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"John Kerry's Disability
Platform"
From the Kerry campaign:
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/awd/
FREEDOM,
DISABILITIES
John
Kerry's Policy Platform and Vision for
All Americans have an inherent right to be treated as equal
citizens of our nation. Now more than ever, people with
disabilities can live fuller, more productive lives if
afforded the right opportunities and supports. John
Kerry's plan will strengthen Medicaid and Medicare, fully
fund IDEA, and construct creative solutions to the
transportation, technology, and housing needs of
individuals with disabilities. Kerry believes that the
government should not be investing in tax giveaways for the
wealthiest Americans while the IDEA is underfunded
and
Medicaid is in danger of being weakened, and he will fight
the far right's efforts to undermine the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
HEALTH CARE AND COMMUNITY LIVING
High quality, accessible, and affordable health care should
be a right for every American, and is especially important
for people with disabilities. John Kerry's plan will:
(1) PROTECT AND STRENGHTHEN MEDICAID. John Kerry is firmly
opposed to the Bush Administration's proposals to slowly
but surely defund and turn
Medicaid into a block grant to
the states. Kerry's plan gives states money to invest in
Medicaid, so that the health and independence of more than
10 million children, adults and older Americans with
disabilities throughout our country can improve.
(2) PASS THE FAMILY
to turn down a job or give up the custody of a child to
ensure that the child gets health care. In a recent survey
of 20 states, 64 percent of parents with disabled children
reported that they turned down jobs, raises, and overtime
pay to remain under the income limits required to qualify
for Medicaid coverage. John Kerry strongly supports the
Family Opportunity Act, which gives states the option to
expand Medicaid coverage for children with disabilities up
to age 18 in families with incomes up to 250 percent of the
federal poverty level (or $46,000 per year for a family of
four). It also grants immediate access to Medicaid
services for those disabled children who are presumed
eligible for SSI.
(3) FULLY IMPLEMENT THE OLMSTEAD DECISION. People with
disabilities and older Americans must receive the support
they need to live in their own homes and communities. John
Kerry believes that states must be given increased
resources and tools to carry out the Olmstead decision and
must be held accountable for doing so.
(4) ENSURE REAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE UNDER MEDICARE.
The prescription drug plan that just passed is less about
prescription drug benefits and more a prescription to
benefit big drug companies. John Kerry's plan will lower
prescription drug costs, make sure seniors and people with
disabilities on Medicare can choose their doctors instead
of forcing them to join an HMO, ensure beneficiaries can
get quality wrap around services through Medigap, and
ensure that there is always a Medicare-run plan with a
guaranteed premium in every area.
(5) ENACT MiCASSA AND THE MONEY FOLLOWS THE PERSON
ACT.
Americans with disabilities must be assured equal access to
quality home and community living services. John Kerry is
an original cosponsor of MiCASSA and the Money
Follows the
Person Act. Passage of both of these bills is vital to
ending the institutional bias that makes it impossible for
millions of Americans to exercise the most basic of human
liberties: freedom, choice, and independence. Kerry
supports increasing funding for independent living centers,
areas agencies on aging and similar local organizations to
build capacity and support people with disabilities in
moving out of or keeping from needlessly going into a
nursing home or another institution. John Kerry will work
to provide decent wages and benefits to the community based
services workers who help make independence possible.
(6) ADOPT A COMMUNITY FIRST POLICY IN
institutional bias that must be reversed to ensure that
Americans with disabilities of every age have the services
and supports to live in the community of their choice. To
do this, John Kerry will appoint a national bipartisan
Community First Commission made up of Members of Congress,
Governors, distinguished older Americans, veterans,
Americans with disabilities and other experts. The
commission will identify short and long term policy reforms
that could and should be pursued to:
* Guarantee that all Americans with disabilities who can
live in their community with affordable supports have equal
opportunity to do so regardless of age, disability, State
of residence, employment status or form of assistance
required.
* Create a greater federal role in equitably financing and
enhancing the quality and appropriateness of all long-term
services.
* Eliminate the institutional bias in Medicaid and Medicare
that robs millions of Americans of their most basic
freedoms, dignity and daily independence.
The commission will submit findings and recommendations to
the Kerry Administration and the leadership in both houses
of Congress by
(7) ENHANCE MEDICARE. The federal government has a
critical role to play to assure that workers with
disabilities have the insurance coverage they need to be as
independent and productive as possible. John Kerry
believes we should enhance coverage for employed
beneficiaries with disabilities.
He will work to eliminate the two-year waiting period to
become eligible for Medicare and expand coverage for
certain other competitively employed individuals with
disabilities. John Kerry would also modernize Medicare
benefits to include inpatient and community rehabilitation
services, community transition services, mental health
parity, durable medical equipment, and skilled home health
service. He will direct HHS to fund a series of
demonstrations aimed at identifying cost effective ways
that best promote the health, independence and productivity
of people with disabilities and to improve upon the
permanent risk adjustment payment system to promote better
health care.
(8) ENSURE MENTAL HEALTH PARITY. John Kerry believes we
need to require full mental health parity once and for all.
Not just mental health parity for certain benefits or
certain mental health conditions or with unnecessary
loopholes that allow insurers to skirt their
responsibility. He will fight to pass full mental health
parity legislation.
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
John Kerry is committed to expanding employment
opportunities for people with disabilities in
plan includes:
(1) HIRING QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES AS
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES. John Kerry will reinstate the Executive
Order by President Clinton to hire 100,000 qualified
individuals with disabilities as federal employees over
five years. He will also ensure that people with
disabilities are represented through his Administration. In
a Kerry Administration, people with disabilities will have
a strong voice at the table.
(2) ADVOCATING FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WITH DISABILITIES.
While promoting an increase in the goal for small business
contracting, John Kerry will advocate for a special set
aside for small business owners with disabilities, thereby
ensuring that they have equal status to other minority
business owners.
(3) UTILIZE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES TO ENHANCE CAPACITY TO
WORK. Many of the technological advances made through the
work of the Defense Department and NASA are transferable to
people with disabilities, and could enhance their capacity
to work. This technology should and will be made available
when appropriate for use by people with disabilities.
(4) CRACK DOWN ON EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION. Employment
discrimination is rampant against people with disabilities.
This will not be tolerated in a Kerry Administration.
Appointments to head the U.S. Department of Justice and to
chair the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will
be instructed to use their respective roles as enforcers in
the most stringent ways.
CIVIL RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT
The Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act
are the most important civil rights laws for persons with
disabilities in our country's history. John Kerry believes
that it is vital that we enforce these laws and fight
recent judicial and legislative actions that weaken these
laws. He will:
(1) FIGHT FOR STRONG ENFORCEMENT OF THE
will increase funding to the Department of Justice to be
used specifically for the enforcement of the
reject judicial nominations of judges like William Pryor or
Jeffrey Sutton to the federal bench and he will clarify the
insurance safe harbor provision in the
insurance pricing and underwriting decisions that affect
persons with disabilities.
(2) ENACT THE CIVIL RIGHTS TAX RELIEF ACT. This Act would
do away with unfair barriers to the enforcement of our
civil rights laws by eliminating the taxation of emotional
distress damages, providing for income averaging of back
pay awards, and eliminating the taxation of attorneys' fee
awards in these cases.
(3) OPPOSE THE
strenuously opposes the Republican-proposed ADA
Notification Act because it would aid those who seek to
evade the
until they receive notice of their violations.
(4) REVERSE BUCKHANNON. A recent Supreme Court decision has
seriously impeded the ability of individuals to challenge
discrimination where the only remedy is often injunctive
relief, rather than damages. John Kerry would support
legislation to reverse Buckhannon. This will encourage
defendants to remedy discriminatory conduct earlier in the
process of litigation, support reasonable settlements and
ensure that individuals who have suffered discrimination
can retain counsel to challenge that conduct.
EDUCATION
If the goal of the disability-rights movement is to
create
opportunities for disabled Americans equal to those of
their non-disabled peers, then education is the key that
opens those doors. Empowering Americans with disabilities
to be productive, job-holding, tax-paying citizens is both
a moral obligation and an economic win. John Kerry's plan
includes:
(1) MANDATORY, FULL FUNDING FOR IDEA. This year, full
funding would have cost an additional $13 billion.
President Bush puts a higher priority on tax cuts for the
wealthy and is picking up less than half of the federal
tab. Kids with disabilities still are not getting the
services they need. IDEA must be fully funded.
(2) STRONG ENFORCEMENT AND REAL COMPLIANCE WITH IDEA.
Situations involving non-compliance, no matter how
unintended, cannot be resolved so long as they go
undetected. Strong enforcement means measuring key
educational and functional indicators on both the State and
local levels, requiring every State to file a federal
compliance plan, deploying an array of tools to ensure
compliance, and as a last line of defense, making sure that
all procedural safeguards are defended. Funding must be
provided to make this data collection and oversight
possible.
(3) MAINTENANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION.
No Child Left Behind is far from perfect, but
accountability for special education students is long
overdue. We must do a better job educating our school in
the use of alternative assessments and IEP timetables. John
Kerry will direct the Secretary of Education to provide
states with guidance that has been sorely lacking under the
Bush Administration.
(4) PROMOTING PARTICIPATION IN SERVICE LEARNING. Involving
special education children in service learning programs
provides a wonderful chance to be an integral part of a
team, uncover hidden talents, and share meaningful
experiences with their non-disabled peers. John Kerry will
work to spread such programs cross the country and
encourage efforts within the Corporation for National and
Community Service (AmeriCorps) to reach out to individuals
with disabilities.
(5) IMPROVING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION. John Kerry is
committed to equipping the next generation of students with
disabilities with the tools to succeed through improving
access to higher education. His plan will improve
transitional planning, promote access and awareness in
disability services, improve service coordination, provide
work-study alternatives, and collect data on students with
disabilities to provide a true scientific understanding of
the realities on the ground. He would also direct the
Secretary of Education to solicit disability status and
accommodation-cost data so that tools to take further
meaningful action are available.
TRANSPORTATION
All transportation options must be accessible to people
with disabilities and projects must be funded that enable
them to learn more about their transportation options.
John Kerry's plan includes:
(1) OVER THE ROAD BUSSES (OTRBs): OTRBs are the only
transportation for people in many rural parts of the United
States and one of the most affordable forms of
transportation for lower income individuals. John Kerry
would encourage Congress to offer low interest to no-
interest loans to facilitate the bus companies' purchase of
new accessible busses to increase the reliability of
accessible transportation for people with disabilities.
(2) PARATRANSIT: In many communities, paratransit
services
cease operations in the late afternoon and offer no service
on weekends. John Kerry will work to ensure that the
Department of Transportation funds startup grants,
particularly in rural areas, to encourage communities to
exceed their obligations under the
direct the Secretary of Transportation to convene a special
advisory committee of paratransit services to explore
other
mechanisms for improving consumers' access to services.
(3) MASS TRANSIT/TRANSIT AUTHORITIES. Accessible public
transportation is far more affordable to provide than
paratransit service. John Kerry will work to make
Transit
Authorities across the country compliant with the
encourage people with disabilities to use mainline
transportation wherever it is accessible.
(4) AIR TRANSPORTATION. Too many people with disabilities
have faced discrimination by air carriers or had
wheelchairs and other medical equipment damaged. John
Kerry will work to enforce the Air Carrier Access Act and
reduce the incidence of broken medical equipment.
Additionally, he will propose legislation clarifying that
there is a private right of action under the Act, and
provide that the prevailing party in actions brought under
the Act is entitled to recovery of attorneys' fees.
(5) ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES. John Kerry will
appoint an Attorney General who will make it a priority to
enforce the
that accessible transportation services are not second
class in nature to those services provided to the general
public. This includes taxi service, private carriers, and
ground transportation.
(6) TOUR OPERATORS. Many Americans rely on Tour Operators
for meeting their vacation needs. This is particularly
true for older Americans, yet often these services do not
comply with the
General and the Department of Transportation to offer more
training opportunities for operators to foster their
compliance with the
(7) AUTOMOBILES. Americans rely on cars more than any
other transportation option. This is also true of people
with disabilities. John Kerry will work to ensure that all
rest stops and toll collection systems are accessible to
people with disabilities. Additionally, he will encourage
states to waive the application fee for electronic toll
collection passes for people with disabilities, since such
electronic passes let people who use hand controls keep
their hands free for driving.
(8) ACCESSIBLE VEHICLES. People who need wheelchair
accessible vehicles often have to spend ten to twenty
thousand dollars to modify their vehicles. John Kerry will
work with the Big Three automakers to encourage them to
produce an affordable, wheelchair-accessible vehicle,
reducing the need for costly modifications. This will make
accessible taxi service more feasible and will allow people
with disabilities and people with elderly parents to own
accessible vehicles.
(9) EXPANDING PROJECT ACTION. Over the past decade Project
ACTION at Easter Seals has been at the forefront of
increasing communities' knowledge of best practices in
providing accessible transportation. John Kerry will
increase funding for Project ACTION to $10 million per year
and expand their role in ensuring that consumers are aware
of their civil rights with regard to transportation
services.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology must be harnessed effectively to empower people,
particularly those who are often the least empowered in our
society. John Kerry will work to make electronic
information and technology truly accessible, enforce
telecommunications accessibility laws, and promote
legislation to clarify that the Americans with
Disabilities Act is applicable to e-commerce and web-based
places of public accommodation. Additionally, he will
promote:
(1) USING TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL FOR INDEPENDENCE. John
Kerry would direct federal agencies to assess how their
resources have been allocated to assist people with
disabilities, and he would work on promoting a goal to
increase targets across the board. He wants our government
to cultivate new, cutting-edge technology through research
dollars that the private sector finds too risky to fund.
(2) FUNDING FOR TECHNOLOGY. John Kerry will assemble an
intergovernmental team to review current programs which pay
for assistive technology and require them to develop a
comprehensive plan of cooperation. The plan would
investigate the potential of pooling various federal funds
to create a single funding mechanism.
(3) TELEWORK AND TELECOMMUTING. John Kerry supports a
$1,000 tax credit for companies which provide telecommuting
opportunities to employees with disabilities.
HOUSING
For people with disabilities, housing must also be
accessible, affordable, and integrated. This includes:
(1) BUILDING LIFETIME HOMES AND UNIVERSAL OR INCLUSIVE
DESIGN. John Kerry believes in the goal of having all new
housing built in the United States incorporate this
philosophy that housing can be used safely and easily by as
many people as possible without undue effort, separation,
or special treatment. He supports tax credits for builders
and/or demonstration project funding for non-profit
organizations to help increase the stock of universal
design housing.
(2) ENFORCING PUBLIC HOUSING SET ASIDES. Some housing
authorities do not have five percent of their units
accessible, despite legal mandates. John Kerry will direct
the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to
ensure that all housing authorities are meeting this
target. Many people with disabilities also face housing
discrimination despite the Fair Housing Act. No one should
be illegally denied housing in the
(3) INCREASE THE AVAILABILITY OF HOUSING VOUCHERS. John
Kerry will work to remove the cap on Section 8 vouchers
entirely and expand the cap in the interim. He will also
target additional vouchers to enable those in nursing homes
and other institutions to move back into their own homes
and communities.
VETERANS
met by the federal government whose responsibility it is to
provide for those who have borne the battle. To meet these
needs, John Kerry has fought for mandatory funding of
veterans' healthcare, streamlined disability claims, and a
robust research and treatment agenda at VA hospitals.
Because of a century-old law, military retirees are
prohibited from collecting both VA disability compensation
and military retirement pay. Congress recently authorized
concurrent receipt for 20-year retirees with a Purple Heart
or a combat- related disability, and for those with a 50%
disability rating or higher, but other disabled veterans
have been ignored and forgotten. No other federal retiree
is forced to surrender retirement pay to receive disability
compensation. This is a punitive tax and it must stop.
John Kerry has unveiled a comprehensive plan for veterans
that can be found at www.johnkerry.com.
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