For those of us who question the Elite.


----- Original Message -----
From: <jfa (Justice For All Moderator)>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 11:14 PM
Subject: Summary of Meeting with President Clinton


>
>                         Justice For All
>
>                         [log in to unmask]
>
>             Summary of Meeting with President Clinton
>
> Andy Imparato, [log in to unmask], writes:
>
> President Clinton Meets with Disability Leaders on Home and
Community-Based
> Services
>
> Fulfilling a promise made to ADAPT when they were in town earlier this
> month, President Clinton met today with leaders from ADAPT and other
> disability organizations to discuss what he can do in the next three
months
> to improve services in the community and reduce the institutional bias
in our
> long-term care system. In attendance from the disability community
were
> Justin Dart, Jr., Mike Auberger and Barbara Toomer from ADAPT, Mike
Oxford
> and James Billy from NCIL, Debbie Kaplan from WID, Nancy Weiss from
TASH,
> Bobby Silverstein, Andy Imparato from AAPD, and Paul Marchand from The
Arc
> and CCD.
>
> In attendance from the White House, in addition to the President,
were:
> Chief of Staff John Podesta; Mary Beth Cahill, Assistant to the
President
> and Director of Public Liaison; Chris Jennings, Deputy Assistant to
the
> President for Health Policy; and Jonathan Young, Associate Director
for
> Disability Outreach.  Bob Williams, Deputy Assistant Secretary for
> Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, represented the
Department of
> Health and Human Services.  Tim Westmoreland, Director of the Center
for
> Medicaid and State Operations, represented the Health Care Financing
> Administration.
>
> The President opened the meeting by announcing a new rule that is
being
> posted for a 60 day comment period today and will be finalized before
the end
> of the Administration that will expand the States' ability to
disregard
> income and resources for purposes of Medicaid eligibility
determinations.
> Chris Jennings has estimated that this enhanced Medicaid state option
would
> cost approximately $960 million over five years. The President then
updated
> the group on the current state of budget negotiations and stated his
> continuing hope that they will be able to get the Family Opportunity
Act
> passed and the $50 million for systems change grants for Olmstead
> implementation that he has been pushing for in the context of the
budget
> negotiations.
>
> Justin Dart thanked the President for his ongoing leadership in
support
> of the disability community and for taking the time to meet with
disability
> advocates at this critical juncture in the legislative process. He
> emphasized the importance of addressing the institutional bias and
giving
> people real choices and real options in the community so they are not
forced
> into nursing homes. Mike Auberger talked about the many things that
could be
> done administratively to start to address the institutional bias in
the
> Medicaid program, and encouraged the President to act on as many of
these
> things as he could before leaving office. Debbie Kaplan emphasized the
> importance of personal assistance services and the need to promote
some of
> the best things that are happening at the State level. Both Mike
Auberger
> and Mike Oxford talked about progress that had been made in Colorado
and
> Kansas in getting folks out of nursing homes, and Auberger emphasized
the
> cost effectiveness of community-based care. Auburger and Marchand also
> talked about the importance of expanding access to housing vouchers so
people
> can afford to live in the community, and the President noted that he
had just
> negotiated funding for 79,000 new housing vouchers and he would look
into
> whether some could be earmarked for people with disabilities. Nancy
Weiss
> emphasized the importance of the Family Opportunity Act, in addition
to
> MiCASSA, to give families with children with disabilities the ability
to work
> and maintain critical health coverage for their children.
>
> Bobby Silverstein talked about some emerging issues in implementation
of
> the Work Incentives law, and emphasized the need for inter-agency
> collaboration to break down the ongoing barriers that are making
potential
> participants reluctant at the ground level. He also emphasized the
> importance of SSA approving demonstration projects in States like
Wisconsin
> that want to be able to assure recipients that they can return to the
benefit
> rolls if they are unable to continue working. Barbara Toomer asked for
an
> assurance that the new Medicaid eligibility proposed rule would go
into
> effect before the President leaves office, and she was assured that it
would.
> James Billy talked about the importance of enforcement and compliance
with
> existing laws and the need for more accessible, affordable housing,
Andy
> Imparato emphasized the civil rights enforcement budget, and Paul
Marchand
> reminded the President of the 25th anniversary of IDEA next month and
> encouraged the President to do an event elevating the importance of
the
> anniversary as he did on the 10th anniversary of ADA. The President
promised
> that he would do something for the IDEA anniversary.
>
> The meeting lasted for about 45 minutes and the President took notes,
> asked questions, and instructed staff to follow up on specific issues.
The
> President emphasized the importance of working together in the next
few days
> especially to keep the focus on our priorities in the budget battle.
Special
> thanks are due to the hundreds of ADAPT activists, Mary Beth Cahill,
John
> Podesta and Jonathan Young for making this meeting happen.
>
> Andy Imparato
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> --
> Fred Fay
> Chair, Justice For All
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.jfanow.org
>
> Getting Out the Disability Vote: http://nod.org/vote2000/vote2000.html
> Register to Vote Online at: http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
> For Your States's Election Resources:
http://www.iupui.edu/~epackard/eleclink.html
> Project Vote Smart: http://www.vote-smart.org/
>
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