[Missouri-l] FW: [leadership] You Have a Role in National Healthcare Reform

Mon May 18 21:21:50 CDT 2009

-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Gray [mailto:chris at bayareadigital.us] 
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 6:47 PM
To: ACB Leadership List; ACB General Discussion List; California Council of
the Blind Discussion List
Subject: [leadership] You Have a Role in National Healthcare Reform

Hello to All:

Today, the AMerican Foundation for the Blind and Vision Serve Alliance
hosted an 
extremely well thought-out and informative seminar.  Probably many of you
saw 
the announcement and attendance was quite good.

We learned as a part of that discussion that the Senate Finance Committee
has 
begun significant work on a healthcare reform bill.  Information about their

work is now available on the web, and the committee is soliciting
individuals to 
comment on that information.  We have only until Friday though to do so.

Mark Richert indicated in his presentation today that comments in the
following 
three key areas are particularly needed.  It is equally true that a comment
on 
any aspect of this by you is going to come at a key time in this discussion
and 
can have significant impact now.

1.  Healthcare reform must address the availability of accessible medical
equipment for visually-impaired and blind people.  In other words, where
hardware devices play a part in healthcare, those devices need to be usable
by blind and visually impaired people.  If a person must use oxygen, they
need to be able to use their oxygen equipment independently.  THe same is
true for taking blood pressure, blood glucose readings, oximeter readings,
administering medications, and so forth.  Additionally, if technology can
assist them in achieving better health, that technology needs to be a part
of
the healthcare delivery system.  Such technology could include magnifiers,
communications devices, and travel/safety aids.  For those of you who may
not
be aware, none of these kinds of products are typically covered today
by Medicare, Medicaid, or private healthcare insurance providers.

2.  Healthcare reform must address the availability of accessible
prescription drug identification mechanisms.  THe idea here is to require
talking prescription bottles, or some other means for a blind or visually
impaired person to know which prescription drug they are taking.

3.  Healthcare reform must address issues specifically related to low vision
and blindness.  Given the complexity and the depth of the discussion that
must accompany meaningful healthcare reform, the blind cannot be submerged
and essentially forgotten within the context of the healthcare needs of the
more general disabled population.  This is meant in no way to dismiss the
needs of others in the disabled community.  It is only to say that in too
many cases, the vital issues needs we have related to vision loss get buried
in a discussion when it becomes too broad.  This has been happening to the
blind community for the past three decades of healthcare discussion and we
need to try to bring back some balance to this situation.

Please make your voice heard in this discussion today by visiting

http://finance.senate.gov

Then click on the Legislation link.  Near the top of that page, you will see

three dated items as follows:

5-18-09 
Baucus, Grassley Policy Options for Financing Comprehensive Health Care
Reform: Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options

5-11-09 
Baucus, Grassley Policy Options for Expanding Health Care Coverage:
Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans

April 2009, 
4-28-09 
Baucus, Grassley Policy Options for Transforming the Health Care Delivery
System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs

I have not investigated these links yet, but plan to do so later today.  It
is 
imperative that as many of us as possible get to work on presenting at least

some comments now.

Please try to have a look at this information and begin thinking about
comments 
you'd like to present.

Thanks.

Chris

---------------------------------------- Christopher Gray, President
Bay Area Digital

Promoting good health with innovative technology and superior health
products

870 Market Street, #653
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone:  (415) 217-6667
fax:    (415) 962-2520
Email:  chris at bayareadigital.us

Visit my blog at http://ChristopherGray.squarespace.com

Visit me on Facebook by linking to
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1096118444

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 16:13:15 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)
From: Christopher Gray <chris at bayareadigital.us>
Reply-To: healthissues at acb.org
To: healthissues at acb.org
Subject: [healthissues] National Health Care TeleSeminar

Hello Fellow Committee Members:

Chris Cooke and I attended the seminar today.  I know she was there because
she 
asked a question which was very well received and a good addition to the 
discussion portion of the teleseminar.

The purpose of the seminar was to begin gathering together a coalition of 
people interested and willing to participate in the conversation about 
healthcare that will occur between now and the time when healthcare reform
is 
either adopted or defeated in the U.S. Congress.  The seminar was conducted
by 
Mark Richert of the AMerican Foundation for the Blind and Roxanne Mayros of 
Vision Serve Alliance. Vision Serve Alliance is the relatively new name for
the 
National Council of Private Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually
Impaired.

Mark Richert began by describing the political landscape of healthcare
reform 
today.  He referred us and has asked us to refer as many others as possible
to 
a report and place for comments on that report from the Senate Finance 
Committee. This is the committee currently proceeding with healthcare reform

initiatives. There may well be others in the future, but we need to go to
this 
website now and provide our personal and/or organizational comments:

website:  http://finance.senate.gov

On this site are reports and initial discussions put forward by the
committee. 
In addition, there are places where people can add comments.  I haven't done
it 
yet so that's why I'm a little vague here.  However, this is something we
need 
to do, and it must be done by the end of the business day this Friday.

Mark suggested three issues on which we might comment.  Chris, if I got 
something wrong here, please chime into the conversation.  I won't be
offended 
in the slightest.

1.  Healthcare reform must address the availability of accessible medical 
equipment for visually-impaired and blind people.  In other words, where 
hardware devices play a part in healthcare, those devices need to be usable
by 
blind and visually impaired people.  If a person must use oxygen, they need
to 
be able to use their oxygen equipment independently.  THe same is true for 
taking blood pressure, blood glucose readings, oximeter readings,
administering 
medications, and so forth.  Additionally, if technology can assist them in 
achieving better health, that technology needs to be a part of the
healthcare 
delivery system.  Such technology could include magnifiers, communications 
devices, and travel/safety aids.  For those of you who may not be aware of 
this, none of these kinds of products are typically covered today by
Medicare, 
Medicaid, or private healthcare insurance providers.

2.  Healthcare reform must address the availability of accessible
prescription 
drug identification mechanisms.  THe idea here is to require talking 
prescription bottles, or some other means for a blind or visually impaired 
person to know which prescription drug they are taking.

3.  Healthcare reform must address issues specifically related to low vision

and blindness.  Given the complexity and the depth of the discussion that
must 
accompany meaningful healthcare reform, the blind cannot be submerged and 
essentially forgotten within the context of the healthcare needs of the more

general disabled population.  This is meant in no way to dismiss the needs
of 
others in the disabled community.  It is only to say that in too many cases,

the vital issues needs we have related to vision loss get buried in a 
discussion when it becomes too broad.  This has been happening to the blind 
community for the past three decades of healthcare discussion and we need to

try to bring back some balance to this situation.

We then heard from Roxanne Mayros who discussed in particular a
demonstration 
project that has been ongoing between several service agencies for the
blind, 
working with CMS for reimbursement of healthcare delivery to their
communities 
of blind and low vision people.  CMS reimbursements have been so low, and
there 
has often been such a shortage of blindness professionals to adequately
serve 
potential clients that this demonstration project may do more harm than good
to 
healthcare delivery services in our community.  We need to be mindful of
this 
as we enter into the overall healthcare   conversation during this session
of 
Congress.  Roxannne's message is complex and filled with a myriad of details

that are just too big to summarize here.  It is my hope that she may write
up 
some of these points for broader distribution in the near future.

The remainder of the seminar was taken up with questions and answers.  THe 
discussion was quite interesting and helpful.  We will definitely be hearing

more from this group and will see lots of emails and discussion papers in
the 
next several months.  Apparently, about 150 people signed up for the seminar

today.  Hopefully, many of us can now follow up with comments to the Senate 
committee.

Thanks.

Chris

- ---------------------------------------- Christopher Gray, President Bay
Area 
Digital

Promoting good health with innovative technology and superior health
products

870 Market Street, #653
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone:  (415) 217-6667
fax:    (415) 962-2520
Email:  chris at bayareadigital.us

Visit my blog at http://ChristopherGray.squarespace.com

Visit me on Facebook by linking to 
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1096118444

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