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Tuesday, 22 January 2008 |
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co. makes it virtually impossible for many employees who experience pay
discrimination to sue their employers. The Senate has before it a bill, the
Fair Pay Restoration Act, that would correct this problem for victims of pay
discrimination based on disability, age, gender and race.
Senators need to hear now from advocates and people with disabilities about
the need to enact this legislation. Markup of the bill, S. 1843, may be as
soon as next week. Letters from constituents are critical.
What the Supreme Court Did
In the Ledbetter case, the Supreme Court held that a woman who had been paid
less than male colleagues for the same work could not challenge this pay
discrimination because she had filed her claims too late. The justices said
that Lilly Ledbetter should have filed her claims within 180 days of when
her employer first decided to give her lower pay, but that occurred years
before she found out that her pay was less than her male counterparts'.
Although Ms. Ledbetter continued to receive lower paychecks than her male
colleagues for years, she could not challenge that discrimination because
the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that her claims were barred by the
statute of limitations. You can read Lilly Ledbetter's testimony at a
congressional hearing in a PDF file linked from our online alert.
What You Can Do
Write to your Senators today to urge them to support S.1843, the Fair Pay
Restoration Act, which would restore effective remedies to victims of pay
discrimination.
Use or adapt the sample letter you'll find online or you can send your own letter
asking your Senators to support S.1843.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )
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Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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An analysis about the pending TCM rules that was forwarded by the Maine advocate to the NDRN National Disability Rights Network, which is the National Protection and Advocacy organization out of DC.
Case Management
December 20, 2007 —The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published interim final regulations to govern case management services under Medicaid (Federal Register, December 4, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 232, 68077-68093; 42 CFR Parts 431, 440 and 441). Under Medicaid, case management services are services that will assist individuals in gaining access to needed medical, social, educational or other services.
View the latest memo from Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):
CMS Regulation Status
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 March 2008 )
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Read more...
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Wednesday, 02 July 2008 |
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Statement on Death of Mental Health PatientIn Psychiatric Emergency Room of Kings County HospitalStatement by David Shern, Ph.D., President and CEO of Mental Health America Contact: Steve Vetzner (703) 797-2588 or
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ALEXANDRIA, VA. (July 1, 2008)—The reports today of the death of a mental health patient in the Kings County Hospital psychiatric emergency room are deeply troubling and demand further investigation to determine the root cause of this incident. Given the problems that were first raised in a federal lawsuit filed a year ago, it should also spur greater scrutiny of the hospital’s administration and practices.Mental Health America’s fear is that this incident reflects a broader public attitude that devalues individuals with severe mental health conditions who are served in public systems. We call on people who share our abhorrence at these acts to continue to combat the ignorance and discrimination that still exists toward people with mental illnesses. If appropriately treated people, even with the most severe illnesses, can and will recover. Hope and respect are central components of this treatment. Devaluing people further prolongs their disability and likely contributes to the 25 years of lost life for persons with severe mental illnesses that are served in public systems. This incident is also a tragic illustration of systemic problems in public mental health, where needed mental health care is too often provided as a last resort instead of a first response, and where medical problems too often go unrecognized and untreated. Those systemic problems go far deeper than breakdowns in psychiatric emergency services. By their very nature, emergency services are not adequate alternatives for the many people whose illness could be managed before it becomes a crisisRather, this tragic incident underscores a real crisis in mental health service-delivery – the failure to invest adequately in early-intervention and other community-based services and supports, even as hospitals have reduced psychiatric bed capacity. The facts are that over two-thirds of adults and over half of children with a diagnosable mental health condition do not receive the mental health treatment and services they need. At the same time, people with serious mental illnesses served in the public system die, on average, 25 years early from preventable health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. As we discuss and debate “health care reform,” these shocking data highlight the importance of making mental health reform a key component of needed health reform.
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
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After five months, we’re happy to announce that 6 Medicaid regulation moratoria – which had already passed the House – also passed the Senate on June 26th as part of the Iraq/Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations bill.
It will effectively prohibit CMS from implementing regulations, until April of 2009, which limit Medicaid payments for targeted case management services, rehabilitation services, school-based transportation and outreach services, governmental providers, and provider taxes.
The bill was signed into law today.
Thanks again to all of you for your work on behalf of Maine’s vulnerable citizens.
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008 |
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Sunday New York Times Child Experts Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay By Gardiner Harris and Benedict Carey June 8, 2008 A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators. By failing to report income, the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, and a colleague in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, may have violated federal and university research rules designed to police potential conflicts of interest, according to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. Some of their research is financed by government grants. To read the full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/08conflict.html?hp
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