What Health Care Reform could mean to Dakota

This is just a tip of the ice berg but below are some of the reasons why we need paasage of Health Care
FOR EVERY UNITED STATES CITIZEN.
Not only those who have the intellectual or developmental challenges but those who care for these individuals need this legislation.

Provisions in the Senate Bill that are Most Important for


People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Coverage

• Prohibiting private health insurance exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

• Eliminating annual and lifetime caps in private insurance policies;

• Restricting the consideration of health status in setting premiums.

• Expanding Medicaid to cover individuals with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line (approximately $29,000 per year for a family of four).

Benefits

• Ensuring that minimum covered benefits include products and services that enable people with disabilities to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitation services and devices.

Access to Quality Care

• Improving training of physicians, dentists, and allied health professionals on how to treat persons with disabilities.

• Requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to collect data on beneficiaries with disabilities access to primary care services and the level to which primary care service providers have been trained on disability issues. Ensuring prevention programs include a focus on individuals with disabilities.

Long Term Services and Supports

• Increasing the federal share of Medicaid, known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (or FMAP), for home and community based services (HCBS) and during periods of economic downturn.

• Allowing states to offer additional services under the 1915(i) Medicaid HCBS Waivers State Plan Option.

• Providing spousal impoverishment protections for HCBS Beneficiaries.

• Strengthening long-term services and supports through a two pronged approach:

1) Taking pressure off of the Medicaid program:

The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act would create a national long term services insurance program which assists eligible individuals and their families to meet long term needs with a cash benefit and without forcing them into poverty to receive Medicaid benefits.

2) Improving the Medicaid program:

The Community First Choice Option would help to eliminate the institutional bias by encouraging state states to cover personal attendant services under the state's optional service plan instead of through the waiver system by offering a 6% increase in the federal share of Medicaid for these services.

Please remember that there have been many non popular pieces of legislation passed, that we now embrace and cannot believe that we ever did with out them -- Too many are speaking on behalf of quashing this movement -- I want to take a stand to let others know why we need to embrace it!
Remember Womens Sufferage--- The Social Security Act and how 'bout Civil Rights Legislation???? So many opposed these; but where would we be without any one of these laws now???
I am not trying to shove this down anyones throat -- what I am doing is trying to cast light on a side other than the ones out there protesting the opposite view point-- Decide for yourself  but rememeber the greater good.
Think about Viet Nam many of us were out there telling you it was wrong and we needed to stop the war yet it raged on and divided the country and families. Years later we were vindicated for our protest.I truly believe that Health Care absolutely needs to be passed, Stop listening to the media and the sound bites. Read, study, ask questions. Do you honestly believe that anyone of those people in Congress are trying to push something off on us that will harm us or devour our country--R E A L L Y ?????? And they are jepordizing their own political life by doing so?????? R E A L L Y ?

 MY information is that the first year it is enacted it will save us millions of dollars and in the first ten years it will save over a trillion--

OK I do not want this to be a political forum and I will not say anymore but I felt a duty to so once! THE END.