>
>       WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans with disabilities would be able to
>seek employment without the fear they will lose their
>government-funded health coverage under legislation moving toward
>congressional passage.
>       The House on Tuesday voted 412-9 for the bill that would allow
>Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries to keep their
>Medicare coverage for up to 10 years after getting a job. That's
>six years beyond the current law.
>       The Senate has passed a similar bill and President Clinton is
>urging Congress to send him a bill that ensures continued health
>benefits to working people with disabilities.
>       ``Almost three out of four Americans with severe disabilities
>who want to work are not working,'' Clinton said in a statement.
>``One of the biggest barriers these Americans face is the fear of
>losing their health insurance when they get a job.''
>       ``This is the most dramatic breakthrough for Americans with
>disabilities since the Americans with Disabilities Act,'' said Rep.
>Rick Lazio, R-N.Y., the chief sponsor. That 1990 act required
>businesses and offices to make facilities more accessible to the
>disabled.
>       ``Millions of Americans are awaiting eagerly to unleash their
>creativity and to pursue the American dream,'' he said.
>       Congressional auditors estimate that 35,000 people will find
>jobs over the next 10 years with the help of the legislation. The
>bill will also more than quadruple, to 550,000, the number of
>people who will receive rehabilitation and employment services over
>the next decade. The nation has some 9 million disabled adults.
>       Rep. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said that if one percent of those with
>disabilities move off welfare programs as a result of the bill the
>government would save $3 billion over the lifetime of those
>benefits. ``We want people to take the risk to work.''
>       Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who led efforts to pass the Senate
>bill, said the House bill was a significant step toward opening the
>workplace doors for the disabled. He urged the convening of a
>House-Senate conference as early as this week so that a compromise
>bill can be passed before Congress adjourns this year.
>       One difference is that the Senate grants lifetime Medicare for
>SSDI recipients who go to work, but only during the next six years.
>They also come up with different ways to pay for the costs of the
>bill, which for the House bill is expected to total $323 million
>over five years.
>       The bills would also give states the option of extending
>Medicaid to those in the Supplemental Security Income program for
>low-income people, allowing them to pay premiums as their income
>grows.
>       The legislation would provide disability beneficiaries with a
>``ticket'' that can be used to purchases services to enter the
>workforce. To increase competition, those with disabilities could
>choose between government and privately run rehabilitation
>programs.
>       Nine Republicans -- John Doolittle of California, David McIntosh
>of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Sam
>Johnson and Ron Paul of Texas, and Utah's James Hansen, Merrill
>Cook and Christopher Cannon voted against the bill.
>       ----
>       The bill is H.R. 1180.
>
Marty Tibor
Synapse
Speech Recognition and Adaptive Technology
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