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
Advocacy Healthcare News Social Services

‘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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States Aim To Halt Sexual Abuse Of People With Intellectual Disabilities

By JOSEPH SHAPIRO, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO Earlier this year, NPR reported that people with intellectual disabilities are victims of some of the highest rates of sexual assault. NPR found previously undisclosed government numbers showing that they’re assaulted at seven times the rate of people without disabilities. Now states, communities and advocates, citing NPR’s reporting, are […]