Stop Repeal of the CLASS Act

Stop Repeal of the CLASS Act

On Wednesday, January 25, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on HR 1173, which is euphemistically entitled the “Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011.”  This bill would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act.  The CLASS Act was designed to be a voluntary insurance program to help Americans pay for long term care, and it was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Please CLICK HERE to find the phone number for your Member of the House of Representatives and tell her/him:

1. The CLASS Act should not be repealed.
2. Repealing CLASS ignores the needs of millions of Americans with disabilities and seniors who need long term services and supports to maintain their independence and dignity.
3. Repealing CLASS ignores the needs of the direct care workforce for quality jobs.

Then, let us know you've made the call!

Caring Across Generations: Post from New CAG Intern Josh Edwards

Jill's Story

by Josh Edwards

Jill’s admittance to the hospital was preceded by a diagnosis of a decubitus ulcer, which is damage caused by pressure or friction, on her lumbar spine. Jill is a 17 year-old girl who has suffered from Myelodysplasia (spina bifida) since birth. Beth is an occupational therapist who has worked with Jill’s insurance to assist her in getting a much needed new mattress that will supply continuous airflow. Jill currently uses a standard mattress with a gel overlay. The mattress is estimated to be 10 years old, while the gel overlay, over years of use, has succumbed to an unsupportive split down the middle offering Jill negligible support.

Beth, along with a mattress representative from a company dealing exclusively with supportive equipment for spinal conditions, has requested from Medicare a new mattress––the one that supplies continuous airflow. Medicare refused to cover the $9,000 expense to supply Jill with an indispensable medical need, but offered to rent the mattress for one month. After refusing to accept Medicare’s offer, Beth and the mattress representative along with Jill’s physician wrote a compelling letter detailing Jill’s condition, her current sleeping arrangement, and the need for this equipment to avert additional bed sores.

Within a short time, Medicare revised their decision, allowing a rental mattress for two months instead of just one, rather than spend $9,000 for years of quality use. Why? The reason they cited was a mattress of this sophistication cannot be resold. Per Medicare’s policy, a standard mattress can be bought and resold every five years under their coverage policy, but because Jill would require a specialized mattress, Medicare will not approve purchase.  

People with spinal cord injuries like Jill’s cannot feel the damage being done, while a person without such an injury could simply adjust their posture. Consequently, after Jill has surgery to repair the skin, she will be bed-ridden with spotty support for several weeks, unaware if any movements she makes could be damaging her skin. Yet Medicare holds firm in their decision not to cover the cost of the mattress for Jill.

Through my internship for the Caring Across Generations campaign, I am starting to learn more about the improvements we need to make to our health care system. Like Jill, many individuals with disabilities are unable to receive the care they need – whether that’s in the form of hours of home care, or specialized equipment that would significantly improve quality of life. I look forward to sharing more blogs in the future as I learn more about the state of healthcare in America.

Caring Across Generations: Why every generation should care

by Susie Robertson

When issues like Medicare and Medicaid come up in political conversations, people in my age group (20-30) tend to ignore them. After all, I’m young and healthy, so how do Medicare and Medicaid affect me anytime in the near future? The truth is that we will have to deal with these programs earlier in our lives that most people think. In the past few years, I have seen my grandparents age and I have watched my parents work to ensure they receive quality healthcare and assistance for all of their needs. What has become clear is that the management of those services often falls into the hand of their adult family members. These programs will affect me and my peers as early as our 30’s or 40’s. That is why it is important for our age group to pay attention to these issues and work to ensure that our country has a social safety net large enough and comprehensive enough to offer quality healthcare and assistance to our seniors and disabled at an affordable price. That is why we should all lend our support to projects like Caring Across Generations, which focus on making essential care available to all seniors and disabled.

The Caring Across Generations campaign seeks to improve the care of elderly and disabled by focusing not only on contributory programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security but also by reaching out to the direct-care work force itself. The direct-care work force, which includes Nursing Assistants, home health aides, and personal care aides, is rarely considered in discussions on healthcare reform and is exempt from many labor regulations, which is made possible by exploitive measures like the companionship exemption law. If we can improve the job quality and standard of living of direct-care workers while providing monetary support for individuals in need of caregivers, then we can create a better system of care for our elderly and disabled. Please take the time to visit the Caring Across Generations webpage to read more about the issues at hand and hear stories about what it is like to be elderly or disabled in America.

On behalf of the leadership team of the Caring Across Generations Campaign, I am excited to invite you all to an action on December 7^th down in Lower Senate Park.  Don't miss this important event, where our Everyday Superheros will speak out in front of thousands of people who will be spending the night camped out in the "Take Back Our Capital People's Encampment". Get more information and register here: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6748/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=46005

Press Conference this Thursday- Bring your Kids!

Calling on youth in the Washington DC area!
Help carry the voices of thousands of young people to Congress and the White House!

Dear Friends in the DC Area-

We are inviting you—and the young people in your life—to participate in a powerful and historic moment! On Thursday, December 8 we will deliver over 5,000 letters to the White House and members of Congress, written by children all around the country. These letters express one united wish: an end to detentions and deportations so that all families can stay together.

The delivery of these letters represents the culmination of a campaign called A Wish for the Holidays. Over the past month, children and youth have learned about the issues, written their own stories of how deportations have affected them, and spoken out about the devastating impact immigration enforcement has on children and families.

Can you help us deliver these letters? We are forming a delegation of children, youth, parents and advocates. We are looking for youth of all ages to participate, both those who have personal experience with family separation and others who simply think that family separation must end. This is an amazing opportunity for a small group of children to carry forward the voices and wishes of thousands of others. Please join us!

Where: Capitol Hill
When: Thursday, December 8
Time: 10:30am – 2:30pm
What: We will start with a short planning session, then a press conference at 11:30, and will then divide into smaller groups to deliver letters to members of Congress. We will end with a debrief and have lunch together. The activities of the day will wrap up around 2:30pm
Details: Spanish-English interpretation, snacks, and lunch will be provided. Please let us know if you have other logistical needs that would enable your participation.

How: If you would like to participate, please contact Lisa Moore, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>, 415-640-4073.

Thank you for helping us to deliver this powerful wish! We hope you can join us!

A Wish for the Holidays is a project of We Belong Together, a collaboration of women’s and immigrant rights groups dedicated to highlighting the impact of immigration enforcement on women and children. Go to www.WeBelongTogether.org/wish<http://www.WeBelongTogether.org/wish> for more information.

We Belong Together: One Month Later, What Next?

By Celia Garcia Perez, Domestic workers health Center Advocacy Intern

A little over a month ago Break the Chain traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to hear the testimony of immigrant women and children who are affected by the anti-immigrant climate in the U.S.  Tiffany Williams, Advocacy Director for BTCC, was one of the delegates for the We Belong Together Campaign.  This campaign is a response to SB 1070 in Arizona, HB 87 in Georgia and HB56 in Alabama.  Here is the story of one woman whose reality reads like a terrible nightmare.

Claudia came to the US in 2006 when her husband brought her here from Honduras. He came first then sent for her to join him. Soon after she arrived her husband became very violent.

He told her that her status would be used against her. He would beat her on a weekly basis and she never called for help because she was afraid of the police. One day she went with her husband to get documentation for her son and was caught by the authorities. She was immediately deported. Her husband kept her son. He told her that he would send her son back to Honduras but he never did. She had no contact with her son for over a year. Claudia eventually made it back to the US, to be with her child and family. They were living together again and her husband was still beating her regularly. The scar on her face is a result of his violence. She had a job but couldn’t drive so a friend from work would drive her. Her husband assaulted the friend with a knife. Her husband has also chased her and her son with a knife. A neighbor called the police and her husband was arrested but was released. Soon after he got home he called the police and told them that Claudia was harassing him. The police came to the house and asked for her name. She was scared so did not tell them but was still handcuffed and taken to jail. When they arrested her there was nowhere else for her son to go.

 Claudia is one of the millions of courageous yet undocumented women who are in the U.S. stuck in legal limbo.  Because of the very real fear of deportation, they effectively have no protection against physical violence, family separation, or criminalization.

As an intern, an advocate, and a daughter of a first generation Mexican American father, this struggle is very personal to me.  Maybe it’s also because I have a cousin named Claudia who lives in Michoacan, Mexico, who has to struggle with raising her own child amidst poverty and corruption. It does not seem just that I am entitled to education, healthcare, freedom from bodily injury, a public voice- in short, access to all of the human rights that U.S. citizens are afforded- when so many others are not. 

I wanted to know what I could do about these everyday injustices.  The We Belong Together Campaign has some answers.

• Support for Delmy Palencia- Ms. Palencia was another one of the delegates. She is a mother and leader of the Congress of Day Laborers in New Orleans. You may have heard her story about being detained and separated from her nursing infant for 45 days. She is currently fighting a battle against deportation proceedings and urgently needs your support. Please join the effort to oppose her deporation!

• A Wish for The Holidays Letter Campaign- The We Belong Together Campaign has launched a "Wish for the Holidays" letter writing campain to gather 5,000 letters from children and youth in support of immigrant rights. We want them to talk about why being together with family over the holidays is important to them. This will call attention to the negative effects of deportation and family separation. The plan is to deliver these letters to decision makers in DC in time for International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2011.  We need your support in helping to gather these letters!



We need your support in helping us gather these letters!