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William Robb wrote:
>
> WIIA UPDATE
> SENATE VOTE BLOCKED BY PHIL GRAMM (R-TX) May 27
>
> The Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (WIIA) almost came to the
> Senate floor for a vote Thursday, May 27.  An agreement was reached with
> the Senate leadership to bring the bill, with relatively minor changes,
> to
> the floor by "unanimous consent" (UC).  However, Senator Phil Gramm
> (R-TX)
> placed a hold on the bill just before the vote was to take place.  He
> did
> not lift the hold and the Senate went out on recess until June 7.
>
> Unanimous consent (UC) is a legislative process whereby a popular bill
> is
> agreed to ahead of time and comes before the Senate to be voted into law
> without amendments or changes.  Any one Senator can block that process
> from
> happening when a bill is brought forward by the unanimous consent
> process.
>
> The negotiated bill contained all the major health care, work incentive
> reform, and "ticket to work" provisions that we are familiar with in the
> bill.  We will provide a summary of the negotiated bill as soon as
> available.
>
> The four primary Senate cosponsors, Senators Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and
> Moynihan, are committed to bringing the bill back to the Senate floor
> after
> recess.
>
> With the new additions of Senators Ashcroft (R-MO) and Inhofe (R-OK),
> there
> are now 78 US Senate cosponsors of WIIA!
>
> Yesterday's events took place without advance notice.  Everyone working
> on
> the passage of WIIA, take a bow, for the jobs you are doing with little
> or
> sometimes no advance notice.  We have firm intelligence that our state,
> regional and national advocacy work is moving this bill through Congress
> AND keeping it strong.
>
> WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/policy/stories/may99/disable
> d0528.
> htm
>
> Disabled Workers May Keep Health Benefits
>
> By Helen Dewar
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Friday, May 28, 1999; Page A09
>
> Key senators reached agreement yesterday on major elements of a bill
> allowing disabled Americans to keep their government-financed health
> benefits when they take jobs, boosting prospects for passage of the
> measure
> this year.
>
> But the Senate left for a week long Memorial Day recess without acting
> on
> the measure after a last-minute dispute arose over how to pay for it.
> Although targeted at only a few million people, the legislation
> represents
> a hallmark of bipartisanship in a Congress that has been fraught with
> partisan and ideological differences. Conservatives like it because it
> puts
> people to work; liberals like it because it helps people who need help.
>
> Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who had earlier held up action on
> the
> measure because of what he described as concerns over cost, signaled
> satisfaction with the measure after agreement on minor modifications,
> including an income limit for recipients.
>
> A similar bill has been approved without dissent by the House Commerce
> Committee and awaits action by the House Ways and Means Committee.
>
> Under current law, individuals who receive federal disability benefits
> lose
> their Medicare benefits if they go back to work, and their Medicaid
> benefits if they earn more than a low-income wage. According to one
> congressional estimate, nearly half of the 7.5 million adults receiving
> disability aid could work but do not do so because they would lose their
> health benefits.
>
> The proposed legislation would allow, but not force, states to expand
> Medicaid coverage for disabled workers by relaxing the income
> limitation,
> with wealthier recipients required to pay higher premiums. During a
> trial
> period, it would also allow people covered by Medicare because of their
> disabilities to continue to receive benefits if they go to work. It
> would
> phase out disability payments rather than cutting them off abruptly, as
> happens now when people go to work.
>
> The legislation was sponsored by Sens. James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.), Edward
> M.
> Kennedy (D-Mass.), William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.) and Daniel Patrick
> Moynihan
> (D-N.Y.) -- bipartisan leaders of the Senate committees with
> jurisdiction
> over the health and disability programs. As of late yesterday, it had
> the
> cosponsorship of 79 senators.
>
> In signaling support for the bill, Lott indicated that his earlier
> concerns
> had been addressed, including fears that the legislation could open the
> door to benefits for the wealthy and for those who are not truly
> disabled.
>
> In a letter to colleagues earlier this year, Jeffords, Kennedy, Roth and
> Moynihan said the unemployment rate among working-age adults with
> disabilities is nearly 75 percent, and that less than one-half of one
> percent of people who receive disability assistance can forgo it and
> become
> totally self-sufficient.
>
> "The threat of losing health benefits is a powerful disincentive for
> disabled beneficiaries who want to work," they said.
>
> ) Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company