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5 Things To Know About Coronavirus And People With Disabilities

By ANDREW PULRANG, CONTRIBUTOR, FORBES.com (Published March 8, 2020) The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has everyone spooked, and hopefully, taking steps to control the outbreak and prepare to get through whatever may come of it. But one group faces additional risks and consequences, as well as anxieties: people with disabilities and or chronic illnesses. Here are […]

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Buttigieg’s Plan for Parents With Disabilities Is a Blueprint for Other 2020 Candidates

ROBYN POWELL, REWIRE.NEWS.com Buttigieg’s plan covers a range of issues facing disabled people. But unlike other platforms released to date, his plan also includes the rights of parents with disabilities. (Published: November 5, 2019) South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg released a 19-page plan on Saturday aimed at “systematically dismantling institutions that discriminate against people […]

Karen Clay operates a medical ventilator to help her son Michael Phillips, 36, breathe. Michael has spinal muscular atrophy and is confined to his bed. He can breathe only with the aid of a machine. Here, they are photographed at their Tampa home July 19, 2017. ALESSANDRA DA PRA Tampa Bay Times
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‘Medicaid is a lifeline, but the Medicaid waiver is life.’ People fear losing benefits.

By ELIZABETH KOH, HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU (Published September 24, 2019) For almost every waking hour of his day, 33-year-old Jason Hahr needs someone else to do what his own body cannot. Hahr has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he needs a personal care assistant to physically help him perform the basic activities of daily […]

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Half of those who care for people with disabilities quit. Lawmakers say a $2 raise will help

By JESSIE BALMERT, CINCINATTI ENQUIRER (Published: August 20, 2019) COLUMBUS —Ryan Dougherty works at a Canton hospital collecting sharps from needles and incinerating them. For this work, Dougherty earns $13.31 an hour. But the direct support professionals who help Dougherty, who has a developmental disability, get to work and achieve his professional goals receive $11.12 an hour.  […]

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Nebraskans with developmental disabilities wait for services

By MARTHA STODDARD, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD (August 10, 2019)–Erin Phillips has made great strides in the three years since moving out of her parents’ home. The 31-year-old has learned how to do her laundry entirely on her own. She takes showers with only a little nudging. She cleans her own bedroom and bathroom. That’s on top […]

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Backlash intensifies over D.C. plan to end disabilities services contract

By PETER JAMISON, THE WASHINGTON POST (JULY 25, 2019)–Backlash intensified this week to the D.C. government’s effort to end a 14-year-old partnership with Georgetown University that provides a range of medical and social services for people with disabilities. The District’s Department on Disability Services has announced that it will end its contract with Georgetown in […]

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People with disabilities worry Florida’s cost-cutting will reduce essential services

By ELIZABETH KOH, BRADENTON HERALD (July 17, 2019) TALLAHASSEE, Florida–Lawmakers ordered Florida disability administrators this year to restructure its community-based Medicaid program that delivers healthcare to tens of thousands of people with disabilities. But as two state agencies begin to devise the new structure of the program, clients, caregivers and service providers are worrying that […]