Disability Action Network

The House Commerce Industrial Impact Subcommittee will consider legislation to require health insurance coverage for hearing aids for children.  This is perhaps the most critical committee to the bill's future.  It can live or die on a vote this Wednesday at 10am in Legislative Plaza, Room 10.

House Commerce - Industrial Impact Subcommittee

If one of your legislators are on this committee, then please take a few moments to give their office a call or write a personal email to ask for their support of House Bill 636 on Wednesday, March 17th.  If sending an email, please copy us at news@tndisability so we can track our success!

Charles Curtiss - District 43 - White and parts of Putnam & Warren Counties

Phone: (615) 741-1963, Email: rep.charles.curtiss@capitol.tn.gov

Dennis Roach - District 35 - Claiborne, Grainger, and part of Jefferson County

Phone: (615) 741-2534, Email: rep.dennis.roach@capitol.tn.gov

Joanne Favors - District 29 - part of Hamilton County

Phone: (615) 741-2702, Email: rep.joanne.favors@capitol.tn.gov

Dennis Ferguson - Dristrict 32 - Roane and part of Loundon County

Phone: (615) 741-7658, Email: rep.dennis.ferguson@capitol.tn.gov

Jon Lundberg - District 1 - part of Sullivan County

Phone: (615) 741-7623, Email: rep.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov

Joe McCord - District 8 - parts of Blount and Sevier Counties

Phone: (615) 741-5481, Email: rep.joe.mccord@capitol.tn.gov

Gerald McCormick - District 26 - part of Hamilton County

Phone: (615) 741-2548, Email: rep.gerald.mccormick@capitol.tn.gov

Jimmy Naifeh - District 81 - Haywood and part of Tipton County

Phone: (615) 741-3774, Email: spk.eme.jimmy.naifeh@capitol.tn.gov

Charles Sargent - District 61 - part of Williamson County

Phone: (615) 741-6808, Email: rep.charles.sargent@capitol.tn.gov

David Shepard - District 69 - Dickson and part of Hickman County

Phone: (615) 741-3513 - Email: rep.david.shepard@capitol.tn.gov

Eric Swafford - District 25 - Cumberland and Bledsoe Counties

Phone (615) 741-2343 - Email: rep.eric.swafford@capitol.tn.gov

Curry Todd - District 95 - Part of Shelby County

Phone: (615) 741-1866, Email: rep.curry.todd@capitol.tn.gov

Joe Towns, Jr - District 84 - Part of Shelby County

Phone: (615) 741-2189, Email: rep.joe.towns@capitol.tn.gov

The Basics

The bill requires health plan coverage for hearing aids for children with hearing loss, birth through age 24, up to $1,000 per ear every 36 months.

• Personal Story? - If you have a personal story to tell about a friend or loved one with hearing loss, then please share it with your legislator.  If you do not have a personal connection, then talk about the importance of access to something so basic as a hearing aid for children to success in school and beyond.
• A Constituent - Be sure to provide your name, address and phone number so the legislator knows you are a constituent in their district.
• Why It's Important Today - Tell them that House Bill 636 will be up for consideration in their Industrial Impact Committee on Wednesday morning and that you'd appreciate their support.

More Background

• Approximately 1.3 children per 1,000 births or 70 children under the age of 3 years in TN were diagnosed with permanent hearing loss in 2007.   
• Research has shown that children diagnosed with hearing loss and provided amplification within the first 6 months of life will develop the language foundation necessary for literacy and academic success by the time they start kindergarten.  
• Hearing aids are critical to the language development of children with hearing loss whose parents have chosen listening and spoken language for them.  
• Research has shown at least 40 percent of of children with a hearing loss are needing insurance coverage for hearing aids.  
• 16 other states - Arkansas, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, Oregon, Wisconsin - have passed legislation requiring insurance coverage for hearing aids for children (range 5 to 39 cents per member per health plan).  Rhode Island covers all age ranges and Wisconsin also includes cochlear implants.
  

Last Wednesday, the Coalition hosted a press conference at the Capitol in Nashville with Andy Imparato, Executive Director of the American Association of People with Disabilities, and other about the proposed Amendment 9 cuts to TennCare.  In a packed room the media and advocates heard about propose cuts that would:

• Limit in-patient hospital services to $10,000 annually
• Limit coverage to 8 visits to a physician's office annually
• Eliminate coverage of hospice care
• Eliminate coverage for occupatoinal, speach, and physical therapies
• Among others reductions

Media Reports of the Event

News 4 Report - Jessica Pipkin is the face of thousands who have already seen the impact of TennCare cuts. She's a quadriplegic, and the loss of her 24-hour nursing care could force her to leave her family. To read more.

News 4 Video - Video link.

News 5 Report - The head of a national advocacy group for the disabled said Tennessee's proposed cuts to its expanded Medicaid program could eventually have a negative effect on the state's economy. To read more and see video.

News 17 Report - A car accident left Jessica Pipkin a quadrapalegic. Never looked up and I hit the inside corner of a curb and hit another car head on," said Pipkin. She's been on TennCare ever since and that's why she went to the State Capitol Wednesday to tell lawmakers she can't live with 9 doctor's visits a year. To read more and see video.

Nashville Public Radio - Dylan Brown of Hendersonville gets around in a wheelchair. He also works at the Center for Independent Living helping other disabled Tennesseans find a way to live better. To read more, including extended quotes (excerpted below).

Dylan Brown - “If I didn’t have a disability, I could live off my salary, and …pay my own way with rent and all my bills and I’d be fine, but since I do have a disability there’s a lot of costs that go along with that. And with TennCare coverage I get durable medical equipment covered, and private duty nursing covered.”

Anthony Fox, TN Mental Health Consumers' Association - "TennCare participants are the most medically and financially challenged citizens of Tennessee. Many individuals will be forced away from basic medical and mental health treatment because of the inability to pay for the co-pay of transportation."

Andy Imparato - "Tennessee has been slow to provide services and supports in the community. They’ve got a pretty disproportionate percentage of their money going to institutions, nursing homes, and other settings.”

Establishing a relationship with your legislator today can go a long ways to bending his or her ear tomorrow.  Disability Days is your opportunity to meet with state legislators at the Capitol and talk about issues important to you and your family.

Dozens of disability organizations from across the state will be participating and with your help we can ensure that every legislator gets to hear from a constituent with a disability, a family member, or friend.

2010 DATES

February 24 - West TN

March 3 - Middle TN

March 10 - East TN

For information on how your organization can get involved contact Courtney Jenkins-Atnip at courtney_j@tndisability.org, or by phone at 615-383-9442.

Bonus - Child Advocacy Days: March 9th & 10th

Gubenatorial Forum on the 10th

10am to 11:30am

All 7 major candidates have accepted invitation

Free, but pre-registration is required

To register

 

Legislation may be heard in the House Education K-12 Subcommittee on Wednesday, February 10th at 10am that would allow Special Education students to be locked alone in a room.  This would undo two years of work that outlawed locking students with Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, and other disabilities in isolation rooms.

If your legislator sits on this subcommittee we are asking you to make a call or send an email opposing House Bill 2538 by Tuesday.  A list of subcommittee members and bill sponsors, the areas they serve and their contact information is below.  When contacting your legislators please be respectful and let them know you live in their district.

Key Points

• This bill would make it legal to lock a special education student – of any age or diagnosis – in isolation at risk to their health and safety
• Contradicts health and safety codes that prohibit locking students in an educational facility without a way out
• A child could be locked in an isolation room without parental notification
• There is no requirement in the bill that locked isolation only be used in an emergency situations
• With a locked door, a student is trapped with no mechanism to call for help if they are forgotten – even for a minute or two – by school personnel
• Places all special education students at risk of locked isolation

For more information contact the Coalition at news@tndisability.org

Bill Sponsors and Districts

Click a legislator's name to get their email and phone number

Rep. Glen Casada - parts of Williamson County

Sen. Jack Johnson - Williamson and parts of Davidson - Senate Bill 2517

K-12 Subcommitee and Districts

Les Winningham, Chair - Clay, Jackson, Picket, Scott, and Anderson*

Ron Loller, Vice Chair - Shelby*

Judy Barker - Obion, Lake, and Dyer*

Tommie Brown - Hamilton*

Bill Dunn - Knox*

Beth Harwell - Davidson*

David Hawk - Unicoi, Greene*

Joey Hensley - Lawrence, Lewis, Wayne*

Ulysses Jones - Shelby*

Mark Maddox - Weakly, Carroll*

Johnnie Turner - Shelby*

Terri Lynn Weaver - DeKalb, Smith, Macon

Victory!  It's been a long year for the Family Support Program and the thousands of Tennessee families touched by a disability; however, tonight there is renewed hope.  The Coalition learned earlier today and confirmed tonight during the Governor's State of the State address that the program will be funded for at least two more years.

It is a time to celebrate and say thanks!  We encourage everyone to reach out this week by making a call or sending an note to their legislators and the Governor.  Thank them for putting the Family Support Program back in the budget for the next two years.

Does this mean the threat of elimination has passed?  Not entirely.  It's still early in the session so anything can happen, but now that Family Support is officially in the budget we expect it to be safe.  With that said, a word of thanks to the Governor and legislators this week will go a long way towards cementing this success.

Find your legislators - www.capitol.tn.gov

Contact the Governor -  Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov

The Budget and State of the State Documents - www.tennesseeanytime.org/gov/state-of-the-state