[Nfbf-l] {Disarmed} Fw: UCP Washington Wire: Week of Monday, June 13

[Carlos J MontasAS]

UCP Washington Wire: Week of Monday, June 13    
----- Original Message ----- 
From: United Cerebral Palsy 
To: carlos.montas at gmail.com 
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:03 AM
Subject: UCP Washington Wire: Week of Monday, June 13



  UCP Washington Wire
   

  June 14, 2011
   
  Greetings! Below are the latest updates from the Hill this past week.

  CURRENT NEWS AND UPDATES
   
  Senators Cardin, Schumer, and Brown Hold News Teleconference on Medicare
  On Monday, June 6, Senators Cardin, Schumer, and Sherrod Brown held a news teleconference that briefed participants on Medicare. The Senators agreed that the plan to end Medicare should be removed from budget discussions with Vice President Biden and discussed the problems that would arise should Medicare be privatized or turned into a block grant.
   
  Some Senate Members Signal Opposition to Medicaid Overhaul
  Last week, Senate Democrats announced that they have enough votes to block the effort to overhaul Medicaid. 41 Democratic members signed a letter to President Obama that opposes radical changes to Medicaid. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll that says 60 percent of Americans want Medicaid to stay the same, while 13 percent favor major cuts to the program as part of efforts to reduce federal spending.
   
  Affordable Care Act (ACA) Funds $40 million for statewide chronic disease prevention programs
  On Tuesday, June 7th, HHS announced that $40 million had become available to strengthen and better coordinate activities within the state and territorial health departments aimed at preventing chronic diseases. The goal of these funds is to help prevent the nation's five leading disease-related causes of death and disability: arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. This announcement coincides with the roll-out of June Prevention and Wellness Month, mentioned in last week's Washington Wire. To view the full article, please click here.

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Community Health Center Grant Opportunity
  On Monday, June 6th, Medicare officials announced a demonstration project that will give $42 million in grants over three years to 500 community centers to help coordinate patient care. To be eligible, Federally Qualified Health Centers must have provided primary medical services to at least 200 Medicare beneficiaries (including dual-eligibles) in the past year. Those centers that participate must adopt electronic health record systems and help patients manage chronic conditions. The application is due August 12, 2012. For more information on the demonstration, please click here.

  Details about the demonstration and the application process can be found on the CMS web site at: www.cms.gov/DemoProjectsEvalRpts/MD/  and linking to the demonstration web page or by visiting the CMS Innovation Center website at http://innovations.cms.gov/


  Community Based Care Transition Program
  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting applications for participation in the Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP). The CCTP is mandated by the Affordable Care Act and provides funding to test models for improving care transitions for high risk Medicare beneficiaries. The goals of the CCTP are to improve transitions of beneficiaries from the inpatient hospital setting to other care settings, to improve quality of care, to reduce readmissions for high risk beneficiaries and to document measureable savings to the Medicare program. The CCTP is part of Partnership for Patients, a national patient safety initiative through which the Administration is supporting broad-based efforts to reduce harm caused to patients in hospitals and improve care transitions. The program will run for five years beginning April 12, 2011; however, applicants will be awarded 2-year agreements that may be extended on an annual basis for the remaining three years based on performance. For more information click here.
   
   
  STATE CHECK-UP
   
  New York and Its State Health Institutions 
  This story from the New York Times tells a harrowing tale of a 13 year-old-boy with autism and how he lost his life at O.D. Heck, a large state-run, New York institution that houses people who are developmentally disabled, who have cerebral palsy, autism, down syndrome, and other conditions. Click here to read the full story.

  New York State and the First Federal Court Case to Address a Student with Disabilities and Bullying
  In T.K. v. New York City Department of Education, one of the first federal court cases to address the issue, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that “an effective and appropriate education may be negated by child bullying.” In a lengthy decision that outlines the history and effects of bullying, the court reached the conclusion that “[b]ullying and inappropriate peer harassment in its many forms provides an unacceptable toxic learning environment.” Therefore, the court found that a parent may maintain a claim under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) based on child bullying. The court explained that the applicable standard under IDEA is whether school personnel were deliberately indifferent to, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent bullying that substantially restricted a child with disabilities in her educational opportunities. The court applied this standard and determined that schools are required to investigate bullying reports. If bullying did occur, then the school must take appropriate steps to prevent it in the future. This case illustrates yet another legal avenue for parents to pursue bullying complaints and highlights the importance of taking action when bullying is reported. (Smith. Jennifer, A. 7 June, 2011. http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6ad4cf37-8354-47f5-b784-60ef352f9e94.)
   
   
  ON THE HORIZON

  U.S. Department of Education Open Meeting
  The Department of Education Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities will hold an open meeting via conference call. The call will take place on June 24, 2011 from 1-5 pm EST. To login via internet webinar, please click here on the date and time of the call. For more information about login, please view the Commission's public listerv here.

  For more information, contact Elizabeth Shook at the Office of Special Education andRehabilitative Services at the United States Department of Education (202) 245-7642. 
   
  Thank you, and have a great week!
   
  For more information on this UCP Washington Wire contact: Connie Garner, CGarner at ucp.org.
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