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.