Press Release :: ADAPT Wins Meeting with HHS to Work on Medicaid Reform..

HOT off the Presses..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :wink:

For Immediate Release
April 28, 2008

For information contact:

• Bob Kafka 512-431-4085
• Marsha Katz 406-544-9504
• www.ADAPT.org..

ADAPT Activists Win Meeting with HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt to Work on Medicaid Reform :: HHS Staff Affirms that Access to Community is a Civil Right

Washington, D.C.--- 500 ADAPT activists closed off all access to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and kept it closed until HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt agreed to meet with ADAPT on the multiple policies that force people into nursing homes and other institutions, and prevent them from moving back to their own homes and communities.

75 ADAPT members entered the HHS building before security locked all the doors, and presented the ADAPT demands in the initial negotiations with HHS staff. The demands included:

• Meet with leaders of ADAPT within 30 days, with the understanding that access to the community is a civil right that can be improved by the following measures. The meeting can clarify any of the following and identify other barriers to home and community based services in all 50 states;
• Improve the implementation of the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Projects by increasing the flexibility states have;
• IMMEDIATELY eliminate any rules that cause undue burdens regarding case management;
• Eliminate any rules that discourage small grassroots providers, like Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and other non-profits, from meeting the needs of the consumers they serve;
• Eliminate any regulations and interpretations of "spousal impoverishment" and "risk" that promote institutionalization of persons with disabilities;
• Work with ADAPT to pass the Community Choice Act (S 799 and HR 1621).

"People need to be able to choose to live in their own homes, near their families and friends," said Dawn Russell of Texas ADAPT. "Families shouldn't be torn apart by mean-spirited Medicaid policies and regulations that force some people into nursing homes or even to leave their home state in order to get the community-based services and supports they need."

After a six hour standoff, Philo Hall, Counselor to Sec. Leavitt, committed to Leavitt meeting with ADAPT within 30 days as he addressed the crowd in the pouring rain. He began by acknowledging that access to the community is definitely a civil right. Then Hall admitted that HHS has fallen behind in its former regular communication with ADAPT, and acknowledged that the lack of communication has contributed to HHS making some not-well-thought-out decisions that have hurt the disability community. Renewed communication will begin immediately with another meeting between ADAPT and HHS staff on Wednesday, April 30.

"You know, President Bush's first Executive Order was the New Freedom Initiative (NFI), which ordered all federal departments to remove barriers to full community participation for people with disabilities," said Bob Kafka, ADAPT National Organizer. We've been making slow but steady progress until the past couple of years when it seemed like the Medicaid folks forgot the President's order and started reinstituting policies that will push people back into institutions. We're hoping that after today ADAPT will work with us to reverse the current trend, and assure older and disabled Americans can live full lives in their community."

HHS Press Release: Pandemic Preparedness Blog..

Will probably elaborate more on my own participation in the CDC's pandemic flu community forum last year, but, for now, can tell they're already touching very much on the various topics we all bantered around that particular Saturday..

Very brief summary is that we very much need to become as independent as possible as quickly as possible because regions of undetermined sizes will come to a screeching halt to stem the spread of disease.. Previously established local circles of support will be paramount to the survival of persons with disabilities during this times of national crises..

Of note about the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog is that this is an unusual method of getting the message straight out to the people and skipping the middle man, so to speak, such that rumors don't get the chance to begin.. Remembering back to that Saturday's forum, one of my own concerns was that communication could possibly be affected in an immediate crisis.. Doing all that we can pre-crisis to get the facts and not fiction to everyone is crucial, again, to the survival of all..

Note: Will go ahead and post now then see if I can't sniff out a few more links as resources related to their release..

For Release: Immediately
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

Headline: HHS CONVENES AMERICA'S LEADERS TO HELP AMERICANS PREPARE FOR PANDEMIC FLU
Influential business, health care, faith-based and community leaders participate in pandemic preparedness blog and forum hosted by HHS

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched the Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog, a five-week-long blog about pandemic preparedness. Participant bloggers include some of the nation's most influential business, health care, faith-based and community leaders. This online event is part of a new campaign to help Americans prepare for a potential influenza pandemic and engage U.S. leaders in the challenge to help others prepare.

"The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media and the Internet," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "The blog summit is an innovative and efficient forum for bringing together leaders for a lively discussion on the pandemic preparedness movement."

HHS is one of the first government agencies to utilize the participatory nature of the Internet to create a dialogue around a specific issue or campaign. This effort to engage individuals in an online conversation is the one of many steps HHS will be taking to carry out its campaign to encourage Americans to prepare. By preparing now, individuals will be better able to withstand the impact of a pandemic, slow the spread of disease, and lessen the overall impact to themselves, their families and to society.

Ideas and dialogue generated during the leadership blog will contribute to HHS' upcoming pandemic influenza leadership forum in June, an event which will bring together approximately 80 U.S. leaders representing the business, faith, civic and health care communities. The dynamic leadership forum will call on participants to help Americans become more prepared for an influenza pandemic by leveraging their influence and expertise in their communities to actively promote individual pandemic preparedness.

"It may not be possible to predict with certainty when the next flu pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, but it is essential to prepare ahead of time and that time is now," Secretary Leavitt said. "We are the first generation ever to have an opportunity to prepare in advance of a pandemic. Government alone can't prepare the nation for a pandemic. This is a shared responsibility and the challenge requires leadership from those most trusted and respected in their communities."

The pandemic-focused leadership blog gives national leaders the opportunity to participate in an ongoing and critical conversation about the potential impact of a pandemic on individuals, families, communities and workplaces. Participating bloggers will be asked specific questions related to the threat of a pandemic in the U.S. and will collaborate on ideas for what can be done to help their employees, constituents, customers, congregations and clients prepare now.

Approximately 16 influential leaders, including leading authorities on pandemic flu, will blog throughout the next five weeks. A few of the participant bloggers include Pierre Omidyar, Founder and Chairman of Ebay and Co-founder of Omidyar Network; David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and Greg Dworkin, Founding Editor of Flu Wiki and Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology and Medical Director of the Pediatric Inpatient Unit at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Conn.

The Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog will continue through June 27 and is open to the public and media. Comments are welcome and encouraged by all who visit the blog at http://blog.pandemicflu.gov.

In conjunction with the blog, HHS will hold a Pandemic Influenza Leadership Forum on June 13 in Washington, DC with representatives of the business, faith, civic and health care communities. Using materials prepared by HHS, local leaders will be asked to reach out to the people they represent with the essential steps necessary for pandemic flu preparedness. By preparing now, individuals will be better able to withstand the impact of a pandemic, slow the spread of disease, and lessen the overall impact to themselves, their families and society.

An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza ("flu") virus appears in humans; the new virus causes serious illness and death, and spreads easily from person to person worldwide. Past influenza pandemics, like the one that occurred in 1918, have led to: high levels of illness; death; disruption in normal, everyday activities like going to school, work, or other public gatherings, and economic loss.

Related Website..

• www.pandemicflu.gov
• Community Control Measures for Pandemic Influenza (sponsored by The Keystone Center and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

Resource:: HHS press releases..

NIH Press Release :: COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)..

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, January 12, 2007

CONTACT: NHLBI Communications, 301-496-4236, e-mail: nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov.

NHLBI INTRODUCES NEW CAMPAIGN ON LITTLE KNOWN FOURTH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN UNITED STATES :: COPD Affects One in Four Americans Over Age 45

WHAT: COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and is expected to be the third leading cause of death by 2020. An estimated 12 million Americans are diagnosed with COPD and an additional 12 million are believed to have the disease, but are not yet diagnosed.

In conjunction with the launch of a new national awareness and education campaign on COPD, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the COPD community, is sponsoring a panel discussion to highlight the problem of COPD and provide an update on current research and future treatments. Patient advocates, leading physicians, and scientists will discuss the growing burden COPD places on the individual, the family and society and how the science has informed the art of caring for the whole patient with COPD.

Following brief remarks on COPD and the campaign, there will be a question and answer session with the speakers.

SPEAKERS: Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., Director, NHLBI
James Kiley, PhD., Director, Division of Lung Diseases, NHLBI
Grace Anne Dorney, COPD Patient

SCIENTIFIC PRESENTERS: A. Sonia Buist, M.D., Oregon Health Sciences University
Bartolome Celli, M.D., St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University, Boston
Ronald Crystal, M.D., Weill Medical College of Cornell University

CAMPAIGN PARTNERS: Butch Pallay, MD, Board Member, American Academy of Family Physicians
David Ingbar, MD, President-elect, American Thoracic Society
Terri Weaver, PhD, Board Chair, American Lung Association
Mark Rosen, MD, President, American College of Chest Physicians

WHEN: January 18, 2007; 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ET

WHERE: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club

For more information about the COPD campaign, please visit, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/copd/index.htm.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- is comprised of 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

This NIH News Release is available online.