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John Kerry's Disability Platform

From the Kerry campaign: website

FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE, AND CHOICES FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES

John Kerry's Policy Platform and Vision for America
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 OPPORTUNITY ACT. No parent should have 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 AMERICA. There is an 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:

The commission will submit findings and recommendations to the Kerry Administration and the leadership in both houses of Congress by July 26, 2005 - the 15th anniversary of the ADA.

(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 America. His 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 ADA. John Kerry will increase funding to the Department of Justice to be used specifically for the enforcement of the ADA. He will 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 ADA concerning 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 ADA NOTIFICATION ACT. John Kerry strenuously opposes the Republican-proposed ADA Notification Act because it would aid those who seek to evade the ADA by allowing them to ignore its requirements 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 ADA. He will also 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 ADA and 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 ADA and other civil rights laws, and ensure 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 ADA. John Kerry will instruct the Attorney General and the Department of Transportation to offer more training opportunities for operators to foster their compliance with the ADA.

(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 United States.

(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
America's disabled veterans have special needs that must be 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 John Kerry website.

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