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By Norman
Smith
 American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT)
activists from across America descended on Washington, D.C., for a week in
September to deliver the message Americans with disabilities will accept
“No more excuses,” a campaign that echoes a phrase often quoted by
Mark Mc- Clellan, the director of the federal Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid.
The
purpose of ADAPT’s action was to tackle barriers that force people into
nursing homes and other institutions or that prevent people with disabilities
and older Americans from staying in their own homes in the community with the
services and supports they need. Those barriers include the lack of appropriate
housing, the lack of personal assistance programs and the movement to integrate
long-term care services and supports into state acute health care managed care
plans.
”As we move out of nursing homes and other institutions, we
need affordable, accessible integrated housing to move into,” said Cassie
James, Philadelphia ADAPT organizer. “An obvious place to start is with
the nation’s Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). The PHAs have the ability
to designate Section 8 housing vouchers specifically for use by people leaving
nursing homes and institutions who are receiving home and community- based
services. We need to make sure the PHAs do just that. No more excuses”
ADAPT concluded their week in Washington with visits to legislators that
resulted in at least one new House co-sponsor for Medicaid Community Attendant
Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA), the Community Choice Act (H.R. 910, S
401). The staff of Rep. Bobby Rush (DIll.) called MiCASSA House sponsor, Rep.
Danny Davis’s (D Ill.) office to sign on to the bill.
There were
other significant highlights of the week.
Joe
Shapiro’s National Public Radio coverage of the ADAPT action included an
interview with McClellan, who credited his work with ADAPT as the reason for
Money Follows the Person (MFP).
ADAPT targeted the trade associations for the
nation’s Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), getting meetings with both the
PHA’s Directors Association and the Council of Large Public Housing
Authorities (CLPHA.). ADAPT said that they put the PHAs on notice that they
share responsibility with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for assuring
people with disabilities have proper housing.
They took on the Managed Care
Organizations (MCOs) that currently oversee acute health services in many
states, which are beginning to take on long-term services as well. ADAPT will
be meeting with the CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, an MCO trade
association, to get a commitment that AHIP members won’t contract with
states to ration longterm services and supports in order to balance their
budgets.
Support
was garnered for MiCASSA from the civil rightsoriented National Catholic
Partnership on Disability (NCPD). After meeting with ADAPT, NCPD sent a letter
supporting passage of MiCASSA to the co-sponsors in both the House and
Senate.
ADAPT got a commitment from Kim Kendrick, HUD’s assistant
secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, to make sure her boss, HUD
Secretary Alphonso Jackson, keeps his promise to contact the PHAs about
designating Section 8 vouchers for Medicaid- eligible people with disabilities
who are coming out of shelters, nursing homes and other institutions.ADAPT
conducted their first youth summit, prior to the ADAPT action and put emphasis
on this area throughout the week. Furthermore, there were many notable young
advocates that attended the action.
A fax was sent by ADAPT, thanking Republican
National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman for passing MFP, while also occupying the
GOP offices to get a meeting with him. ADAPT wants Republican support for two
additional measures that will assist states to successfully implementing MFP,
namely Access Across America, the housing initiative that will assure people
with disabilities have adequate housing as they leave nursing homes, shelters
and other institutions and MiCASSA, which would remove the institutional bias
from Medicaid.
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