In a follow- up to a 60 Minutes report on disability benefits recipients who are allegedly “gaming the system,” LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik takes the major broadcast organization to task for what he calls “ghastly” reporting. Hiltzik writes:
“Is it possible for a major news organization to produce a story about the Social Security disability program without interviewing a single disabled person or disability advocate?”
Hiltzik claims the 60 Minutes piece relies too heavily on U.S. Senator Tom Coburn’s word, especially since Coburn has been documented as “hostile” to the Social Security system. Hiltzik also claims the numbers are exaggerated and not given the right context. Read more.
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is heading up a Senate investigation of the nation’s disability benefits system and says the fund is due to dry up in the next two to three years. In a 60 Minutes report, the fund serves about 12 million people, up 20 percent in the last six years. Coburn claimed that a third of people on the disability rolls are “gaming the system.” Read more.
Southwest Airlines officials have announced they plan to celebrate the 2013 National Disability Employment Awareness Month theme of “Because We Are EQUAL to the Task.” The Southwest Airlines Diversity Council is hosting an event Oct. 17 at company headquarters. Employees are invited to hear personal stories from colleagues and discuss Southwest’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Read more.
Held each October since 1945, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is coordinated by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). The theme for 2013 is “Because we are EQUAL to the task.”
President Barack Obama issued a proclamation announcing NDEAM, reading in part:
“Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we have made great progress in removing barriers for hardworking Americans. Yet today, only 20 percent of Americans with disabilities, including veterans who became disabled while serving our country, participate in our labor force.”
Actors with disabilities are often passed over for lead roles, even when the character actually has a disability, according to this Code Switch blog from NPR.
Frustrated actors and other players in the industry complain this is a major Catch-22, keeping them out of jobs and, as a result, keeping an honest portrayal of people with disabilities from audiences. Take, for example, the new remake of “Ironside” which premiered this week on NBC. In both the 1960s version starring Raymond Burr and the modern version with Blair Underwood, the lead is a paraplegic detective. Also in both versions, neither Burr nor Underwood were/are disabled. Read more.
The Department of Veterans Affairs warns the longer the federal shutdown drags on, the more its progress on the backlog of veteran disability claims is hampered. According to this report from the Washington Post, the VA warned Tuesday evening that it can no longer pay overtime to claims processors, an initiative officials credit with decreasing the backlog by 30 percent in the last six months.
In a statement, the VA said, “Due to the government shutdown, this clear progress for veterans and their families is at risk without immediate action by Congress to make fiscal year 2014 funding available.” Read more.
The first U.S. government shutdown in more than 17 years will shutter some programs benefiting people with disabilities. Read more from Disability Scoop on which programs will continue and which will grind to halt, including Social Security, housing and research.
Veterans groups are concerned a prolonged government shutdown in Washington could disrupt disability benefits and pension payments. Although the Department of Veterans Affairs has exempted its claims processors from the shutdown in order to deal with the large backlog, the VA confirmed the department will run out of funding by the end of October if a resolution is not passed, according to the Washington Post.
An official with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization said losing the payments would have a devastating impact on severely wounded and disabled veterans whose livelihoods depend on VA benefits.
Despite assurances from federal officials that the Affordable Care Act classifies mental health care as an essential benefit, the underlying rules of coverage remain unclear, according to a report from The New York Times.
The problem lies in deciding how to treat mental illness because there is little consensus on a standard of care among doctors and researchers.The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 has more or less fallen short of its goal to require insurers to cover psychiatric illnesses and substance abuse disorders the same way they do other illnesses.
As millions of uninsured Americans prepare to sign up for coverage under the ACA on Tuesday, those seeking treatment for mental health must be ready to do a lot of the digging on their own. Read more.
Columbia Law student Alex Blaszczuk demonstrates how accessible technology allows her to live a more independent life and enjoy many of the things she used to before a car accident left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.
In this NPR profile, Blaszczuk becomes a Google Glass explorer and is able to take pictures, find driving directions and take a camping trip with friends. Google is one of only a few big tech firms working to create accessible technologies for the disabled community. Read more.
