[nagdu] new law in CT?

Wed Apr 29 14:15:55 UTC 2015

 This article doesn't make any sense. There is no charge for guide dogs. I handler is asked to make a donation if it is possible but if not it will be waived. Why would she have even contacted her health insurance company. The person she spoke with obviously had no knowledge at all about God dogs. 

JODY 🐺
thunderwalker321 at gmail.com

"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."  DOCTOR WHO (Tom Baker)

> On Apr 29, 2015, at 10:03 AM, Julie J. via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Kaye,
> 
> As I understood the article, it was a state law, not a health department, that made this law.  I also don't see how this has anything to do with the ADA.  The ADA only speaks about using a reasonable accomodation, a guide dog, in public settings or in employment.  There is nothing in the ADA that says anything about aquiring disability related needs.  I'm not saying that health insurance to pay for a guide dog is a good idea, just that I don't think it's against federal law for a state to do so.  And as with other health insurance situations, a person is always free to pay for the service out of pocket.
> 
> Julie
> Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now available! Get the book here:
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
> -----Original Message----- From: Kaye Kipp via nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:56 AM
> To: 'Julie J.' ; 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] new law in CT?
> 
> I don't know anything about Connecticut, but that goes against the ADA, and I thing the White Cane Law.  At any rate, I don't see how a health department has the authority to make such a policy.
> 
> Kaye
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J. via nagdu
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 5:01 AM
> To: the National Association of Guide Dog Users NAGDU Mailing List
> Subject: [nagdu] new law in CT?
> 
> A friend just sent me the below, which he saw on Facebook.  He is not a guide dog user, but was skeptical about the validity of the article.  I do remember hearing something about a law in Connecticut, but can’t remember the details.  Does anyone know anything about this?  Here’s the Facebook post:
> 
> *in Stamford, Connecticut – Yesterday, Sarah Kennedy, 27, of Stamford, learned that her request for a guide dog was denied by her health insurance provider, which will remain unnamed. Kennedy, who is totally blind, works as a part-time massage therapist and is a full-time mother to her two-year-old daughter Peyton.
> 
> She needs to retire her current guide dog, Nugget, so she applied for a new guide dog. “I need a guide dog to continue going to work,” she says. “Two nights per week, my husband comes home, and I go work a few hours. I like my job and want to stay fresh.”
> 
> Kennedy doesn’t only use her guide dog to go to work. She goes grocery shopping, runs errands, and even takes her daughter Peyton to the park during the day just like other moms.
> 
> It used to be that guide dogs came at little to no cost to their handlers, and no doctor or health insurance company had to approve people to get one. “I would just pay for the dog myself, but I don’t have that kind of money,” says Kennedy.
> 
> What might even be the most surprising is the reason she was denied. “The health insurance company said I couldn’t have a new guide dog because it might be a threat to my daughter. It’s a guide dog, not some stray animal.” In fact, guide dog schools spend tens of thousands of dollars training dogs, which is what makes them so expensive, and dogs that pose any threat of aggression are removed from the program. “Health insurance companies just don’t understand guide dogs and shouldn’t decline a request that they don’t understand.”
> 
> While some may say this sounds illegal, it is all thanks to Senate Bill 234, a bill passed by the Connecticut General Assembly on the same day her daughter was born. Blind people in Connecticut used to be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to get a guide dog. Guide dogs were funded by philanthropic donations, but, after guide dogs became funded by health insurance, the donors disappeared.
> 
> Kennedy is stuck. She is considering starting an organization for blind people in Connecticut to advocate for themselves and dreams of the day when the guide dog system returns to the good old days.
> 2 hrs · Public*
> 
> 
> 
> Any info on this would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Julie
> 
> 
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