all the details about them is a great strategy for helping a person with dementia cope with the present moment.  Using this valuable information, a dementia caregiver can assist the person with dementia to spend quality time that has meaning.....to them.  An easy way to do this is to make "reminiscence boxes"…….

The Dementia Caregiver's Toolbox : Dementia Care: Using The Past To Help In The Present

As has been written about extensively in the press and the blogsphere, the Authors Guild has pressured Amazon to disable the text to speech feature in Kindle 2. This has set of a storm of opposition among groups that see the Guild's actions as harmful to access for persons who are reading disabled. Details are reported by the Reading Rights Coalition(http://www.readingrights.org) and by others. The Guild has issued this statement, which has been widely criticized by organizations working on accessibility issues.

Nothing is more moving than the comments of persons who are signing the "We want to read" petition to the Authors Guild.

If you are as outraged as I am, you might want to sign the petition, but also contact directly the members of the Guild Board of Directors: http://www.authorsguild.org/about/board.html who are directly responsible.

The following are only a few quotes from the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read

…….

James Love: People vs the Authors Guild, don't turn off text to speech in Kindle 2

Doctors, nurses and others who provide health care to older adults are often so focused on acute medical problems that they may miss symptoms of cognitive impairment. A unique educational summit to be held in April and May in Indianapolis focuses on the problem and will enhance the skills of these health-care providers in recognizing and managing cognitive impairment. The goal is to enable older adults to remain in their homes.
According to Malaz Boustani, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute research scientist, more than half of Americans with cognitive impairment are not recognized as having the conditions when they go to a hospital and more than three-quarters are not recognized as having cognitive impairment by their primary care physicians. The result is that less than 10 percent receive medications appropriate to their level of cognitive impairment and approximately one-quarter receive medications which are inappropriate.…..

The Key To Keeping Older Adults At Home Could Be Recognizing Cognitive Impairment

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) yesterday reintroduced the Caring for an Aging America Act, legislation to ensure the healthcare workforce is prepared to meet the needs of our growing population of older Americans.
Senator Boxer said, "Our nation is facing an immediate and growing crisis in providing care for our aging population. Ensuring we have a well-trained health care workforce with the skills to care for our aging population is a critical investment in America's future. I am proud to sponsor legislation that will provide incentives to help qualified practitioners join the geriatrics and gerontology fields."……

Senators Boxer, Collins Reintroduce Legislation To Provide Quality Care For Older Americans

Compassion fatigue in nurses, doctors and other front line cancer-care providers significantly impacts how they interact with patients, with patient families, with other healthcare workers, and with their own family, according to analysis by Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute researchers published in the March issue of the Journal of Health Psychology…….

Compassion Fatigue: Impact On Healthcare Providers Of Caring For The Terminally Ill

The "bundling" of Medicare payments after a hospital stay could have negative repercussions for long-term care and merits further investigation, the American Health Care Association said Wednesday.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services currently is involved in a post-acute care bundling demonstration project. The program, which seeks to compare services, costs and outcomes across various provider settings, should be completed and evaluated before a bundling program is implemented nationwide, AHCA President and CEO Bruce Yarwood said. President Obama has included a provision in his fiscal year 2010 budget that would implement a bundling system.
“We strongly endorse a site-neutral post-acute care payment system where payment levels will be based on the condition of the individual being served, not the location of the service.”  Yarwood said in a statement….

AHCA: Medicare payment 'bundling' could have 'unintended consequences' for long-term care - McKnight's Long Term Care News