Oppose Increased Electricity Costs that Harm the Disability Community

ACTION ALERT: Center for Accessible Technology in Berkeley

Southern California Edison is seeking approval to raise its electricity rates and change its rate structure in a way that is likely to hurt low-income people, including many in households with a person with a disability.  Please help the Center for Accessible Technology in Berkeley (CforAT) collect stories and information to illustrate the harmful effects increased utility bills have on people with disabilities. The ILCs can help fight these proposed changes pending this month before the California Public Utilities Commission.

ILC clients and staff are likely to have personal human impact stories about how increased utility bills will be harmful to individuals with disabilities -- who are most likely to struggle living on fixed low incomes and rely on residential utilities for essential medical related purposes.  Our state’s decision makers and public need to be given a complete picture of the harmful impact Edison’s proposed electricity rate increases and changes will cause. 

Please help provide CforAT with information for the essential testimony it is preparing to reflect the real-world impact of increased costs of utilities on individuals with disabilities, when you are contacted very soon to ask if you have such information or any data.

More specifically, what is needed by CforAT as soon as possible is:

•         General information regarding client’s utility issues. Do you regularly help clients with utility issues/cost concerns? Roughly how many or what percentage of your clients report such problems? How often? How does your ILC usually respond to these kinds of issues (e.g., refer out, help arrange payment plan, inform client of utility-specific low-income support plan, etc.).

•         Individual stories. What kinds of stories, if any, have individual utility payers shared with your ILC? (In the past, ILCs have reported compelling client stories about not being able to pay their electricity bills, and about being faced with the horrendous choice between paying different utilities or between paying for either medication, food or their electricity bill.)  Please make any effort possible now to also arrange permission for CforAT/DREDF to directly contact such individuals – especially if there are compelling stories.

This information is being gathered for CforAT by Nicolie Bolster who works at DREDF (Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund) in Berkeley.

Nicolie Bolster, DREDF

(510) 644-2555 Ext. 5237

NBolster@dredf.org

Youth Organizing Disabled & Proud! Changing History in California Schools

REGISTER TODAY

YO! WEBINAR TRAINING SERIES

Friday January 27, 2012

3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

JOIN Youth Organizing Disabled & Proud for our first training webinar of 2012 on how the FAIR Education Act is changing the way schools teach history.

This training will be presented by YO! Youth Advocate Kirk Aranda as he talks about how the FAIR Act is a law requiring schools to include the history of people with disabilities in your history classes starting this year, taking Disability History Week to a whole new level!

We will talk about how we can all work together and how you can take action locally to make sure that the FAIR Act becomes a reality for students with and without disabilities.

We hope you’ll join us and help make Disability History a part of California Schools!

 Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!

Affordable Care Act - New Benefits for Dual Eligibles

The Affordable Care Act provides that full-benefit dual eligibles (those who qualify for both Medicare and full Medicaid benefits) who are receiving Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS) are eligible for a full waiver of copayment requirements for their Medicare Part D prescription drugs. This policy became effective January 1, 2012.  The provision puts people who are receiving HCBS in the community on equal footing with those who reside in institutions and whose co-pays are also waived. The National Senior Citizens Law Center has prepared a helpful summary for advocates: 

http://www.nsclc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/No-Part-D-Copays-Info.pdf

Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!



Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act

The Obama administration filed its first brief with the Supreme Court defending the constitutionality of the requirement in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that most citizens purchase healthcare insurance or pay a penalty – the individual mandate. The administration argues that the mandate is an acceptable use of Congress’ taxing power and defends the policy under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. Briefs also were filed by opponents of the ACA arguing that if the court invalidates the individual mandate, the remaining components of healthcare reform cannot function properly. The court has scheduled three days of oral arguments in late March when it will address four issues, including the individual mandate, the Medicaid expansion, whether the entire ACA fails if the individual mandate is found to be unconstitutional, and whether the court should wait to consider the constitutionality of the law until someone has actually been required to pay a penalty for not having insurance.

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta earlier this year declared the law’s individual mandate unconstitutional but left the remainder of the measure intact. Two other federal appeals courts have upheld the law’s constitutionality, while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled it would be premature to decide the case.  

Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!

Through the Looking Glass Announces Scholarship

Through the Looking Glass and its National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families are pleased to announce new scholarships specifically for high school seniors or college students who have parents with disabilities. A total of fifteen $1000 scholarships will be given out Fall 2012.  Scholarship information and applications are available on Through the Looking Glass’ website www.lookingglass.org

These scholarships are part of Through the Looking Glass’ National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families. There are separate eligibility requirements for high school seniors and for college students:

1. High School Seniors. To be eligible, a student must be a high school graduate (or graduating senior) by Summer 2012, planning to attend a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2012 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, and have at least oneparent with a disability.

2. College Students. To be eligible, a student must be currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2012 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, be 21 years of age or younger as of March 5, 2012, and have at least one parent with a disability.

All application materials must be postmarked by March 5, 2012. Individuals may submit only one application per award period. Also see Scholarships: Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks,

Scholarships Coordinator
Through the Looking Glass

The National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families
3075 Adeline Street, Suite 120

Berkeley, CA  94703
(800) 644-2666 (voice)

(510) 848-1005 (TDD/TTY)

FAX: (510) 848-4445

Stay informed! Go to the Advocacy Corner for frequent updates!