Obama Plan Would Empower People with
Disabilities
By Brenda Brown-Grooms
During the 23-month primary and election
campaigns, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joseph Biden
were among the two strongest and most consistent respondents to questions from
the disability community concerning their stands on what the U.S. government
should maintain and put in place to better serve the roughly 54 million
Americans (1in 6) with disabilities. Since the election, the two have published
a position paper (www.barackobama.com) that both outlines the problem, as they
perceive it, and proposes what their administration will do about it.
According to the position paper, since
Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, "Americans
with disabilities still do not have an equal opportunity to fulfill the
American Dream. In 2006, working-age Americans with disabilities were almost
three times more likely to live below the poverty line than those without
disabilities. While the average annual household income of individuals in the
United States without disabilities was $65,400 in 2006, the average annual
household income for people with disabilities was $36,300 (a difference of
$29,100). And the employment rate for persons with disabilities in 2006 was at
least 40 points lower than the employment rate of working-age individuals
without disabilities. These dismal statistics offer evidence of severe
shortcomings in our country's efforts to break down the barriers that exclude
people with disabilities and deprive them of true equality of opportunity and
independence."
Obama and Biden say that the United States
should show the rest of the world how a compassionate, civilized country
"empowers people with disabilities (PWD) to take full advantage of their
talents and become independent, integrated members of society." To that end,
they have both pledged to have the U.S. sign the United Nations Convention of
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty approved
by the U.N. in the 21st century. The treaty is seen as foundational to
respecting the rights of PWD worldwide.
In keeping with their campaign pledges,
Obama and Biden have outlined a four-part plan to provide Americans with
disabilities "the greatest possible access to the same opportunities as those
without disabilities." The plan includes 1) educational opportunities, 2)
increased vigilance to end discrimination and promote equal opportunity, 3)
increased employment of workers with disabilities, and 4) support of
independent, community-based living for those with disabilities.
Educational Opportunities The
pledge to provide increased educational opportunities for Americans with
disabilities rests on fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA). Although Congress has pledged to ante up 40% of each state's
"excess cost" of educating children with disabilities, the federal government
has never kept its promise to do so beyond 17% of that cost. Not only do Obama
and Biden promise to fully fund IDEA, they also say they will ensure "effective
implementation and enforcement of the act."
The president-elect and vice
president-elect have pledged to invest $10 billion per year in early
intervention educational and developmental programs for children with
disabilities age 5 and under. The plan will expand Early Head Start and include
Early Learning Challenge Grants. Implementation will include integrating IDEA
Part C with otherThe incoming administration supports vocational rehabilitation
programs for students with disabilities who graduate from high school to help
them face the unique challenges that may prevent them from going to college or
getting a job, such as obtaining funding. early childhood programs.
Because fewer than half of the states
screen all infants for the American College of Medical Genetics' full
recommended panel of 29 disorders, and so many of those conditions, if caught
early, can be treated before they result in permanent impairments or even
death, the Obama administration supports universal screening. In addition, it
supports rescreening for all 2-year-olds, the age at which some conditions,
including autism spectrum disorders, begin to appear. The aim is to coordinate
fragmented community programs "to help provide parents with information about
screening for disabilities as infants and again as 2-year-olds."
The incoming administration supports
vocational rehabilitation programs for students with disabilities who graduate
from high school to help them face the unique challenges that may prevent them
from going to college or getting a job, such as obtaining funding.
Obama and Biden want to improve college
opportunities for high school graduates with disabilities, make college more
affordable, strengthen community colleges and begin a comprehensive study of
students with disabilities who make the transition to work and higher
education.
Vigilance to End Discrimination To
end discrimination of the disabled and promote equal opportunity, the new
administration proposes to 1) restore the Americans with Disabilities Act, 2)
appoint judges and justices who respect laws designed to protect people with
disabilities, 3) increase funding for enforcement, 4) support the Genetic
Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits discrimination "on
the basis of genetic information by employers and health insurers" and the
disclosure of genetic information, 5) guarantee health care coverage and 6)
improve mental health care.
Obama supports the ADA Restoration Act --
championed by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa -- that seeks to overturn recent
Supreme Court decisions that limited the ADA's coverage and effectiveness. The
president-elect has promised to sign the bill into law.
Obama and Biden have promised to "fully
fund and increase staffing" for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) and the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs (OFCCP) "to reduce charge backlogs and to prosecute efforts to remedy
systemic discrimination." In addition, Obama will appoint a chairperson of the
EEOC and nominate commissioners "who are committed to enforcing
anti-discrimination laws."
Concerning health care, the new
administration is proposing a plan to: 1) provide a subsidy to help people with
disabilities who lose their Medicare or Medicaid coverage to purchase new
coverage, 2) prevent insurers from denying coverage on the basis of
pre-existing conditions and 3) offer coverage for serious mental illnesses on
the same terms and conditions as other illnesses and diseases. In addition, the
president-elect has promised that veterans will have mental health care during
recruitment, deployment and re-entry into civilian life.
Increased Employment of PWD
Obama and Biden note that the federal government is the United States' largest
employer and, as such, "it must recruit, hire, retain and advance workers with
disabilities." To achieve this end, Obama will reinstate Executive Order 13173
(issued but not fulfilled by President Bill Clinton before he left office),
mandating the hiring of 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five
years; designate a senior White Office official to assure that all federal
departments and agencies meet the mandate; and make sure that "all electronic
and information technologies employed by the federal government are fully
accessible to federal employees and members of the general public with
disabilities, as required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act."
To assure the enforcement of affirmative
action in employment for adults with disabilities, Obama "will direct all of
his department and agency heads to bring their agencies into full compliance
with all aspects of the Rehabilitation Act and adopt regulations (that) assure
that result. "
Obama and Biden have said that they "will
launch an aggressive effort" to educate employers about tax benefits that
accrue to those who hire more PWD. They have also said that they will establish
a National Commission on People with Disabilities, Employment and Social
Security, which will include presidential and congressional appointees, the
commissioner of the Social Security Administration and the secretaries of the
U.S. Labor Department and federal Department of Health and Human Services as
ex-officio members.
Their mandate will be to:
- Examine and propose solutions to work disincentives in
the SSDI, SSI, Medicare and Medicaid programs.
- Revisit the Ticket to Work Act.
- Look for opportunities to improve the relationships
between DDSI and the SSI programs and the Workforce investment and vocational
rehabilitation systems.
- Examine the SSDI and SSI benefits levels in view of
available work opportunities for PWD who are of working age.
- Redefine the "substantial gainful activity" level in
the SSDI program and "whether it should indexed to average hourly wages or some
other measure."
- Study programs that help young people obtain work
rather than join the SSI rolls.
In addition, Obama and Biden will seek to support small
businesses owned by PWD and grant workers with disabilities and family
caregivers the flexibility at work they need. They hope to accomplish the
latter by expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act, encouraging states to
adopt paid leave, mandating a reasonable amount of paid sick leave and
protecting against caregiver discrimination.
In addition, Obama and Biden will seek to support small
businesses owned by PWD and grant workers with disabilities and family
caregivers the flexibility at work they need. They hope to accomplish the
latter by expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act, encouraging states to
adopt paid leave, mandating a reasonable amount of paid sick leave and
protecting against caregiver discrimination.
Support of Independent, Community-Based Living
Obama and Biden pledge to develop incentives for states to provide PWD the
ability to choose the most appropriate care for their individual needs. The
incentives include additional grants for new communities and community
expansions.
The Community Choice Act and direct care workers will be a
priority in the new administration. This means that community direct care
services must be expanded, pay and benefits increased and more flexibility
extended to direct care workers.
Obama and Biden support the Community Living Assistance
Services and Supports (CLASS) Act so as to "create a voluntary, budget-neutral
national insurance program to help adults who have or develop functional
disabilities to remain independent and in their communities."
They agree that the Social Security approval process must
be streamlined and that more staff and technology are needed to expedite final
decisions. They say that the voting rights of Americans with disabilities must
be protected and voting must be accessible for the elderly and handicapped.
Obama strenuously opposes voter ID laws requiring mandatory photo
identification at polling places because, he said, it has the effect of
"disproportionately disenfranchising Americans with disabilities, more than 3
million of whom lack a government-issued form of identification."
Amending the Medicare "homebound" rule, investing in
assistive technologies, protecting the safety of individuals with special
needs, supporting Americans with autism spectrum disorders and strengthening
Veterans Administration specialty care are all issues on the Obama agenda.
Brenda Brown-Grooms is an independent living
coordinator with the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center in Roanoke,
Va. |
