Julie Reiskin's blog
Last week a major milestone occurred in Colorado without any fanfare or press coverage: The Medicaid Buy In Program for working adults with disabilities officially opened. Since we have been working on this for more than a decade you would think we would be celebrating in the streets, having a great party. Why weren’t we? While we are thrilled to see one more option for some people with disabilities to get health care, particularly those who have no Medicaid now, this program, like so many so called work incentive programs before it, is not what the legislature inten
For most Colorado Medicaid waiver programs one must meet a “nursing facility level of care” to quality for services. As we move towards a Medicaid buy in program for people with disabilities CCDC has asked HCPF management to put in writing that the state of Colorado believes that there is no reason why one cannot meet a nursing home level of care AND work—part time or full time. There is nothing in the regulations that prohibits this—and the concept of meeting a nursing home or institutional level of care is ingrained
It is that time of year again when I will be harassing you all to get to the Capitol. Cynicism with politicians and the political process is at an all time high. Why get involved when they are going to listen to the corporations over people? Do they really care about us? What difference does any of this make?
It is that time of year again when I will be harassing you all to get to the Capitol. Cynicism with politicians and the political process is at an all time high. Why get involved when they are going to listen to the corporations over people? Do they really care about us? What difference does any of this make? I cannot give a definitive answer to any of these questions but I can tell you that there is an absolutely clear correlation between the level of suffering by people with disabilities and the activity (or lack thereof) by the disability community.
I was blessed to have a wonderful holiday last week, as one who was raised in New England, Thanksgiving has always been a holiday I enjoy. Well, at least I blame it on that because it sounds better than just saying I love any day that revolves around food.
Last weekend I spent the day with up and coming leaders in Greeley. This is part of a leadership training put on by my friend Menda Warne, the director of Access and Ability, a disability friendly case management and advocacy organization serving Weld County. Most of the participants were parents of younger children and a few young people with disabilities.
The United States was formed when the leaders of the 13 colonies of Great Britain rejected the oppression of colonization and the demands by King George in 1776. The declaration of independence is one of the most important documents in our culture. It outlines what we as American’s see as absolute rights—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It also requires us as citizens to take down any form of government that becomes oppressive: The declaration reads in part as follows:
City and County of Denver
Mayor John W. Hickenlooper
Office of Communications
Communications Director Ann Williams
C. 303.880.0597
ann.williams@denvergov.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mayor Hickenlooper statement on death
of community activist Laura Hershey
DENVER, CO — Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 — Mayor John Hickenlooper issued this statement today on the death of Laura Hershey, a community activist who championed rights for the disabled and other social justice issues.
Dear CCDC Members:
This has been one of the more difficult posts I have had to do - The disability community has lost one of our most valuable members—Laura Hershey (www.laurahershey.com) passed away last night. Laura is the woman who invented the concept of DISABILITY PRIDE. For those of you not lucky enough to have known Laura her poetry, writing and other work will live on forever. In addition to her website listed here she also has www.cripcommentary.com
Here is a link to the video of the Colorado Attorney General Candidate Discussion:
http://advocacydenver.org/news-events/webinars/webinar-archives/attorney...
You can find out more about the Colorado Attorney General Candidates by visiting Google News at:
http://news.google.com/
