Welcome to the Current
Events page. This is where you'll find out what ADAPT will be doing in
the near future. I will provide links, pics, and other stuff as events
unfold.
February events
Freedom Day Actions--Each year, ADAPT has a day of simultaneous nationwide actions that we call Freedom Day. We visit officials and agencies to encourage these people and entities not to neglect the issues of Americans with disabilities. We try to have them as close to Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as we can manage. This year, we had to have it a bit later in the year, but have it, we did! Check out what happened in:
I'll keep adding states
as we get their reports.
Click here to read my written testimony.
Click here to read the story by the Denver Post.
Click here
to see the thank you note that I received.
The Money Follows The Person is one of the basic underlying concepts of MiCASSA. What it suggests is that the money that the states currently use to pay for an individual's care in a nursing facility or other institution would follow that person into the community when he or she leaves the institution. This money could then be used to help pay for rent, food, or other needs that the person may have. President Bush has set up a Money Follows The Person Medicaid Demonstration Project as a component of his New Freedom Initiative, a project beginning in F.Y. 2004, where, over a period of several years, $1.75 billion will be given to the states to help people with disabilities to leave nursing homes and other institutions. Several states have already chosen to utilize The Money Follows The Person as a pilot program. In Texas, over 1,200 people came out of nursing homes under this program, and the average savings to the state of Texas per person was $10,000! The state of Utah uses it as an administrative practice, while the states of Maryland and Kansas have adopted it as law. With the states suffering huge budget cuts, it is important that all states consider this cost-saving device.
The Money Follows The Person Amendment
On June 23, 2003, The Money Follows The Person was introduced as Amendment #991 to S. 1, The Medicare Prescription Drugs Bill. The amendment was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). This Amendment would put the President's The Money Follows The Person Medicaid Demonstration Project into law. It will also help the states to comply with Olmstead, and will be a major step towards getting folks out of nursing homes and other institutions.
Here are some Talking Points for the Amendment.
Though the Money Follows The Person Amendment was defeated in the Senate, it was only by a vote of 50-48, which is extremely close!
The Money Follows The Person Bill (S. 1394)
On Friday, July 11,
2003, Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced the
Money Follows the Person Act of 2003. This is a stand-alone bill version
of the Money Follows the Person Amendment and the bill number is S.1394.
This bill puts into
bill form the President's 2004 Budget proposal to encourage states to allow
the money to follow the person, so people who are living in nursing homes
or other institutions could have the money follow them as they move out
into the community onto community based services.
This bill does not
replace MiCASSA; we also need to support MiCASSA (S 971 and HR 2032), but
this Money Follows the Person Act of 2003, S.1394, is an important piece
of the puzzle and it needs our support.
Vigils
Because of huge budget cuts in their states, several ADAPT chapters have had to do vigils, or Tent Cities in order to get the states to rescind cuts that would have adversely affected thousands of people with disabilities. Colorado, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Texas are some of the states that have done very successful vigils.
Read about the Kansas Tent City.
Read about the long
vigil by disability rights activists taking place in the island nation
of Trinidad and Tobago.
This is simply amazing! August 13th marks the 100th day of their protest
and vigil. Read about it here!
The Trinidad folks
had an amazing victory! Read about it here.
MiCASSA (S. 971, H.R. 2032)
MiCASSA is a piece of legislation that ADAPT wrote several years ago. It was first introduced into Congress in 1997 by then House Speaker Newt Gingrich. It was reintroduced in the Senate on May 1, 2003 by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). It was reintroduced into Congress on May 8th, 2003 by Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL). ADAPT will be holding all kinds of events throughout the year to bring attention to MiCASSA, and to lobby for its passing.
A Summary of MiCASSA
Questions and Answers on MiCASSA
See H.R. 2032
See S. 971
See the updates
on MiCASSA, including current sponsors, and pics from the MiCASSA reintroduction
party that took place on May 8th in D.C.
May Events
ADAPT's Stolen Lives Campaign. May 10th-15th, 2003. Washington, D.C.
Want to see what happened? Click here! Want to see the pics? Click here!
June
MiCASSA Kickoff--There will be a MiCASSA Kickoff on June 5th, 2003. The event will take place in Washington, D.C., but there will be a teleconference linkup for the entire nation to take part in! Stay tuned for more information and updates.
Upcoming events
August
Colorado ADAPT's Free Our People March party. See the press release. Come join us!
September
ADAPT's Free Our People March. September 4th-17th, 2003. March from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. in support of MiCASSA.
See the announcement and sign-up page for the March!
See the press release and where we'll be each day!
See Colorado ADAPT's press release!
See what the American Association of People With Disabilities is saying about the March on it's calendar.
See what The MED Group has to say about the March!
See the support
letter from a disability rights group from Sweden, and what our March
has inspired them to do!
ADAPT's Free Our People
March was amazing! There was pain and pride, and many cool moments! Rainstorms
and heat, dead chairs, and bee stings didn't turn us around. New friends
were made, and old ones were renewed. We ate the most interesting things,
and slept in the wildest places. Check out my Scrapbook
for some cool pics and stories!
Keep coming back to this page for more information about upcoming events with ADAPT. For now, you can go back to the main page of the ADAPT site, or go back home, and see the rest of my house.
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