New York State Builds Coalition

From New York State: BROAD AD HOC COALITION URGES REJECTION OF 12-HOUR CAP ON PERSONAL CARE

The 2010-11 Executive Budget would require seniors and people with disabilities who need more than 12 hours of Medicaid personal care services per day to switch to other programs that are not designed to meet round-the-clock needs caused by quadriplegia, Parkinson’s, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, etc. By limiting access to services for the most disabled – 4,268 of the 67,937 people receiving personal care services - the cap will cause unnecessary nursing home placement of people who can and do live in the community, violating the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Activists in New York State are seeking your help! You can send a quick online letter to help stop the caps at http://capwiz.com/rochestercdr/issues/alert/?alertid=14698626. Click today!

The New York State Coalition includes the following groups:

ADAPT – NYS; Alzheimer's Association, New York City Chapter; Alzheimer's and Aging Resource Center of Brooklyn; Bronx Independent Living Services; Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled; Catskill Center for Independence serving Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, and Chenango Counties; Center for Disability Rights, Rochester; Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York (CIDNY); Cerebral Palsy Associations of NYS; Cerebral Palsy of the North Country - St. Lawrence, Franklin, & Jefferson Counties; The Children's Aid Society; CLC Foundation, Inc., Trustee For The CLC Pooled Trusts Iⅈ Consumer Directed Choices, Inc.; Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State, Incl Disability Advocates, Inc. (serving Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, St. Lawrence, Ulster, Warren and Washington counties); Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc.; DOROT, Inc.; Empire Justice Center (all NYS outside of NYC); Enable, Syracuse; F.E.G.S Health and Human Services System; Options/CDPAS, Newburgh -- Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan & Ulster Counties; JASA/Queens Legal Services for the Elderly; The Legal Aid Society, New York City; Legal Services for the Elderly and Disabled, Buffalo; Lenox Hill Neighborhood House; Main Street Legal Services, Inc., CUNY School of Law; Medicaid Matters NY (140-member statewide coalition); Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
MFY Legal Services, Inc.; Morningside Retirement and Health Services (MRHS); National Center for Law and Economic Justice; New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; New York Legal Assistance Group, New York City; PHI (Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute); Regional Center for Independent Living, Rochester; Resource Center for Independent Living, Utica; Self-Advocacy Association of New York State, Inc.; Selfhelp Community Services, Inc.; United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg; United Spinal Association; UJA-Federation New York; Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc.; Westchester Jewish Community Services.

Contact:
Valerie Bogart, Selfhelp Community Services, Inc , vbogart@selfhelp.net 212.971.7693
Chris Hilderbrant, Center for Disability Rights, childerbrant@cdrnys.org 585.546.7510