From Newsday:

The final version of the federal stimulus package offers to aid people with disabilities and seniors through a one-time $250 payment, an amount reduced from the $450 originally proposed.

The one-time $250 “economic recovery payment” will be delivered to nearly 55 million recipients of Social Security, SSI, Railroad Retirement and veterans disability compensation benefits, under a $14-billion provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed this week by President Barack Obama.

It will be a separate one-time payment, not included in the regular monthly payment; it will be delivered in the same way as the regular benefit is, whether by check, direct deposit or debit card payment.

Harold Pollack, writing in huffingtonpost.com, says Sarah Palin’s “serious policy speech” on disabilities had some “jaw-dropping” omissions.

He searched the text posted on the campaign website, and found that Palin neglected to talk about health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SSI and SCHIP. She didn’t consider what happens to “special needs kids” when they become adults. She didn’t even use the word “disability.”

He says the McCain-Palin plan offers “nothing” to help families with very serious needs. For example, he says, their health plan permits insurers to continue discriminating against people with chronic illnesses and disabilities — the classic people with “preexisting conditions” that insurers want to avoid. It also erodes the employer-paid health care plan that significantly protects people with costly health problems. An excerpt:

(more…)

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

More than 750,000 Americans are stuck in a growing backlog of unresolved disability cases, growing destitute as they wait for a decision on whether they qualify for Social Security disability benefits. Some injured and ill people have become homeless or bankrupt while waiting for rulings. Federal officials say the situation is improving, but slowly.

The aging of Baby Boomers and layoffs of people who had been struggling to work while hurt and sick have sparked a jump in disability cases, federal officials and patient advocates say. As a result, the backlog of claims and the wait for case hearings have doubled since 2000, despite efforts by Social Security to address the problem.

The agency acknowledges the backlog and attributes it to years of budget cuts that reduced staff while claims jumped. The government is whittling the backlog by hiring 189 more administrative judges, switching to electronic records, holding hearings by videoconference and testing programs that quickly approve clear-cut cases.

See earlier post here.

UPDATE:

See also: Backlog for Social Security cases — Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Wall Street Journal:

A growing number of financial service companies are springing up to help parents provide for the future care of their children with disabilities. They help navigate the maze of federal and state programs, and assist parents in setting up trusts, coordinating estate plans, and educating future caregivers.

These tasks have become increasingly vital as people with disabilities are living longer than ever before, frequently outliving the parents who support them.

Miami lawyer Barry Nelson (far left) set up a special-needs trust for his fourteen-year-old son Jesse, who has autism. The trust will be funded by life insurance when Nelson dies, and can be used to pay for expenses beyond what Medicaid or SSI would pay for.

Nelson says a special-needs trust “gives me — and it gives every parent — peace of mind.”

A sidebar provides a list of financial planning resources.

(Wall Street Journal photo)

… Obama has substantive plans for all people with disabilities

Writing in huffingtonpost.com, Paul K. Longmore says presidential campaign coverage has included a lot of talk about “special needs” children, thanks to Sarah Palin, but little about the issues that concern the 54 million Americans with disabilities of all ages.

Longmore compares the stances of the McCain-Palin ticket and the Obama-Biden ticket on healthcare, health insurance and social services for people with disabilities. An excerpt:

Even though 90 percent of the 54 million Americans with disabilities are adults, Palin, John McCain, and the news media have talked almost exclusively about children. And that talk has been mostly about “compassion” not “issues.” The McCain-Palin campaign website has a single page on “Americans with Disabilities for McCain,” but it says nothing about policy positions. Other pages mention autism and disabled veterans but no other issues.

In contrast, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have said little on the campaign trail about disability issues but their campaign website provides detailed policy proposals in a comprehensive “Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities.”

Paul K. Longmore is a professor of history and director, Institute on Disability, at San Francisco State University. His “Open letter to the disability rights constituency” appeared exclusively on this site last month.

From USA Today:

Groups representing people with Down syndrome say Sarah Palin could help boost efforts to help people with disabilities live more independently.

Among the priorities they cited were additional funding for physical therapy after birth, long-term financial incentives to help people with Down syndrome pay housing and medical bills into adulthood, and strengthening the No Child Left Behind law.

They also called for lifting the $2,000 cap on assets for Medicaid eligibility requirements, because the cap encourages people with disabilities to make less money in order to qualify for federal benefits.

Madeleine Will, vice president of public policy for the National Down Syndrome Society, said advocates also want Congress to make changes such as:

• Requiring doctors to provide more detailed information about Down syndrome to parents who receive prenatal and postnatal diagnoses, including life expectancy data and contacts of local support groups. The idea has support from lawmakers on both sides of the abortion issue.

• Allowing families to save money in tax-exempt accounts that can be used to pay for expenses associated with education, medical treatment and employment training.

Harold Pollack, writing on huffingtonpost.com, salutes Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as one person to another touched by disability issues.

He says, however, that Palin is wrong in her desire to deny women the very reproductive choice she enjoyed: the choice of continuing or terminating a pregnancy upon receiving an unexpected prenatal diagnosis. An excerpt:

Governor Palin is also mistaken in her support for broader Republican social policies that make it harder for millions of Americans living with physical and cognitive disabilities to get the healthcare and social services they need. If you ask people living with disabilities and their families what they need from government, many will say that they need things Democrats would provide and Republicans would not. They need adequate Medicaid funding. They really need universal health care. And they really need protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.

… Then there are the schools. Many people with disabilities need special education and health services in schools. Democrats have fought for these things. Republicans typically oppose them. Less tangibly, persons with disabilities need an ethic of common provision in this country that is the antithesis of what conservatives and libertarians euphemistically call an ownership society.

All this is for another day. A tough election should not blind us to our common humanity. Anyone who walks the walk in the service of her personal beliefs deserves my friendship. So congratulations, Governor. You don’t come close to earning my vote, but you are welcome in my home, any time.

Harold Pollack is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and faculty chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies.