ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

Budget Cuts Threaten the Livelihood of All Nassau County Residents

April 12th, 2010. Sadly, it could be a day to remember.

On that date, Able-Ride, the MTA-administered paratransit bus service for disabled residents of suburban New York’s Nassau County, is set to basically disappear. People will lose their freedom to go to work, to see their doctor, to obtain an education, to engage in leisure activities, and to visit friends and family. This is personal for me, I might add, as I am talking about my neighbors who cannot drive or do not have access to a vehicle of their own, due to a disability or financial constraints. 

 The MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority in long form), which runs bus and train service for New Yorkers in the New York City metro region, is ending door-to-door parantransit service in the suburbs and is only keeping Able-Ride in existence as a connector to the fixed route bus line.  The MTA is citing large costs, as its weak excuse for the cuts.

There are those who would say that the MTA is experiencing budget crisis. They would ask why is it not the case that such people can effectively use their local fixed bus routes to stay employed and involved in their community? Firstly, fixed-routes simply do not exist in certain communities such as Syosset and Bayville, meaning that there would be no transit service at all for some county residents. Secondly, even if fixed-routes do exist, the passenger cannot live more than three-quarters of a mile away from the nearest bus route, in order to get transported to that route via Able-Ride. Lastly, even if someone is lucky enough to already be living within the appropriate radius to still have some Able-Ride service, inclement weather can be especially hazardous to the health of someone with a medical condition. 

All right, Andrew, I have a solution. Try your nearby subway. Subway use is not only a good logistical option, but it’s also environmentally-friendly.

Unfortunately, in Nassau County, there is no subway nearby. If only my neighbors had ended up in the suburbs of Washington, DC and not New York City…

After all, the Metrorail system exists in many areas outside of Washington,  it’s wheelchair accessible, and it protects against the elements outside with its underground location. Perhaps, this is why similar concerns among Washington-area policymakers, about the cost of paratransit, do not cause as much concern among local disability advocates. It’s not the end of the world in suburban Washington without paratransit service, and maybe it’s even for the best after all of the snow that piled up this winter.

I wonder what the MTA would think about extending subway service via new stops in the suburbs. Unfortunately, I think it’s safe to say that the discussion of any expensive ideas are for a later date. All I can say now is that Able-Ride is too essential to the well-being of all Nassau County residents to be cut, even in a budget crisis. Let’s remember that currently employed people would lose their jobs and everyone else could see further budget cuts due to a smaller tax base. In other words, this cut has broader-reaching effects than just those that concern Able-Ride passengers.

ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

Who’s David Cameron and Why Should We Care?

In the past, I posted about Australia’s efforts to reform its long-term care system for people with disabilities via a proposal called the NDIS. It got me to thinking: What about Australia’s former colonial master in the United Kingdom?

It turns out that Britain has been making headlines in the area of disability rights as well. First of all, David Cameron, and the Conservative Party that he leads, is ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party going into a parliamentary election due to happen by June.

All right. So…who cares?

Well, Cameron recently lost his six-year old son to multiple disabilities, in the forms of epilepsy and cerebral palsy. (Remember Bruce Bonyhady of Australia and his sons with cerebral palsy)? Does this mean that disability rights advocates could have a strong ally in a new British prime minister next year?

Cameron would not only be inheriting a country with major economic problems that are similar to the U.S., but will also be taking the helm at a time when his political opponents in the Labour Party , in another British parallel to Australia, have been discussing long-term care reform in Britain. Britain’s universal health care system, the NHS (National Health Service), does not include provisions for home care for the elderly and people with disabilities. Would Cameron advocate for such reforms as well, with present budgetary constraints in Britain? This remains to be seen, although Cameron has already gone against members of his own party to oppose cuts to the NHS in memory of his son.

We also shouldn’t forget that Britain will be hosting the Summer Paralympics in 2012. What might a Prime Minister Cameron do to prepare and celebrate this event in the run-up to it? This also remains to be seen.  Stay tuned…

ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

“Down Under” Care

Australia as an example for health care reform in the United States?

Yes, as surprising as it may seem, Australia is taking major steps to reform its long-term care and support system for people with disabilities. A federal policy wonk by the name of Bruce Bonyhady, who has two sons with Cerebral Palsy, has been pushing for a compulsory National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) that would be publicly-financed and would cover people with all kinds of disabilities.

The major problem in Australia is that the “safety-net” for people with disabilities is incomplete. An Australian with a disability does receive financial support in the case of a disability that results from a workplace or motor vehicle accident. However, for other people with disabilities, there is no such security. There is the threat of being institutionalized, if one’s family is unable, both financially and emotionally, to care for the person with a disability.

The NDIS would help to cover the expenses of various areas of daily life, including healthcare, education, and employment. This proposal is being studied by the Australian federal government’s Productivity Commission and recommendations are due in July 2011.

This begs a question: Why are Americans with disabilities stuck with the prospect of the CLASS Act program? The CLASS Act program, as mentioned in a blog by Paula Span of The New York Times is voluntary long-term care legislation that is primarily a middle-class benefit and is meant for disability that may occur down the line. To explain it further, the CLASS Act only provides benefits for those working for five straight years and for those who receive a large enough salary to afford to pay monthly premiums. Lastly, you need to understand that the CLASS Act will only cover a maximum of $100 per day, depending upon the severity of one’s disability.

Yes, that’s right. The CLASS Act would still leave people with disabilities with some expenditures toward long-term care and definitely wouldn’t be enough to cover 24-hour care either.

This would work well for employed, middle-class people, when they retire, for instance, and need some help with daily tasks. However, the CLASS Act does not eliminate the dependence on Medicaid faced by lower-income, younger people who have severe disabilities and, therefore, need immediate care, which they cannot afford on their own. Let’s remember that this dependence on Medicaid forces people with disabilities to impoverish themselves.

It’s time to be honest: As good as it may sound, we’re not all moving to Australia. Also, no one can predict when the next time to make significant changes to our health care system will be, with all of the controversy and money involved in doing so. When health care reform passes this time around, let’s be sure that we, as people with disabilities, can truly celebrate it. We need true long-term care coverage in the United States now.

ROLLING PROUD by Andrew Levinson

When Is the Economic Boom for People with Disabilities Going to Arrive?

14.1%? Come on, you’ve got to be joking.

Yes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced not too long ago that in “November 2009, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was 14.1 percent, compared with 9.2 percent for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted.” Even during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the unemployment rate for people without disabilities is still only in the single digits, while people with disabilities suffer from double-digit unemployment. Yeah, people can talk about the economic expansion of the 90s and say that the good days are long behind us. However, just ask the contributors to a project that ended in 2004 called The Center for an Accessible Society. It doesn’t seem that there ever were “good days” for people with disabilities.

2010 will bring the ADA’s 20^th birthday, with the ADA, of course, being the principal example of federal disability rights legislation. It’s time to celebrate that birthday with true health care reform. It’s time to end a dependence, for a lot of us, on Social Security. (If you have a “preexisting condition,” you are left with Medicaid, by way of SSI, as your only option. Also, Medicaid is far from a universal health care program with its restrictive eligibility standards). Here’s to Josie Byzek of New Mobility for talking about this dependence and the fear of leaving one’s job over health care coverage. I think it’s only fair that we allow entrepreneurs with disabilities to buy affordable health care coverage and allow workers with disabilities to find the job that provides them with the highest standard of living and not the best health care insurance.