Disability News Now

High stakes, power struggles as Oregon Legislature takes up Kitzhaber's health reforms | OregonLive.com

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 03, 2012.

The battle to reshape Oregon's health care system is heating up in the Legislature, where the Senate is scheduled to pick up Friday where lawmakers left off last session. The changes they adopt could affect your doctor's office sooner than you think. Rather than wait for federal health reforms to kick in, Gov. John Kitzhaber last year spearheaded a law to revamp the state's Medicaid program further and faster. The Legislature passed initial changes, and this month will consider more details to go into effect in July. This next round must be approved to qualify for as much as $2.5 billion in federal reform funds.

This Just Isn't Working | Shooting Raises Question: Stop Sending Cops to Suicide Calls? | Portland Mercury

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 03, 2012.

"The police need to get out of the suicide business," says Jason Renaud, a co-founder of Mental Health Association of Portland, saying it's a myth that suicidal people are at higher risk of harming others. "If you always send police, that is effectively criminalizing mental illness." Morgan's death even had the Oregonian wondering whether the bureau should resurrect its "old model of having a Crisis Intervention Team of specialized officers available at moment's notice"—precisely echoing a Portland Tribune article last January.

Nike designer Tobie Hatfield creates special sole for prosthetic blade | OregonLive.com

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 02, 2012.

The Nike Innovation Director said amputee athlete Sarah Reinertsen inspired him three years ago to find a better running surface for Reinertsen's prosthetic blade. Reinertsen is an amputee triathlete, the first female above the knee amputee to complete the Ironman® World Championship in Hawaii, a feat completed in 2005. Hatfield recently finished work on the Nike Sole, which features an integrated layered sole including an outsole, midsole and thermal plastic urethane called Aeroply, made of recycled Nike Air Bag units, serving as moderator between Nike Sole and the Össur Flex-Run's carbon fiber blade.

2012 legislature legislature opens, starts talking cuts | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 02, 2012.

Care providers for seniors and people with disabilities would see their payments cut, a state corrections facility would close, and the number of families with job-related day care would be limited under a budget-rebalancing plan released Wednesday.

Justice Department Settles Americans with Disabilities Act Lawsuit with Michigan’s Henry Ford Health System

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 01, 2012.

The agreement, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), resolves a complaint filed with the Department of Justice that alleged that the Henry Ford Health System failed to provide sign language interpreters to a deaf patient at one of its in-patient psychiatric facilities and to his family members who are also deaf and need interpreters to communicate effectively with health care providers.

Education Week: Feds Say More Students May Qualify for Disability Services

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Feb 01, 2012.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights warns school districts that the way they define which students should get special services under federal disability laws may not be broad enough.

'I Wanted To Live': New Depression Drugs Offer Hope For Toughest Cases : Shots - Health Blog : NPR

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Jan 31, 2012.

A club drug called "Special K" is generating a lot of buzz among researchers who study depression. That's because "Special K," which is actually an FDA-approved anesthetic named ketamine, can relieve even suicidal depression in a matter of hours. And it works on many patients who haven't responded to current antidepressants like Prozac.

BBC News - Disability app designed by London terrorism survivor

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Jan 31, 2012.

"With this app we hope to use the latest technology to change people's mindsets and show how the disability isn't the problem, the lack of access is the problem," said Mr Biddle. "Technology can be great for improving independence and we hope this allows the disabled to decide what they want to do, and just go out and do it."

Douglas County Providers Form the State’s First Coordinated Care Organization | The Lund Report

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Jan 31, 2012.

A non-profit organization, the Community Health Alliance, has brought together physical, dental, mental health and addiction services

National effort aims to curb use of 'R-word'

By disabilitynewsnow from Delicious/disabilitynewsnow. Published on Jan 30, 2012.

Iowa lawmakers are participating in a national effort to reduce use of the word "retarded" or "retardation." A draft bill unveiled this week at the Statehouse would replace the words with "intellectual disability" almost everywhere in state law. The bill is 70 pages long, because the wording shows up so often in laws and regulations.