Good Afternoon List
\Here is some information I received on some passed legislation.
Christopher McMillan
Adaptive Computer Consulting
President
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----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 1999 12:00 AM
Subject: Digest from 05/28/1999 00:00:50
> Message 1: WIIA UPDATE - SENATE VOTE BLOCKED BY PHIL GRAMM (R-TX) May 27
> from [log in to unmask]
>
>
> .------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------.
> | Message 1 |
> '------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------'
> Subject: WIIA UPDATE - SENATE VOTE BLOCKED BY PHIL GRAMM (R-TX) May 27
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 15:30:26 EDT
>
> 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.
>
> Please know that we, all of us, are part of making some history here.
WIIA
> stands for us, all of us.
>
> WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE
>
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/policy/stories/may99/disabled052
=
> 8.
> 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 weeklong 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.
>
>
> =A9 Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
>
>
>
> In Solidarity,
>
> * Bryon R. MacDonald, Community Advocate
> The Center for Independent Living - Berkeley/Oakland
> 436 Fourteenth Street, Suite 218
> Oakland, CA 94612
> Voice: 510-763-9999, press ext. 19
> TDD: 510-444-1837
> FAX: 510-763-4910
> E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> *Alana R. Theriault, Disability Advocate/Consultant
> Work Incentives Update Listserv Manager
> Berkeley, CA
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Write Congress?
> http://www.congress.org
>
> US Capitol Telephone Switchboard?
> 202-224-3121
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> This post is from the Work Incentives Update Listserv. If you would like
> to add, delete or change your address on this list; have questions about
> The Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999; or have other comments,
> contact Alana R. Theriault <[log in to unmask]> or Bryon R. MacDonald
> <[log in to unmask]>.
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
>
>
>
>
>
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