[Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
Gene Coulter
escoulter at centurytel.net
Thu Mar 22 18:03:00 UTC 2012
Technically, they could qualify but I doubt any family making over $100,000
can get on. This may, in fact, have happened.While there is no income test
there is a resource test and it is likely that this kind of family has I.R.A’s,
401K’s, savings, investments, a car or two, and other things that would put
them over the threshold. It is the couple’s resources that are counted.
Personally I don’t have any objection to some kind of means test perhaps
involving the payment of premiums for upper income Blind Pension recipients
for the medical coverage. As for the monthly grant the only means test is
the resource limit which eliminates people like state supreme court
justices.
Gene
From: Bryan Schulz
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 11:55 PM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
hi,
thank you for that explanation.
Say a blind married person makes at least $50 or 60k per year and the
sighted spouse receives, say $40 or 50k per year.
can you give some reason as to why the person in this case is allowed to
qualify for blind pension?
Bryan Schulz
----- Original Message -----
From: Gene Coulter
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 11:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
The statue you all are refering to actually talks about sighted parent or
spouse. If a blind person has a sighted spouse or parent or spouse who
can
support the blind person they are not eligible for the pension.
The reality is that if a blind person is single and lives with a sighted
parent or married to a sighted person they are given a form to have the
sighted person fill out, called Statement of Sighted Parent or spouse
Support, with about a dozen questions to be completed. In practice it
doesn’t
matter how the person completes the form except the last two questions.
The
second to the last question asks something like do you provide support for
this blind person?
And, the last question is to the effect of if you do not provide support
why not.
If your spouse or parent answer the second to the last question “yes” you
will not receive BP and will loose the hearing.
And if you don’t answer the last question or put a poor reason like “I
don’t
feel like supporting him” you will also b denied. Generally just writing
something like “He is responsible for his own bills” is good enough. Also
if
you write anything like I help him out or contribute a little money to
help
him out that will also result in denial.
Hope this clears it up
Gene
From: Bryan Schulz
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 9:23 PM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
hi,
are you sure about that?
that line is in the statute and there is one case with that exact
situation
several people are aware of and both have significant income.
Bryan Schulz
----- Original Message -----
From: Debbie Wunder
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 8:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
Yes, I think you are right, it was very good! The only real thing I saw
wrong was that the blind person could not have a sighted working spouse.
Debbie
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gene Coulter" <escoulter at centurytel.net>
To: "NFB of Missouri Mailing List" <nfbmo at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 7:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
>I really like this article = we need more like it.
>
>
> From: Gary Wunder
> Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 6:52 PM
> To: nfbmo list
> Subject: [Nfbmo] KC Star Weighs in
>
> I was interviewed briefly this morning. I think this reporter
understands
> that the House leadership has not fully disclosed both what they know
and
> what they don't care to know.
>
> Gary
>
> s ago Missouri House budget is cruel and deceptive
> Barb Shelly Barb Shelly
> The Kansas City Star
> Republicans in the Missouri House should be utterly ashamed of the
budget
> they passed late Tuesday, and the process they used to get there.
> The $24 billion spending plan, which requires a final House vote
before
> going to the Senate, strips $28 million from a health care program
used
by
> 2,800 blind Missourians whose income is too high to meet the state's
very
> low threshold for Medicaid coverage.
> The House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Republican Ryan Silvey
of
> Kansas City, North, ended the decades-long health care program without
> giving recipients the courtesy of a hearing, or bothering to find out
who
> these people are and why they need health care. Instead, defenders of
the
> atrocious move throw out red herrings.
> In theory, someone could have a job with a high salary and still
qualify
> for
> the health care program, they say. In theory, that's sort of right.
All
> the
> state requires is that recipients' assets don't exceed $20,000, and
that
> they don't have spouses who are sighted and work.
> In reality, though, a blind person with a good-paying job and health
> benefits almost certainly isn't drawing from the state health-care
> program.
> The state requires that private insurance be used as the primary
source
of
> care.
> And most of the 2,800 recipients aren't so lucky. Missouri's blind
> population has a 70 percent unemployment rate. Its health care needs
are
> expensive and acute. Many of the people on the state's health care
plan
> for
> the blind have diabetes. Some need dialysis or expensive organ
> anti-rejection medication. Many need medication for glaucoma.
> They are in dire need of regular medical care and their chances of
being
> ensured on the individual market with these expensive pre-existing
> conditions are just about zero. Ironically, the same GOP lawmakers who
> want
> to throw blind Missourians over the cliff are the same ones who
> ceaselessly
> oppose "Obamacare," which is the best hope for people with low incomes
> and/or pre-existing conditions to gain affordable, market-based health
> care.
> Should the unbelievable occur and the 2,800 blind recipients actually
lose
> their health care, many would likely find their way to Missouri's
> high-risk
> insurance pool, meaning the state would continue to fund their health
> care,
> but through another channel.
> Here's another red herring the Republicans are using: It's unfair to
give
> the blind a health-care benefit that people with other disabilities
don't
> get.
> People with disabilities would be the first to tell you that they are
a
> diverse community, and cannot be lumped into one basket. And the state
> responds to their needs in different ways. The developmentally
disabled
> and
> severely physically disabled are eligible for Medicaid waivers and
> services,
> for instance.
> I would challenge Silvey, or House Speaker Steve Tilley or any
Republican
> to
> tell us who exactly are "the disabled," and explain why it's OK to cut
off
> aid for people with one incapacitating disability because everyone
with
> disabilities isn't receiving the same thing.
> Silvey says it's necessary to cut aid to the blind because he refuses
to
> cut
> any more money from the state's colleges and universities, as Gov. Jay
> Nixon's budget recommends. But neither he nor any of the House GOP
leaders
> have mentioned the obvious: That if you're taking health care from the
> blind
> to fund universities, it's time to look for new sources of revenue.
> GOP leaders have in common with the Missourians they would cast into
the
> cold a lack of vision. The difference is that theirs stems from the
head
> and
> heart.
>
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