> > 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 3095 Kerner Blvd., Suite S, San Rafael, CA 94901 toll-free 888-285-9988 ------- 40 page accessible text formatted catalog http://www.synapseadaptive.com/txt/synapse1999.txt ------- 40 page Adobe Acrobat format catalog http://www.synapseadaptive.com/pdf/Synapse40p.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader ver. 4) ------- http://www.naturalspeak.com Providers of adaptive and assistive technology solutions. ------- http://www.unixspeech.com UNIX, mainframe and Mac speech recognition ------- Speech recognition technical assistance Synapse hosts the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Unofficial Information Pages http://www.synapseadaptive.com/joel/default.htm VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html