Companion Card to help the disabled

Companions of severe or profoundly disabled NSW residents will receive free public transport and entry to some government facilities as part of a new initiative.

The Companion Card will be available later this year and is aimed at assisting people who need a carer to better participate in the community.

"The Companion Card recognises that a carer is indispensable to a person with a profound or severe disability and gives them equal access to services and facilities like everyone else," Minister for Ageing and Disability Services Kristina Keneally said.

"The card will be free, it won't be means tested, and we estimate it will make it easier for about 25,000 people in NSW to better access the community, every day services and events.

"In addition to public buses and trains, we believe there will be strong support for the card from the private sector, particularly entertainment and sporting businesses."

All public transport, including ferries, plus entry to national parks and Sydney's Taronga Zoo will be covered by the Companion Card, Ms Keneally told reporters in Sydney.

With a Companion Card, a disabled person and their carer need only buy one public transport ticket and pay a single entry fee to entitle both to travel or access.

"This acknowledges carers and brings great recognition," carer Tania Hayes said.

Mrs Hayes cares for her severely disabled husband Warren, who suffered a brain injury following a tumour 11 years ago.

Welcoming the Companion Card, Ms Hayes said the "minimal" carer's pension did not allow for many luxuries like a trip to the zoo.

The government expects to issue about 25,000 Companion Cards at an annual cost of $2 million a year, Ms Keneally said.

The NSW opposition welcomed the introduction of the Companion Card but criticised the government for not making the move earlier, saying the idea was first slated by the coalition in 2006.

"I welcome Kristina Keneally adopting sound NSW Liberal/Nationals policy. It's just a shame the Iemma government didn't do it when it was first announced back in 2006," opposition disability services spokesman Andrew Constance said in a statement.

"Instead of welcoming sensible NSW Liberal/Nationals policy when it is announced, the Iemma government resorts to political point-scoring before adopting the same policy when the minister has run out of ideas.

"If the Iemma government had been sensible enough to adopt this policy when it was first announced by the NSW Liberal/Nationals in 2006, then carers would already be enjoying the benefits."

Mr Constance said the government should have acknowledged the coalition's input.

Perfecting the application process for the Companion Card took time and Ms Keneally said the government wanted to make sure it "got it right".

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

Court denies bid to sterilize mentally disabled woman

Disability rights advocates and medical ethicists praised a precedent-setting ruling Friday by the Illinois Appellate Court denying a bid to sterilize a mentally disabled woman against her will.

The woman, identified only as K.E.J. in court records, isn't capable of raising a child on her own, but her guardian did not prove that sterilization would be in her best interests, a three-judge panel in Chicago ruled unanimously.
"Tubal ligation is a particularly drastic means of preventing a mentally incompetent ward from becoming pregnant," Judge Joseph Gordon wrote in the 36-page opinion. There are "less intrusive and less psychologically harmful [birth-control] alternatives."

The ruling was the first appellate opinion on the issue in Illinois.

"It's extraordinarily significant" because it guarantees the disabled a court hearing, said Katie Watson, a Northwestern University professor who wrote a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of about two dozen medical ethicists.

"In the past, this was a decision that could be made between a guardian and a doctor," she said. "The decision must be moved into the light."

The ruling means a guardian must go through some "significant legal hoops" before a court will order sterilization, said the woman's attorney, John Whitcomb of Equip for Equality, a disability-rights group.

K.E.J., 29, suffered a brain injury as a child when she was struck by a car. As a result, she cannot be left alone to operate a stove or perform most household chores.

The woman lives with her aunt, who was appointed as her guardian in the mid-1990s. In 2003, the aunt filed a "petition for tubal ligation" in Cook County Probate Court, arguing that her niece had a bad medical reaction to other birth-control methods.

mjhiggins@tribune.com

Chicago Tribune, United States

Row over plan to reduce care for disabled

COUNCIL chiefs in Midlothian want to cut care for some disabled children in a bid to plug a £600,000 budget shortfall.

However, the controversial plans have been attacked by opposition councillors, and have been "called in" to be discussed at a meeting next week.

There are 286 disabled children in the county, with 60 of those receiving social care.

The Labour controlled council wants to introduce a "fairer" system, whereby only those with "critical" or "substantial" needs will receive full assistance.

However, opposition councillors claim that up to a quarter of the families currently receiving care may lose out. The plans have been called in by the performance review committee, led by SNP group leader Colin Beattie.

He said: "It's not just numbers we're dealing with, it's people's lives and we have a social responsibility to find out how these lives will be affected."

Colin Anderson, acting director of the social work division, said the new "eligibility criteria" will allow resources to be allocated fairly.

He added: "Failure to confirm eligibility criteria as a permanent policy would jeopardise the council's ability to meet its statutory duties within allocated budgets."

Scotsman, United Kingdom

EEOC issues two guides on employing disabled veterans

After disabled veterans returning from places like Iraq and Afghanistan are treated for their wounds and injuries, the next step for them is to find suitable employment.

Two federal laws contain provisions designed to help injured veterans compete in the workplace: The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. Title I of the ADA is administered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The USERRA is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The EEOC recently issued two guides providing assistance for employers and veterans on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities. Both are available at www.eeoc.gov. The guides explain how protections differ under both laws and are presented in a question-and-answer format.

In a press release, EEOC Chairman Naomi Earp stated: “Members of the military who have bravely sacrificed for America should never have to come home and face unlawful employment obstacles because of a service-connected disability.” She also expressed the overall goal that injured veterans deserve to compete on a level playing field, along with everyone else.

EEOC legal counsel Reed L. Russell is also cited in the press release as endorsing the release of these two documents. He said these guides will provide valuable assistance to returning wounded veterans and employers.

The first guide shows how the ADA applies to certain aspects of employing disabled veterans such as recruiting, hiring and accommodating these veterans with service-connected disabilities.

The second document highlights protections for disabled veterans seeking to return to their former jobs or those aiming for their first or new civilian jobs. It explains adjustments possibly needed to perform a job or to attain equal access to the workplace.

Both of these guides contain lists of resources that describe how to obtain more information on the ADA and the USERRA. These lists include public and private organizations that can assist employers seeking to recruit and hire disabled veterans.

Vero Beach Press-Journal

Ohio's Medicaid buy-in program allows disabled to work with benefits

A new state program will help Charissa Warner and a lot of others go back to or get full-time work.

April 1 was the first day to apply for Ohio's Medicaid buy-in program for workers with disabilities, which allows eligible disabled workers to continue receiving Medicaid benefits by paying an income-based premium.

The two biggest barriers that stop disabled people from working is lack of accessible transportation and the fear of losing benefits — especially medical benefits, said John Conelly, executive director of the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission.

Until now, earning too much meant losing Medicaid benefits or losing a large part of a paycheck.

The commission is the state agency charged with helping Ohioans with disabilities by helping them get jobs through its Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Last year, the commission helped more than 8,700 Ohioans find or keep jobs. In Stark County, the commission served 2,646 people with disabilities and helped 375 get jobs at an average hourly wage of $9.75 per hour, working an average of about 32 hours per week.

For Warner, the Medicaid buy-in means she will be able to go back to full-time work. "We've been waiting for this for years," she said.

The 28-year-old Strasburg woman is a drafting technician, designing roads and bridges for the state Department of Transportation's District 11, headquartered in New Philadelphia.

She's also been a quadriplegic since breaking her neck in a sled-riding accident when she was 11. Inspired by her father's example, she grew up determined to make a living, and the commission helped with her education and with alterations to her van.

She earned an associate's degree in computer-assisted design and a bachelor's degree in computer science at Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus.

Going on her husband's company insurance would put their premiums "through the roof," she said. When she landed a job with the state, she had health coverage, but, "There are a lot of things that insurance doesn't cover. That's why we can't afford to lose our Medicaid," she said.

"A lot of us (disabled people) are uninsurable because of pre-existing conditions," she said

"Most of the people we're working with have more than one disability," Conelly said. "It's usually a combination of physical and psychological."

Warner was working full time, but dropped to part-time because of a "patient-liability" rule that required payment of all money made in excess of the income cap. "It really discouraged a lot of people from getting a job," Warner said.

She's waiting for a state hiring freeze to end so she can go back to full-time work.

Conelly said many disabled people were unwilling to take the risk of losing Medicaid because a catastrophic health problem would wipe out all their assets. The new rules also upped the amount of savings a disable person can have: from a cap of $1,500 to $10,000.

The buy-in allows workers with disabilities earning up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, after deductions, to pay a monthly premium to continue Medicaid coverage, said commission spokeswoman Eileen Corson.

That percentage amounts to $26,000, but the first $20,000 doesn't count, so people are eligible for the buy-in even if they earn up to $46,000, or more with deductions, she said.

"Medicaid buy-In breaks down the barrier to adequate health coverage and frees Ohio's workers with disabilities to enter the work force or secure higher-paying jobs, strengthening the state's economy," Conelly said

Reach Repository Business Editor Pat Kelley at (330) 580-8323 or e-mail:

pat.kelley@cantonrep.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Ohioans between the ages of 16 and 64 with a disability defined by the Social Security Administration can pay an income-based premium for Medicaid coverage.

Buy-in applications are available at: jfs.ohio.gov/ohp/consumers/Application.stm or by calling the Medicaid consumer hotline at (800) 324-8680 or TTY at (800) 292-3572. Applications may be returned by mail, fax or taking completed forms to the Stark County Department of Job and Family Services.

People with disabilities who would like to get jobs, pursue career advancement or return to work can contact the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission at www.rsc.ohio.state.oh.us or (800) 282-4536 for both voice and TTY.

The Canton Repository