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The Connecting Point
Volume: 3 Issue: 22 Date: March 10, 2006
In This ISSUE:
1) I Did It -- An online video about the Olmstead Supreme
Court Decision
2) Making Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations Accessible
3) Making Web Sites Accessible for Users with Disabilities
4) United Cerebral Palsy Releases National Analysis of
Medicaid; Report Reveals Top-Performing States
Emphasize Community Inclusion
_____
1) Olmstead: I Did It -- An online video about the Olmstead Supreme Court
Decision. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured video
segment returns to the plaintiffs of the Olmstead case five years after
the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. It reports on the impact of the
decision for individuals with disabilities and some of the challenges that
remain in the implementation of the court ruling.
http://www.kff.org/medicaid/kcmu062104oth.cfm
2) Making Microsoft PowerPoint Presentations Accessible -- PowerPoint is
the most commonly used presentation software. Unfortunately, most
PowerPoint presentations are not totally accessible to people with
disabilities. The National Center on Disability and Access to Education
(NCDAE) has created a fact sheet that is designed to help you understand
the accessibility features and challenges of PowerPoint. It addresses how
to increase the native accessibility of a PowerPoint presentation and how
to create an accessible HTML version of a PowerPoint file. For more
information visit: http://ncdae.org/tools/factsheets/powerpoint.cfm
From: Reference Points
3) Making Web Sites Accessible for Users with Disabilities -- The Do-It
Center has developed an excellent resource list of sites and information
about developing web sites that are accessible for uses experiencing
different disabilities. If you in any way contribute to the development of
a web page you will want to bookmark this site.
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Resources/web-design.html
4) United Cerebral Palsy Releases National Analysis of Medicaid; Report
Reveals Top-Performing States Emphasize Community Inclusion -
WASHINGTON, March 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- United Cerebral Palsy, one of the
nation's largest health charities, released a new national analysis of state
Medicaid services for people with developmental disabilities and mental
retardation on February 28. The report, titled A Case for Inclusion,
includes state rankings for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as
well as letter grades in key areas of Medicaid service delivery including
Home- and Community-based Services, Small Residential Settings, Reaching
Those in Need, Services Self-Directed, and Cost Efficiency. (Full state
rankings are available at http://www.ucp.org/medicaid).
Nationwide, Medicaid serves almost 530,000 individuals with developmental
disabilities and mental retardation, spending $27.4 billion in fiscal year
2004 or almost $52,000 per person per year. While individuals with
developmental disabilities and mental retardation make up just over 1
percent of all Medicaid recipients, services to the population account for
nearly 10 percent of all Medicaid expenditures. In addition, people with
developmental disabilities and mental retardation are among Medicaid's
most vulnerable beneficiaries.
The top ten states include:
1. New Hampshire
2. Maine
3. Massachusetts
4. Vermont
5. Alaska
6. Nebraska
7. Washington
8. Delaware
9. Wisconsin
10. Wyoming
While indicating states have varied approaches to Medicaid service
delivery, the report clearly reveals that top-performing states emphasize
community inclusion for people with developmental disabilities and mental
retardation. New Hampshire, the top state in the United Cerebral Palsy
report, spends over 98 percent of Medicaid dollars to support people
living in their communities through home- and community- based services.
On the other hand, Texas, which ranked last, only spends about 31 percent.
"States that make community inclusion a priority perform significantly
better in our analysis," said Stephen Bennett, President and CEO of United
Cerebral Palsy. "The best Medicaid programs produce outcomes that enrich
the lives of people with disabilities, while promoting self-sufficiency.
And states that focus on individuals and families are often more cost
effective than others that promote institutionalized care."
In addition, the report shows that successful states support the smallest
possible and most home-like residential settings in communities, assist
individuals transition from Medicaid to work, give people the ability to
direct their own services, and utilize nationally-recognized quality
assurance programs.
Nevertheless, A Case for Inclusion concludes that all states have room for
improvement. No state received a top grade in all service categories.
"Many states still direct a major portion of limited Medicaid resources to
supporting individuals with disabilities in large, often costly state-run
institutions," said Tarren Bragdon, an expert in healthcare policy and
author of A Case for Inclusion. "The data is clear. Too many Americans
with disabilities are still denied the opportunity to fully participate in
and be a part of their communities."
Another key finding was that top- and low-performing states were
politically and economically diverse. The political make-up of state
government, the state's tax burden and even state Medicaid spending per
capita did not dictate performance in the United Cerebral Palsy analysis.
New York, for example, had a high overall tax burden of 12 percent, second
only to the District of Columbia, yet ranked 36th in the Medicaid analysis.
United Cerebral Palsy will use the report to encourage people with
disabilities, advocates and officials at all levels to focus Medicaid
debates on the effectiveness of services, rather than just budget numbers.
The organization will use the data collected to create state-level action
plans for its nationwide network of affiliates to work with state
governments to improve Medicaid programs in their regions.
More than 230 unique data sources and guidance from national disability
experts were considered to create comprehensive state snapshots. The full
United Cerebral Palsy report, A Case for Inclusion, and in-depth
state-by-state analysis are available online at
http://www.ucp.org/medicaid.
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