Coverage expands for people with disabilities

(Washington D.C.) — The Justice for All Action Network (JFAAN), a coalition of disability-led organizations and allies, applauds health care legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Passed Saturday in a House vote, the legislation increases the number of people with disabilities covered by health care and increases service options for people with disabilities.

Key points of the legislation supported by JFAAN include: expanding coverage to millions of people currently uninsured; a provision that makes it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage based upon pre-existing conditions; and the inclusion of the CLASS ACT and the Community First Choice Option (CFC).

“People with disabilities have much at stake as health care reform gets one step closer to passage,” said Andrew Imparato, President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. “A good barometer of the new system that emerges from health reform will be the extent to which it works well for people when they need it the most–whether people with disabilities and chronic health conditions can obtain acute care and long-term services and supports without incurring financial hardship or being forced into a nursing home or other institution.”

Under the current system of health care, people with disabilities have no legal protection if they are denied coverage based upon their disability. “With this bill, people with disabilities who have been denied because of pre-existing conditions will have a legal right to coverage,” said Gary Arnold of Little People of America.

Additionally, the long-term care system currently denies the right of people with disabilities to receive services in the most integrated setting, a right recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 1999 Olmstead Supreme Court Ruling. Thousands of people in the United States are forced into nursing homes because supports, like personal assistant services, can only be accessed in institutions. The Justice for All Action Network has advocated to include the CLASS Act and the CFC, which expand optional home and community services, in new healthcare legislation. “The House vote is a good first step as we approach the 20th Anniversary of the ADA. We challenge Congress to finalize a bill that recognizes the civil right of people with disabilities to access to services in their homes,” said Bruce Darling of ADAPT, a grassroots disability rights group.

Healthcare Reform is a key component of 12-point JFAAN Joint Campaign Agenda the coalition has developed that addresses major policy issues of people with intellectual, physical and psychiatric disabilities. Throughout the healthcare debate, JFAAN members have, through outreach, direct action, and negotiation, advocated for health care legislation that includes more long term care choices for people with disabilities.

Created in an effort to build a strong and unified cross-disability movement, the Justice for All Action Network is organized into a steering committee of 13 national consumer-led disability organizations and more than 20 organizational and individual members. The group was formed in the wake of the 2008 Presidential Election.

About the Justice for All Action Network

Mission: The Justice for All Action Network is a national cross-disability coalition, led by disability groups run by persons with disabilities with support from allies, committed to building a strong and unified cross-disability movement so that individuals with disabilities have the power to shape national policies, politics, media, and culture.

Working as a coalition, JFAAN is committed to accomplishing each item on the coalition’s agenda by July 2010, the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Steering Committee Members: ADAPT, American Association of People with Disabilities, American Council of the Blind, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Hearing Loss Association of America, Little People of America, National Association for the Deaf, National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer Survivor Organizations, National Council on Independent Living, National Federation of the Blind, Not Dead Yet, Self Advocates Becoming Empowered, United Spinal Association.

For more information, contact:

Andy Imparato, American Association of People with Disabilities, 202 521-4301, AImparato@aapd.com;

Kelly Buckland, National Council on Independent Living, 202-207-0334, kelly@ncil.org.