Health Care, Disability, and Development

Health Care, Disability, and Development: Law and Policy

What's New?

Program Evaluation Resources
February 2, 2012. The GAO has released the 2012 edition of Designing Evaluations guide to program evaluation. It is a useful basic resource paper with helpful references. Another resource that is available on the Internet published by the Northwest Health Foundation is Sherril B. Gelmon, Anna Foucek, and Amy Waterbury, Program Evaluation: Principles and Practices, 2nd Ed. (Portland, OR: Northwest Health Foundation, 2005).
Access Designing Evaluations.
Access Program Evaluation: Principles and Practices.

Oregon Groups Sue State in Challenge to Sheltered Workshops
January 27, 2012. United Cerebral Palsy and Disability Rights Oregon have filed suit in federal court against the state in a case styled Lane v. Kitzhaber, claiming that the use and operation of sheltered workshops for persons with disability violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The complaint names the Governor, the Director of the Department of Human Services, the Administrator of the Office of Disability Services, and the Administrator of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
   Read the complaint.
   Read the press release issued by Disability Rights Oregon.
   Access a fact sheet released by Disability Rights Oregon on Sheltered Workshops.

Supreme Court Rejects Application of Americans with Disabilities Act to Church School Employee
January 12, 2012. In an opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts, citing both the free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment, rejected the efforts by an employee of a church school to bring an action under the Americans with Disabilities Act. For more information and the opinion, see the Civil Rights page of this website.

HRSA Report Finds "Children with special health care needs more likely to have health care access problems"
January 5, 2012. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has released a new report entitled "Children with Special Health Care Needs in Context: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2007." As the title indicates, the report is based upon 2007 data as are other reports, so-called Chart Books produced by HRSA. The report found that "many CSHCN (Children with Special Health Care Needs) are: more likely than other children to have consistent insurance; however, that insurance is less likely to meet their needs, and they are less likely than non-CSHCN to receive care that meets the criteria for having a medical home; less likely to be engaged in school, and more likely to repeat a grade and miss more than two weeks of school due to illness; more likely to be overweight or obese than children without special health care needs; and more likely than children without special health care needs to be exposed to secondhand smoke at home." The full report and the other reports on children's health are provided below.
   Read the press release on the report.
   Read the full report "Children with Special Health Care Needs in Context: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2007."
   Read the full report "Health and Well-Being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2007."
   Read the full report "Mental and Emotional Well-Being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2007."
   Read the full report "The Health and Well-Being of Children in Rural Areas: A Portrait of the Nation 2007."

HHS Secretary Overrules FDA Decisions on Plan B
December 8, 2011. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has overruled an FDA scientific panel and has directed the FDA Commissioner to reverse the agency's announced policy that would have made Plan B contraceptive available over the counter without a prescription to all women of childbearing age. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement indicating that in her opinion, there was not sufficient research to support making the drug available to young women without a prescription.
    FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg explained in her press release in response to the secretary that: "I reviewed and thoughtfully considered the data, clinical information, and analysis provided by CDER, and I agree with the Center that there is adequate and reasonable, well-supported, and science-based evidence that Plan B One-Step is safe and effective and should be approved for nonprescription use for all females of child-bearing potential. However, this morning I received a memorandum from the Secretary of Health and Human Services invoking her authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to execute its provisions and stating that she does not agree with the Agency's decision to allow the marketing of Plan B One-Step nonprescription for all females of child-bearing potential. Because of her disagreement with FDA's determination, the Secretary has directed me to issue a complete response letter, which means that the supplement for nonprescription use in females under the age of 17 is not approved. Following Secretary Sebelius's direction, FDA sent the complete response letter to Teva today. Plan B One-Step will remain on the market and will remain available for all ages, but a prescription will continue to be required for females under the age of 17."
   Access the secretary's public statement on rejecting the FDA panel recommendation.
   Secretary Sebelius' letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg.
   Access the public statement of FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Patient Protection Act Cases
November 14, 2011. The Supreme Court has indicated in its Order List for today that it will hear the cases involving challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including No. 11-393 National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius; 11-400 Florida v. Department of Health & Human Services; and 11-398 Department of Health & Human Services v. Florida. It's directions as to how the cases will be argued are numerous. It is interesting to note with respect to the Florida cases that the Court ordered: "The petition for a writ of certiorari is No. 11-400 is granted limited to the issue of severability presented by Question 3 of the petition. The cases are consolidated and a total of 90 minutes is alloted for oral argument. Question 3 states: "Does the Affordable Care Act's mandate that virtually every individual obtain health insurance exceed Congress's enumerate powers and, if so, to what extent (if any) can the mandate be severed fromt he remainder of the Act?" In 11-398 "The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. In addition to Question 1 presented by the petition, the parties are directed to brief and argue the following question: 'Whether the suit brought by respondents to challenge the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. Section 7421(a)." A total of two hours is alloted for oral argument on question 1. One hour is alloted for oral argument on the additional question." Question 1 is: "Whether Congress had the power under Article I of the Constitution to enact the minimum coverage provision." The additional question that the Court directed the parties to argue was suggested by the Justice Department in its cert. petition. In 11-400 Florida v. Department of H&HS "The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to Question 1 presented by the petition." Question 1 is: "Does Congress exceed its enumerate powers and vilate basic principles of federalism when it coerces States into accepting onerous conditions that it could not impose directly by threatening to withhold all federal funding under the single larged grant-in-aid program, or does the limitation Congress's spending powers that this Court recognized in South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203 (1987), no longer apply?"
   Read the Court's Order List for November 14 with the information on certiorari approval in the healthcare cases.
   Read the Petition for Certiorari in No. 11-398, Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida.
   Read the petition for a writ of certionari in No. 11-393 National Federal of Indepedent Business v. Sebelius.
   Read the petition for certiorari in No. 11-400 Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services.

D.C. Circuit Panel Joins Courts Rejecting Challenges to the Patient Protection Act
November 8, 2011. Judge Laurence Silberman, writing for a panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Seven-Sky v. Holder, has joined the other courts that have rejected challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh issued a dissenting opinion. As the previous posting indicates, the Justice Dpartment has already petitioned the Supreme Court to consider the Patient Protection Act decision from the Eleventh Circuit. The D.C. Circuit opinion adds to the evidence of a division among the circuits which usually prompts Supreme Court review. Indeed, Judge Silberman notes at the outset of the opinion that "so much has already been written by our sister circuits about the issues presented in this case -- which will almost surely be decided by the Supreme Court." Slip opinion, at 6.
Read the D.C. Circuit Opinion in Seven-Sky v. Holder.

Justice Department Asks Supreme Court to Review Patient Protection Act Case
September 27, 2011. The U.S. Solicitor General has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the Forida v. HHS opinion issued by the Eleventh Circuit which struck down the Patient Protection Act. The petition styles the case as Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, No. 11-398.
   Read the Petition for Certiorari .
   Access the Appendix to the Cert. Petition.
   Access the Eleventh Circuit Florida v. HHS opinion.

WHO Issues World Disability Report.
September 22, 2011. The World Health Organization has issued the first World Report on Disability. In its release of the report, the WHO said: "The report shows that people with disabilities are more than twice as likely to find healthcare provider skills inadequate to meet their needs, and nearly three times more likely to report being denied needed health care. In low-income countries people with disabilities are 50% more likely to experience catastrophic health expenditure than non-disabled people. Children with disabilities are less likely to start school than non-disabled children and have lower rates of staying in school. In Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the employment rate of people with disabilities (44%) is slightly over half that for people without disabilities (75%)."
   The WHO also references recent research by the World Bank on "Disability and Poverty in Developing Countries: A Snapshot from the World Health Survey." The report has been released, but there is a conference scheduled by the World Bank for October 12 to present and discuss the report.
   Access the World Disability Report.
   Read the WHO press release on the report.
   Read the World Bank Report.
   Read the World Bank Announcement of Its Upcoming October 12 Conference on the report.

Fourth Circuit Court Rejects Challenges to the Patient Protection Act as Supreme Court Review Nears.
September 9, 2011. Judge Diana Gribbon Motz has written an opinion for a panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejecting the Virginia Attorney General's claim that the commonwealth had standing to challenge the Patient Protection Act and vacating the district court's ruling against the health care statute. Judge Motz also issued an opinion for the same three judge panel in a second case also involving a challenge to the act, Liberty University v. Geithner. In this case also, the panel vacated the lower court ruling with one judge concurring and another dissenting. In this case, the panel rejected the challenge to tax provisions in the law on grounds that it pre-enforcement review is barred. That leaves open the opportunity for a challenge after the tax provisions have actually been enforced.
Access the Virginia v. Sebelius opinion.
Access the Liberty University v. Geithner opinion.

U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court Rules Against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Setting Up Supreme Court Review.
August 13, 2011. A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled in favor of a challenge by 26 states to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, setting up a conflict with the ruling of the Sixth Circuit and virtually ensuring a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The panel found that the Congress "exceeded its commerce power in enacting its individual mandate" for the purchase of coverage. Florida v. HHS, Slip Opinion at 5.
Access the opinion.

Oregon Legislature Passes the Healthcare Transformation Bill
June 29, 2011. The Oregon legislature has approved H.B. 3650 known the the Health System Transformation bill. Among a variety of other things, the bill, as the legislation explains, "Establishes Orgeon Integrated and Coordinated Health Care Delivery System to replace managed care systems of medical assistance by 2014."
Access the H.B. 3650.

U.S. Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit Rejects Challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
June 29, 2011. A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has rejected a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act brought by the Thomas More Law Center. The panel concluded that "the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce Clause." Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, No. 10-2388, Slip Opinion at 3. Other cases are pending elsewhere in the federal court system, including a case already argued in the Fourth Circuit.
Access the opinion.

Food Pyramid Replaced by USDA's MyPlate
June 2, 2011. The USDA has launched its effort to replace the food pyramid with something it calls MyPlate and, like many new releases, it comes complete with a new website http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. The new icon provides a different array and apportionment of foods with a set of materials to explain each of these. In an effort to facilitate use, the USDA has also released the new MyPlate icon in jpeg file form.
   Access the MyPlate website.
   Read the USDA press release on the MyPlate initiative.
   Access the MyPlate icon.

Vermont Governor Signs Healthcare Reform Bill Launching Single Payer System
May 26, 2011. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has signed H. 202 into law, creating the nation's first single payer health care program to be known under the legislation as "Green Mountain Care."
Read Vermont governor's press release on the signing of the new single payer health care bill.
Read H. 202 as it passed the House and Senate.

Another Round of New Oregon Health Care Legislation Under Consideration
May 17, 2011. After adopting fundamental change in Oregon's health programs, the state legislature is considering additional new policies in the current term, including HB 3650 (a health care transformation bill) and SB 99 (a health insurance exchange bill).
Read HB 3650.
Read SB 99.

National Council on Disability Issues Report Anticipating Reauthorization of DD Act
March 24, 2011. The National Council on Disability has recently issued a report entitled Rising Expectations: The Developmental Disabilities Act Revisited in anticipation of action by Congress on reauthorization of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act. As the NCD explains, it is "time to consider recommendations to ensure the Act is structure appropriately in relation to the new realities and expectations of people with developmental disabilities, their families, and the goals of our nation for all Americans. The recommendations in this report are intended to address key issues and offer a way forward the when the Developmental Disabilities Act reauthorization process begins" (p. 2).
Read the report.

New ADA Rules Take Effect
March 17, 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that new regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act would take effect on March 15. The rules concern Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities. The DOJ explained that: "The revised rules are the department's first major revision of its guidance on accessibility in 20 years. The regulations apply to the activities of more than 80,000 units of state and local government and more than seven million places of public accommodation, including stores, restaurants, shopping malls, libraries, museums, sporting arenas, movie theaters, doctors' and dentists' offices, hotels, jails and prisons, polling places, and emergency preparedness shelters. The rules were signed by Attorney General Eric Holder on July 23, 2010, and the official text was published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010."
   Read the Justice Department Press Release on the New Regulations.
   Access the new rules on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services.
   Access the new rules on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities.
   Read the DOJs new regulations on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities.
   View the 2010 standards for Accessible Design.
   Access the Justice Department ADA Website.

White House Announces FY2012 Budget Proposal
February 14, 2011. The White House has released the President's budget request for FY 2012. Along with the budget overview document, the White House has issued the traditional "Terminations, Reductions, and Savings" document, the Analytic Perspectives document which provides the economic and policy assumptions behind the budget, agency by agency fact sheets, and the Appendix which is the document that contains the very detailed information on agency budgets and funds.
   The so-called budget-in-brief documents which contain detailed program by program information for the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the Environmental Protection Agency are also provided below.
   Access the Web Page for the FY2012 Budget Overview with Links for Each Federal Agency.
   Download the FY 2012 Budget as a single .pdf document.
   Access Agency by Agency Fact Sheets for the FY2012 Budget.
   Access Terminations, Reductions, and Savings for FY 2012.
   Access the Web Site for the FY2012 Budget Appendix -- All detailed information about agencies and funds.
   Access the Analytic Perspectives Document (economic and budget assumptions).
   Access the U.S. Department of Education, Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Summary and Background Information.
   Access the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year 2012 Budget-in-Brief.
   Access the Environmental Protection Agency, Fiscal Year 2012 Budget-in-Brief.
   Access USASpending.gov

Governor's Budget Calls for Major Reorganization of Children's Programs
February 3, 2011. In addition to the overall budget discussion following Governor Kitzhaber's delivery of his proposed budget, there is a particular focus area that he identified not only for funding changes but also for dramatic reorganizations of programs and agencies dealing with children, ranging from health care to education and, more broadly, in health care programs supported by the state.
   First, the governor appointed a transition team to produce an Early Childhood and Family Investment Transition Report, which the governor's office published along with the budget. That report recommended creation of an Early Leaning Council to consolidate a wide range of programs from other departments and change the operation of those programs. The governor's budget states that: "The Governor has proposed the creation of a single transparent 0-20 education investment budget, the Oregon Education Investment Fund, which will be administered by a new Oregon Education Investment Board. Under this board will be created a Council of Early Learning which will focus on ensuring that children enter school ready to learn, enter the first grade ready to read, and leave the first grade reading. . . . The Council of Early Learning is created in this budget to bring together those programs focused on primary and secondary prevention. The following programs are included: * Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education; Headstart and Early Headstart; Oregon Pre-kindergarten; Even Start; and Special Education for infants with disabilities, and pre-school grants from the Department of Education; * Healthy Start; Relief Nurseries; Community Schools; Children, Youth and Families; Great Start; Family Preservation and Support; and statewide system development and planning from the State Commission on Children and Families; * The Childcare Division and Childcare Commission from the Employment Department; * Ready to Read from the Oregon State Library; * Maternal and Child Health Programs; and Women Infants and Children from the Oregon Health Authority; and * Employment Related Daycare and the Children's Wrap-around Initiative from the Department of Human Services.
   In the first year of the biennium, the Governor's Early Childhood System Director will oversee a design team to re-engineer and transform the early childhood system to produce measurable outcomes and cost benefit analyses on a regional basis through performance-based contracting with local providers. The design team will also recommend a process to transition to the new delivery model in the second year of the biennium. Although the budget and positions for the existing programs are moved to the Council of Early Learning, the programs themselves will continue to operate in their current form for this first year of the biennium. Beginning the second year of the biennium, the programs will operate under the new system design with unified efforts and streamlined administrative services.
   In addition to the programs directly focused on early learning, the following programs from the State Commission on Children and Families have been transferred to the Council of Early Learning: Court Appointed Special Advocates; Youth Investment; the Runaway and Homeless Youth Initiative; and Juvenile Crime Prevention.
   Second, the budget specifically calls for the transfer of "Babies First, Maternal and Childhood Block Grant, and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to the new Early Learning Council." (Governor's Proposed Budget, C-15).
   Third, the Oregon Health Policy Board has chartered what is termed the "Health Systems Transformation Team, that will meet in Salem from February through April. As the Transition Team's website states, "The Health Systems Transformation Team, chartered by the Oregon Health Policy Board at the request of Governor Kitzhaber, will develop a common vision and guidance for planning a new, integrated health and services delivery system for Oregon's Medicaid programs, which can then be built upon for broader statewide markets. The aim of the plan is to better coordinate all benefits for our Medicaid clients, including physical health, mental health and addiction services, oral health, long-term care and social support services, through more integrated care." They add: "We face an unprecedented budget shortfall and the cost of health care for state publicly funded health care is an estimated 16 percent of the general fund budget. The current fiscal climate calls for bold action to design a new, more sustainable platform my fundamentally restructuring our delivery system as an innovative model to deliver better care, better health and lower costs.." The meetings will be held in Salem and, while they will be open to the public, they will not take public testimony at those hearings. Instead, there are instructions on the team's website as to how to provide input. Unfortunately, the meetings of the team began on February 2, so the process is already underway.
   Access the Early Childhood and Family Investment Transition Report.
   Access the Oregon Governor's Proposed Budget.
   Access Health Systems Transformation Team website.

U.S. District Court in Florida Rules Against Patient Protection Act
February 1, 2011. Federal District Judge Roger Vinson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida has issued his opinion in Florida v. HHS, Case No. 3:10-cv-91-RV/EMT, in which 26 states challenged the Patient Protection Act. He concluded that: "The individual mandate is outside Congress' Commerce Clause power, and it cannot be otherwise authorized by an assertion of power under the Necessary and Proper Clause. It is not Constitutional." (Slip opinion at 63). He then found that since that provision of the bill is not severable, the entire statute must fall. (Id. at 74). However, the judge did not issue an injunction against the statute's application at this time.
This decision is the second ruling against the statute, while two other district courts have rejected challenges to the new law. See the information and links for these opinions in the December 13 posting, below.
Read the opinon.

Congress Passes Pedestrian Safety Law to Deal with Electric Cars Problem
December 23, 2010. The House of Representatives passed S. 841 the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 which requires that electric vehicles emit an alert sound that may be heard by pedestrians in order to avoid near silent vehicles to come upon pedestrians, and particular visually impaired pedestrians. There is a bipartisan agreement on this bill and it is moving forward with the support of the automobile manufacturers.
Read S. 841.

Congress Passes Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act
December 17, 2010. The House of Representatives today S. 3874 Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act . The bill passed the Senate yesterday and now goes to the president for signature.
Read S. 3873.

Federal District Court in Virginia Strikes Down Part of the Patient Protection Act While Two Others Reject Challenges to the Legislation
December 13, 2010. Federal District Judge Henry E. Hudson, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, has issued his opinion in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, Civ. No. 3:10CV188-HEH, striking down Section 1501 of the Patient Protection Act which requires Minimum Essential Coverage and issued an injunction against its enforcement.
   Judge Norman K. Moon of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virgina has issued his opinion in Liberty University v. Geithner, rejecting the challenge to the Patient Protection Act. District Judge George Caram Steeh issued an opinion in another case challenging the Patient Protection Act, Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, also rejecting the attack on the new law. A variety of other cases are pending in other district courts around the nation.
   Read opinion in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius, Eastern District of Virginia.
   Read opinion in Liberty University v. Geithner, Western District of Virgina.
   Read the opinion in Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, Eastern District of Michigan.

House Adopts Child Nutrition Legislation
December 2, 2010. The House of Representatives has voted on some key legislation related to child nutrition. First the House adopted H.R. 6469 which requires programs receiving federal school lunch money to ensure background checks for employees. The House then moved on to S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which passed 264-157. This legislation has already passed the Senate and will now go to the president for signature. It reauthorizes child nutrition programs such as the WIC and school lunch programs, changes the required nutrition standards, and includes programs to encourage improved nutrition in school lunch programs, including such efforts as farm to school lunch programs.
Read the S. 3307.
Read the H.R. 6469.

AMCHP Summarizes Impacts of New Health Care Law for Families with Children who have Disabilities
November 19, 2010. The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs has developed a web page that provides a "Fact Sheet" that addresses what the organization sees as the impact of the recent federal health care reform legislation on families who have children with disabilities.
Access the AMCHP website on Health Care Reform.
Access the AMCHP Homepage.

Oregon Autism Commission Issues Report
October 26, 2010. The Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders has released its draft report. The Commission, created by executive order, was tasked with producing a report that sets out a ten year agenda for addressing the challenges and system problems confronting those with autism spectrum disorders and their families. The final report is due in December and the Commission is now seeking comments on the draft. The commission website and the report provide further information on the feedback process and other information.
Read the Draft Report.
Access the website of the Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

GAO Report Examines Respite Funding
October 23, 2010. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report entitled "Respite Care: Grants and Cooperative Agreements Awarded to Implement the Lifespan Respite Care Act." The act is P.L. 109-442, 120 Stat. 3291 and was intended to provide grants and cooperative agreements to develop state level respite programs and facilitate national resource and coordination efforts.
   Read the GAO report.
   Access the Lifespan Respite Care Program of the Administration on Aging.
   Access the ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center.
   Access the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006.

Justice Department Issues New Publication on Medical Care for Persons with Mobility Disabilities
September 3, 2010. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a new document entitled Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities. It seeks to answer commonly asked questions about the obligations of providers under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It addresses facilities, but also staff training and other significant issues.
   Read Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Mobility Disabilities.
   Access the DOJ Project Civic Access webpage.
   Access the Department of Justice ADA.gov website.

GAO Publishes Report of a Forum on Increasing Work Particiation for Adults with Disabilities
August 3, 2010. The Government Accountability Office has published a report on a forum held in March on "Actions that could Increase Work Participation for Adults with Disabilities. In addition to the report of the presentations, the GAO document provides information on a survey conducted leading up to the forum and recommendations for actions going forward to enhance workplace opportunities.
Access the GAO report.

President Signs Executive Order Encouraging Federal Hiring of Persons with Disabilities
July 31, 2010. On Monday, July 26, the twentieth anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, President Obama issued Executive Order 13548 entitled Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals With Disabilities calling on the Office of Personnel Management and federal agencies to take more steps toward recruiting and retaining federal employees with disabilities. The president also issued Proclamation 8542 on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act 2010 and declaring July 26, 2010 a day of celebration of that anniversary.
Read the Executive Order.
Read the Proclamation.

British Government Proposes Dramatic Changes in National Health Care System
July 28, 2010. The recently installed government of Britain has proposed major changes in the structure and operation of the national health care system. The Secretary of State for Health has outlined the proposed changes in a white paper just submitted to Parliament entitled Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS.
Access the White Paper.

Oregon Health Authority Launches Healthykids.gov website
July 8, 2010. The Office of Healthy Kids of the Oregon Health Authority has launched its Healthykids.gov/Hijos Saludable Oregon website. The Health Kids program was created with the passage in 2009 of HB 21126 and is intended to expand health care coverage to 95% of the state's children.
   Access the Healthy Kids site.
   Para accesar Hijos Saludable Oregon.
   Access HB 2116.

Federal Government Launches Healthcare.gov
July 1, 2010. The Department of Health and Human Service has launched a new website intended to be the primary portal to provide information on the health care reform, primarily but no solely related to the recently enacted health care reform bill, P.L. 111-148. The site's creators announced: "It's the first website to collect both public and private health insurance options across the nation in a single place. Even better, our insurance options finder automatically sorts through this huge catalog of options to help you identify the ones that may be right for you." The site invites comments from those who access the site for improvement.
   The site promises that a Spanish language version will be available soon, but it is currently available only in English.
   Access the Healthcare.gov website.
   Go to the video tour of the website.

HHS Secretary Announces Transitional Plan to Deal with Pre-existing Conditions
July 1, 2010. Health and Human Secretary has announced today the launching of a Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). As Secretary Sebelius explains it: "Created under the Affordable Care Act, the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan is a transitional program until 2014, when insurers will be banned from discriminating against adults with pre-existing conditions, and individuals and small businesses will have access to more affordable private insurance choices through new competitive Exchanges." Further information on the policy is provided on Healthcare.gov.
Read the HHS Secretary's News Release on the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP).
Access information about the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) via Healthcare.gov.

House and Senate Considering Farm to School and Related Nutrition Programs
April 7, 2010. The House Education and Labor Committee has been holding hearings on the school nutrition programs. During that discussion, several members and witnesses raised questions about programs to bring healthy food choices, particularly fruits and vegetables to school both for breakfast or lunch meals and also for snacks as alternatives to junk food either purchased in school or brought from home. There are four pieces of legislation pending presently on this subject. The current lead bills are H.R. 4710, the "Farm to School Improvments Act of 2010" and S. 3123, the Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010." H.R. 4710 was introduced by Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) and currently has 20 co-sponsors. The Senate "Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010" was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and has 17 co-sponsors.
   Access H.R. 4333 the "Children's Fruit and Vegetable Act."
   Access H.R. 4710 the "Farm to School Improvements Act of 2010.
   Access S. 3123 the "Growing Farm to School Programs Act of 2010."
   Access S. 3144 the "Healthy Food in Schools Act of 2010."

State Attorneys General File Suit Challenging the Constitutionality of Federal Health Reform Legislation
April 1, 2010. The attorneys general of 13 states, led by the Attorney General of Florida, have filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging the constitutional validity of the recently enacted federal health care legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The complaint alleges, inter alia, that "the Act exceeds the powers of the United States under Article I of the Constitution and violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. In addition, the tax penalty required under the Act, which must be paid by uninsured citizens and residents, constitutes and unlaw capitation or direct tax, in violation of Article I, sections 2 and 9 of the Constitution of the United States. Complaint at 4. The states that have filed include, Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota. The case is styled Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services, Case No. 3:10-cv-91.
   The Attorney General of Virginia has filed in a case styled as Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius in the Eastern District of Virginia.
   The Attorney General of Oregon has announced that he will file briefs in support of the new federal legislation and it is expected that other states will join that effort.
   Access the Complait Filed the Attorneys General in the Florida case.
   Access the Complaint filed by the Attorney General of Virginia in the Eastern District of Virginia.
   Read the Florida Attorney General's Announcement of the Challenge to the Federal law.
   Read the Oregon Attorney General Release on the Intent to Defend the Federal law.

Health Care Package Completed with Signing of Reconciliation Act
March 30, 2010. The president has now signed the Reconciliation Act of 2010 (now P.L. 111-152) which contains additions and changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148 (H.R. 3590) which was signed last week. The Reconciliation Act, H.R. 4872 also contains a number of key provisions on student loans.
   Access H.R. 3590 as approved.
   Access the Congressional Research Service Summary of the provisions of H.R. 3590.
   Access H.R. 4872.
   Access the technical amendments to H.R. 4872.

President Issues Executive Order on Abortions
March 24, 2010. The president has issued the executive order that he promised during the debate over the health care reform bill in the House that reiterates the bar to the use of federal funds to support abortions.
Access the Executive Order.

President Signs Health Care Legislation
March 23, 2010. The president has signed into law H.R. 3590, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was passed by Senate on December 24, 2009 and by the House on March 21, 2010. The Reconciliation Act of 2010, H.R.4872, which is the other bill approved by the House on March 21, is in the Senate where debate begins today. Information on that legislation is provided in the posting below.
Access H.R. 3590.

House Passes Health Care Bills
March 22, 2010. The House voted 219 to 212to pass the Senate health care bill that had passed that body on Christmas Eve. The House also passed additions and changes to the health care plan in the context of the budget reconciliation act. The Senate bill, H.R. 3590, now goes to the president for signature. The Reconciliation Act of 2010, H.R.4872, which passed by a vote of 220 to 211, now goes to the Senate where it can pass with a majority vote. The legislation is posted below.
   The Congressional Budget Office issued a spending and revenue estimate for the health care proposal in the Reconciliation Act on March 18 and a modifed version of the report on March 20. Both are posted below.
   Access H.R. 3590.
   Access H.R. 4872 as passed by the House.
   Access the Original CBO Report.
   Access the Revised CBO Report on March 20.
   Access CBO Director's posting on the original spending report.
   Access CBO Director's posting on the revised 3/20 spending report.
   House Rules Committee Analyses and documents on the legislation.

FDA Issues New Tobacco Regulations Under Recently Adopted Congressional Authority
March 19, 2010. The Food and Drug Administration has issued it new regulations on advertising and sales of tobacco products aimed at children under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act enacted in June of 2009. For more information about the legislation and the new regulations, go to the Public Law, Policy, and Public Administration page of this website.

GAO Report Critical of Lack of EPA Attention to Children's Health
March 18, 2010. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report critical of the lack of focused attention by the Environmental Protection Agency on children's health risks. GAO concludes that "EPA has developed policies and guidance to consider children, but it has not maintained attention to children through agency strategies and priorities. In 1996, EPA created a national agenda on children's health, and its 1997 and 2000 strategic plans highlighted children's health as a key cross-agency program. As a result, the agency's research advanced the understanding of children's vulnerabilities. However, EPA has not updated the agenda since 1996, and the focus on children is absent from the 2003, 2006, and September 2009 draft strategic plans." (GAO report summary, p.1) The report goes on to make a number of recommendations for improvement at EPA as well as calling on Congress to reinstate a cross-government task force on children's environmental health. GAO Director of Natural Resources and Development, John B. Stephenson, testified about the GAO findings before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on March 17.
Access the GAO report.
Access the Stephenson testimony.

Common Core Standards Initiative Issues Draft K-12 Education Standards
March 10, 2010. A group created by the National Governors Association (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) called the Common Core Standards Initiative has released its draft K-12 education standards. Some forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and three territories have joined in the process to create these standards which the Obama administration has already indicated may be helpful in creating nationwide evaluation standards. The CCSI will be taking public comments on the proposed draft through April 2.
   Access Draft Common Core Standards.
   Access the Common Core Standards Initiative Website.
   Access College and Career Readiness Standards.
   Access the U.S. Department of Education "Race to the Top" Website.

White Releases Health Care Proposal for Summit Discussion
February 22, 2010. The Obama administration has released its proposals for discussion at the bipartisan health care summit.
Access the President's Proposal for Health Care Reform Website.
Access the President's Proposal for Health Care Reform in .pdf file.

Proposed DSM 5 Revisions Posted for Comment
February 10, 2010. The American Psychiatic Association has published its "Proposed Draft Revisions to DSM Disorders and Criteria" on the association's DSM5 website. These are published for comment and will be open for comment until April 20, 2010. Publications of the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is expected in May 2013.
Access the American Psychiatric Association DSM 5 Development website with Proposed Changes.
Access APA News Release on Proposed Changes.

Senate Passes Health Care Bill
December 24, 2009. The Senate approved H.R. 3590 by a vote of 60-39. The bill now goes to a long-awaited conference committee with House representatives.
   The House has already passed its version of health care legislation in H.R. 3962.
   Access H.R. 3590 as it passed the Senate.
   Access H.R. 3962 as it passed the House.

District Court Rules on Forest Grove Special Education Case After Supreme Court Decision
December 14, 2009. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman has ruled on remand that a family that had taken the Forest Grove school district to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking reimbursement for private school tuition because of its failure to qualify their son for an individual education program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act should not receive that money. News reports indicate that while the district did not have to pay some $65,000 in tuition and fees, it has spent nearly $500,000 in litigating the case thus far. For more information and links to the opinion and news article, go to the Oregon page of this website.

Native American Health Issues Raised at White House Tribal Nations Conference
December 2, 2009. .
   The House has already passed its version of health care legislation in H.R. 3962.
   Access President Obama's Message at the Opening of the Tribal Nations Conference.
   Access the Secretary of Interior's Statement to the Conference.
   Access President Obama's Message at the Closing of the Tribal Nations Conference.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Takes Effect
November 23, 2009. The Genetic Information Policy Act (GINA) took effect on November 21. For more information and access to key documents, see the Civil Rights page of this website.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Issues Controversial Recommendations
November 19, 2009. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a controversial set of new recommendations on breast cancer screening, including mammograms and self-examinations. The Secretary of Health and Human Services has indicated that there is no expected change in policy from the federal government as a result and a number of insurance companies have indicated their intention to support the existing policies. The following posts include the new recommendation summary and the articles and evidence issued in support. Also posted is the HHS Secretary's statement in response. Finally, there is the USPSTF website and the membership of the task force.
   Read the Recommendation Summary.
   Read the Supporting Article.
   Read the Evidence Update.
   Read the Previous Recommendation.
   Read the HHS Secretary's Statement in Response to the Recommendation.
   Access the Task Force Website.
   Access the List of Members of the Task Force.
   Access the Task Force Members' biographical sketches.

UNICEF Issues Report on Maternal and Child Nutrition
November 15, 2009. A report released this week by UNICEF warns of critical problems of malnutrition among children and their mothers The report, entitled Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition: A Survival and Development Priority, warns that more than 200 million children under 5 suffer from chronic undernutrition and a third of all dealths of children under 5 result from that cause.
Read the UNICEF Report.

Oregon Health Authority Announcement on Transition Rules and Procedures
November 13, 2009. The Oregon Health Authority has announced rulemaking processes for "Transition Period Roles & Responsibilities" and for Procedural Rules with hearings and comment deadlines set for December. For details and links to the Notices of Proposed Rulemaking go to the Oregon page of this website.

CPSC Issues Notice on Recall of Children's Toy for Lead Content
November 13, 2009. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall by the MacPherson�s firm of Emeryville, CA of a product, manufactured in China, known as the Young Adult Easel. The CPSC announcement states that: "The chalkboard surface coating contains high levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard."
   The State of Oregon DHS has a website with information on Lead-related warnings and recalls.
   Access the CPSC Announcement.
   Access Oregon DHS Website on Lead-Related Warnings.

House Debates Health Care Legislation
November 7, 2009. The House of Representatives is now debating H.R. 3962 and a related bill which is the major health care legislation offered by House Democrats and related Medicare legislation
Access the H.R. 3962.
Access the H.R. 3921.

House Leaders Announce Consolidated Health Care Proposal
October 29, 2009. The Speaker of the House has announced a revised version of the House health care plan offered by the Democrats known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
Access the Proposal As Announced by the Speaker on 10/29/2009.

GAO Releases Report on Higher Education and Disabilities
October 29, 2009. In response to a congressional request the Government Accountability Office has produced a report entitled Higher Education and Disability: Education Needs a Coordinated Approach to Improve It's Assistance to Schools in Supporting Students. Among other things, the report finds that: "In 2008, students with disabilities represented an estimated 11 percent oof all postsecondary students, and this population appears to have grown over the past decade." p. 8 The study also concludes that there are wide variations in the ways that universities and colleges address the support needs of these students whose challenges are significantly different in several respects from students at the primary and secondary level. The report calls for efforts to enhance communication and coordination across agencies to share information.
Read the Report.

Major Oregon Health Policy and Administration Shift Moves to Implementation
October 17, 2009. The implementation process for H.B. 2009 which dramatically changed the organization and operation of health policy in the state is now underway. For details, organizational information, and implementation documents go to the Oregon page of this website.

U.S. EPA Provides Children's Health Resources
October 9, 2009. The U.S. EPA offers a website entitled "Protecting the Environment: Children's Health" with a wide range of materials and resources to address environmental threats to children's health. There is a separate page on "What You Can Do to Protect Children from Environmental Risks" available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean in addition to English. These and other materials are provided by the EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection.
   Access the U.S. EPA Protecting the Environment: Children's Health site.
   Access the What You Can Do to Protect Children from Environmental Risks page.
   Access the What You Can Do page in Spanish. C�mo Proteger a los Ni�os de los Riesgos Ambientales.
   Access the Office of Children's Health Protection website.

Baucus Bill Scheduled for Vote
October 8, 2009. Following an extended set of markup debates on the health care proposal offered by the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-MT), entitled the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, the proposal will move to a committee vote on Tuesday, October 13. The proposal is very different from either the House proposals or the legislation that has passed out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The Senate Finance Committee Site presents the legislation and proposed amendments as well as financial estimates for consideration during markup. Those other pieces of legislation and related documents are provided in other entries on this web page. Also included is the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate for the Chairman's mark as amended.
   Access the Chairman's Mark as Amended as of October 2, 2009.
   Read Senator Baucus' press release on the legislation.
   Senate Finance Committee website on the legislation and amendments to it.
   Access Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimates for the Chairman's Mark as Amended.

Federal Court Finds New York in Violation of ADA and Section 504 for Institutionalization in "Adult Homes"
September 8, 2009. Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, citing Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), has issued a ruling in a case brought against New York officials by a disability advocacy group. His memorandum and order in Disability Advocates, Inc. v. Patterson, 03-CV-3209 (NGG), finds that "approximately 4,300 individuals with mental illness, are not receiving services in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs," in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Slip opinion at 2-3. These individuals had been placed in so-called "adult homes" which are for-profit residences of some 120 clients each. The court found that the adult homes do not "'enable interactions with nondisabled persons to the fullest extent possible,' especially compared to supported hoursing." Id. at 12. This case involved 28 adult homes in New York City had more than 100 residents and seven of which had over 200. These are, the court found, institutions which segregate individuals with mental illness from others and are treated in virtually all respects as if they were institutionalized in a mental institution. Judge Garaufis has ruled that the plaintiffs are entitled to injunctive relief, but did not issue a remedial order at this time. (NOTE: This is a 210 page opinion and a substantial .pdf file.)
Read the opinion.

GAO Issues Report on Teacher Preparation for Working With Children with Disabilities
August 18, 2009. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report entitled "Multiple Federal Education Offices Support Teacher Preparation for Instructing Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners, but Systematic Departmentwide Coordination Could Enhance this assistance." The report examined available federal programs, but also followed through with field studies in four states. The results show varied standards and training. The Department of Education has accepted the recommendations from the study and is considering mechanisms for coordination across teacher preparation programs.
Read the GAO report.

Judge Orders Disclosure of Documents that Show Supportive Journal Articles Ghostwritten for Drug Company
August 5, 2009. Judge William R. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arkansas Western Division has issued an order unsealing material that was provided in discovery in a case against a drug manufacturer in which there are allegations that the company employed ghostwriters for articles published in medical journals supporting the use of hormone replacement therapy. The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the New York Times intervened in the case, In re Prempro Products Liability, MDL Docket No. 4:03CV1507WRW, seeking to have the material unsealed. The court granted the motion to intervene and for disclosure, setting aside the designation of the material by the company as "confidential." The New York Times has published some of the released materials on its website.
   Read the Court's Order Granting Discovery of Ghostwritten Material.
   Read PLOS Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Intervene and to Unseal.
   Access copies of the released documents on ghostwritten articles via the New York Times.

President Commits U.S. to Sign U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
July 26, 2009. President Obama has issued a proclamation commemorating the enactment of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), proclaiming July 26 to be the anniversary of the Act, and committing the U.S. to sign the U.C. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
   Read the Proclamation on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
   Acces U.N. Enable, the Website on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
   Read Convention and Optional Protocol.

Health Bill Passed Out of House Committee
July 19, 2009. The recently introduced health care bill, H.R. 3200 (see full information below) passed the House Education and Labor Committee (26-22) and has been referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform and House Budget Committees.
Access the House Education and Labor Committee website on the bill .
Read Committee Announcement of Amendments and Passage of the Bill.

New Health Care Plan Introduced in House and Senate Committee Moves on Bill
July 15, 2009. Representatives Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Charles Rangel, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and George Miller, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, have introduced H.R. 3200 America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions passed out of committee the Affordable Health Choices Act which is the Senate version of the legislation that Senators Edward Kennedy, Chris Dodd, and Tom Harkin are moving in that body. While the bill has passed out of committee, it does not yet have a Senate bill number. The Obama Administration announced support for the legislative action. (NOTE: The files are substantial for the legislation. The House version is 1,017 pages in length and the Senate 615 pages.)
   Read the bill text.
   Access the Bill Summary.
   Access the House Committee on Energy and Commerce website on the legislation with additional information.
   Read the Senate Committee Press Release with Section by Section Analysis of the Bill.
   View the Senate Committee Markup of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act.
   Read the Senate Bill.
   Read the White House release on the House bill.
   Read the White House release on the Senate Committee Action.

Obama Administration's Food Safety Working Group Announces Proposed Actions
July 8, 2009. The Food Safety Working Group, created by President Obama in March, has issued findings and an indication of forthcoming steps to be taking primarily by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to address concerns over the safety of the food supply.
   Read the White House press release on the announcement of the FSWG findings and proposed actions.
   Read FSWG "Key Findings" document.
   Access FSWG Fact Sheet.
   Access the Food Safety Working Group website.
   Read President's Statement on Creation of the FSWG.
   Access the FDA Final Rule on Egg Safety.

Supreme Court Issues Major Ruling Limiting Remedial Authority of Federal Courts in Arizona English Language Learners Case
June 26, 2009. A sharply divided Supreme Court has issued an opinion in Horne v. Flores, a case that originally came from English language instruction in the school district of Nogales, Arizona. However, the focus of the case as it came to the Supreme Court was not on ELL, but actually on the judge's continuing rulings about the remedy for the problem. As the Justice Alito put it, writing for the majority, "the question at issue in these cases in not whether Arizona must take 'appropriate action' to overcome the language barriers that impede ELL students. Of course it must. But petitioners argue that Arizona now is fulfilling its statutory obligation by new means that reflect new policy insights and other changed circumstances." Slip opinion at 2.
   The court of appeals upheld the federal district court's actions in the face of demands by some state officials, most notably the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate of the Arizona legislature, that the court should end its role in the case. Ironically, the State of Arizona and the Arizona State Board of Public Education filed a brief in support of the family in the case, as did a number of the state's other school districts. The United States filed as amicus curiae also in support of the family.
   The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Alito for a five person majority found that the judge had indeed exceeded his authority. Four justices dissented in an opinion written by Justice Breyer. The importance of the case as a precedent for the future is more about the manner in which judges exercise remedial authority in cases than it is just about the particular facts of the Arizona dispute. The Court's language warns judges in "institutional reform" cases to return control to state and local officials as soon as possible once there is a remedy in place or circumstances have changed. The majority found that, in this case, the lower court did not "fairly consider" the changes that had taken place in the education policy that gave rise to the legislation. However, writing for the dissenters, Justice Breyer disputed both the Court's interpretation of the law governing the judge's remedial authority and the facts of the case. He argued that the focus of the case in the lower court at the time of this ruling was not on how to teach ELL students, but whether the state and school district had provided the resources essential to meet the conditions that were central to the ELL problem in the first place and the proposed state and local response to it. As to the majority's application of a new standard, he warned: "insofar as the Court goes beyond the technical reord-based aspects of this case and applied a new review framework, it risks problems in future cases. The framework it applies is incomplete and lacks clear legal support or explanation. And it will be difficult for lower courts to understand and apply that framework, particularly if it rests on a distinction between 'institutional reform litigation' and other forms of litigation." Slip opinion at 44. And to the degree it meant to be an even wider statement, there are additional difficulties. "[T]he Court may mean its opinion to express an attitude, cautioning judges to take care when the enforcement of federal statutes will impose significant financial burders upon states. An attitude, however, is not a rule of law. . . . I do not see how this Court can now require lowere court judges to take yet greater care, to proceed with even greater caution, while at the same time expecting those courts to enforce the statute as Congress intended. " Id. at 44-45.
   Both the majority's discussion of the law that must control efforts by lower courts to remedy civil rights violations and the focus on limiting judicial rulings affecting financial aspects of the problem are likely to be broadly applicable to a variety of cases involving state institutions and services.
   Read the Horne v. Flores opinion.
   Read the oral argument transcript.
   Read the Brief for Petitioner Horne, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
   Read the Brief for Petitioner, Speaker of the Arizona House.
   Read Brief for Respondents State of Arizona and Arizona State Board of Education.
   Read Brief for Respondent Flores.
   Read Brief of the United States as Amicus Curiae in support of Repondent.

Supreme Court Decides Forest Grove IDEA Challenge
June 23, 2009. The Supreme Court has rejected the claim that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) bars suits by parents to reimburse costs of private tuition if the child had not been receiving special education services in the public schools. The case arose came from Forest Grove, Oregon where a family sought reimbursement for tuition for sending their child to a private school. The district argued that the family had acted unilaterally and in the absence of a finding of eligibility for IDEA services. The parents contended that they had repeatedly tried to get the district to recognize and address their son's disabilities. The case is Forest Grove School District v. T.A., No. 08-305. The United States filed an amicus brief in support of the family, arguing that the fact that the student had not been receiving IDEA services before his removal to the private school was irrelevant.
   Read the Supreme Court Opinion.
   Read the oral argument transcript.
   Read Brief for Petitioners.
   Read the Brief for Respondents.
   Read the Brief Amicus Curiae of the U.S..

Legislature Passes Health Care Bills
June 12, 2009. The Oregon legislature has passed H.B. 2116 designed to increase the number of children covered under state health care programs and provide for revenue measures to support that program and H.B. 2009 which reorganizes health care administration and deals with insurance premium rates. The bills are much more complex than this brief comment suggests. The governor has lauded both measures and his signature is expected shortly.
Access H.B. 2009.
Access H.B. 2116.

Obama Administration Establishes Office of Health Reform
April 10, 2009. The President has issued an executive order, creating an Office of Health Reform in the Executive Office of the President. The order calls upon that new office to "provide leadership to the executive branch in establishing policies, priorities, and objectives for the Federal Government's comprehensive effort to improve access to health care, the quality of such care, and the sustainability of the health care system." The order also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a similar office in that agency to coordinate with the White House office.
Access the Executive Order.

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) Releases State of PreSchool Report Report
April 8, 2009. The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutger's University has issued its report entitled The State of PreSchool 2008: State Preschool Yearbook which provides a national summary of the Pre-K education situation in the U.S. and state by state data as well. The report's authors are W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D., Dale J. Epstein, Ph.D., Allison H. Friedman, Ed.M., Judi Stevenson Boyd, Ed.M., and Jason T. Hustedt, Ph.D. The full report is a large file, but pieces can be downloaded from the report homepage.
   Access the Report homepage.
   Access the Executive Summary.
   Access the full Report.

Senate Finance Committee Hearings on Health Care Reform in FY 2010 Proposal and Beyond
March 10, 2009. One of the important ways in which health care reform is being address in policymaking is through discussions on the fiscal 2010 budget proposal. Today's hearing focused on proposals in President Obama's FY 2010 budget proposal focused on testimony by Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag. The committee will hold hearing on March 12 on "Workforce Issues in Health Care Reform." The committee provides live streaming video and audio from its hearings website. See link below.
   The Senate Finance Committee has held a series of hearings over the past year on key aspects of health reform and health care finance. Topics included: "Health Care Reform: An Economic Perspective," "High Health Care Costs: A State Perspective," "Covering the Uninsured: Making Health Insurance Markets Work," "Aligning Incentives: The Case for Delivery System Reform," "Improving Health Care Quality: An Integral Step Toward Health Reform," "Health Benefits in the Tax Code: The Right Incentives," and "The Right Care at the Right Time: Leveraging Innovation to Improve Health Care Quality for All Americans." Links to the testimony and records for those hearings are provided below.
   A focus of the current hearings and some of the previous hearings as well is the work of the Dartmouth Center for Health Policy Research. The report that was the central focus of the current hearing was entitled "The Policy Implications of Variations in Medicare Spending Growth." A paper from that research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Elliott S. Fisher, Julie P. Bynum, and Jonathan S. Skinner and entitled "Slowing the Growth of Health Care Costs: Lessons From Regional Variation." The link to the Dartmouth Center and to the NEJM article are provided below.
    Link to Senate Finance Hearings Page for Video and Audio as well as links to individual hearings..
    Access Testimony and Materials for The President�s Fiscal Year 2010 Health Care Proposals.
    Access Testimony and Materials for Workforce Issues in Health Care Reform.
    Access Testimony and Materials for Health Care Reform: An Economic Perspective .
    Access Testimony and Materials for High Health Care Costs: A State Perspective .
    Access Testimony and Materials for Covering the Uninsured: Making Health Insurance Markets Work.
    Access Testimony and Materials for Aligning Incentives: The Case for Delivery System Reform.
    Access Testimony and Materials for Improving Health Care Quality: An Integral Step Toward Health Reform.
    Access Testimony and Materials for Health Benefits in the Tax Code: The Right Incentives.
    Access Testimony and Materials for The Right Care at the Right Time: Leveraging Innovation to Improve Health Care Quality for All Americans.
    Access Testimony and Materials for The President's Fiscal Year 2010 Health Care Proposals.
    Access the Darmouth Center for Health Policy Research.
    Access the Dartmouth Report "The Policy Implications of Variations in Medicare Spending Growth."
    Access the New England Journal Of Medicine Study "Slowing the Growth of Health Care Costs: Lessons From Regional Variation."

House Voting on FY09 Omnibus Spending Package
February 26, 2009. The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. This bill seeks to wrap up the budget for the current fiscal year which is presently on a continuing resolution scheduled to terminate on March 6. It is another very large omnibus bill.
Access H.R. 1105.

OMB Issues Implementation Guidance for the Stimulus Package
February 23, 2009. The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum to executive agencies and departments entitled "Initial Implementing Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
   The House and Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and it has been signed by the president as P.L. 111-5. The final bill is a modified version of the Collins-Nelson Amendment (570) which was an amendment in the nature of a substitute which completely replaced the legislation that previously passed theU.S. House of Representatives. The GPO has not yet published P.L. 111-5 in public law format, but the law is available in the bill number format as adopted by both houses and signed by the president.
   Access the OMB Initital Implementation Guidance.
   Access the bill as passed by the house and Senate.

CMS Projects Major Increase in Public Spending as Leading Health Spender
February 26, 2009. A recent CMS study suggests that public spending for total health care will account for more than half of all spending by 2016.
   Access NHE Projections 2008-2018 Report.
   Access CMS Press Release on Medicaid Projections report.
   Access CMS Medicaid Projections.

Three Rulings Against Claims that Vaccine Caused Autism
February 12, 2009. Three federal special masters for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims have ruled against parties who claimed that vaccines administered to children caused autism and other conditions. Three different special masters in the three different cases ruled that the parties had failed to demonstrate that the vaccines caused their children's medical conditions. The decision in the Cedillo case concluded that: "The overall weight of the evidence is overwhelming contrary to the petitioners' causation theories." (Emphasis in original) Slip opinion, at p. 172.
   Access the Cedillo v. Secretary of Health Human Services ruling.
   Access ruling in Hazlehurst v. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
   Access ruling in Snyder v. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

President Obama Signs SCHIP Bill into Law and Rescinds Bush Administration Restriction
February 6, 2009. Congress has passed and president has signed H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 with amendments. Immediately thereafter, the president issued a memorandum calling upon the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the Department of Health and Human services withdraw a policy letter initially issued by the George W. Bush administration on August 17, 2007 and reissued on May 7, 2009 concerning requirements for states that sought to expand coverage.
   The earlier policy was posted on this page at the time of its issuance in 2007 with the following information. Dennis G. Smith, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, issued a letter on August 17, 2007 to state directors of State Childrens' Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) that placed conditions on the discretion of the states to increase SCHIP coverage over 250 percent of the poverty level that included requirements for proof that those covered have been uninsured for at least a year and that "Monitoring and verification must include information regarding coverage provided by a noncustorial parent." (See letter p. 2.) The letter also required the states to provide "Assurance that the State has enrolled at least 95 percent of the children in the State below 200 percent of the FPL who are eligible for either SCHIP or Medicaid (including a description of the steps the State takes to enroll these eligible children." It also mandated "Assurance that the number of children in the target population insured through private employers has not decreased by more than two percentage points over the prior five year period." (Id.) These actions were explained in the letter by the administration's efforts to avoid "crowd out" actions in which public coverage is allegedly crowds out private alternatives. (NOTE: The 2007 letter is still on the CMA website as of the date of this posting, but is likely to be taken down soon in response to the president's memorandum.)
   Access the H.R. 2.
   Access the Presidential Memorandum of February 6, 2009.
   Read the August 21, 2007 letter.

FDA Releases Inspection Report on Peanut Problem
January 30, 2009. The Food and Drug Administration has released its inspection report on the Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Georgia facility that has been linked to a serious salmonella outbreak. It has also established a webpage with a variety of documents on the outbreak and the peanut products linked to it.
Access the FDA inspection report
Access the FDA page on the salmonella outbreak and the peanut products associated with it.

Institute of Medicine Issues Global Health Report
January 26, 2009. The Institute of Medicine has issued a report entitled The U.S. Comitment to Global Health: Recommendations for the New Administration. The report is available free of charge at the site indicated below.
   Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona testified in July 2007 before a House committee concerning political interference in the operation of his office, including allegations of efforts to block presentation of medically significant information on political grounds by political appointees without expertise in the field. One of the specific examples was a 2006 draft "Surgeon General's Call to Action on Global Health." That draft report was made available via the Washington Post website. No final Surgeon General's Call to Action on Global Health was issued.
   . Read the Draft 2006 Surgeon General Call to Action on Global Health via the WashingtonPost site.
   . Read IOM U.S. Comitment to Global HealthReport.

Health Policy Legislation Introduced as Oregon Legislature Begins Work
January 16, 2009. Two significant pieces of health related legislation have been introduced as the Oregon legislative session gets underway. The first, H.B. 2009, is a broad proposal for health care reform. The second, H.B. 2347, addresses a variety of issues associated with the powers of clinician regulatory bodies. For links to these bills, go to the Oregon page of this website.

FDA Inspector General Finds a Lack of Adequate Conflict of Interest Information for Clinical Trial Investigators
January 12, 2009. The Inspect of the Food and Drug Administration has issued a report indicating that the agency has not collected and investigated conflict of interest information that is required to be obtained and produced by sponsoring organizations of new drugs or medical devices concerning possible conflicts of interests in those persons who are involved in conducting clinical trials prior to FDA approval.
Access the FDA IG Report.

GAO Reports on Local and State Government Fiscal Challenges from Health Care Issues
November 19, 2008. The Government Accountability Office has provided testimony to the Senate Finance Committee on the threats to state and local government fiscal well-being from health care costs. Stanley Czerwinski, Director of the GAO Strategic Issues unit provided evidence to Congress that "Rapidly rising health care costs are not simply a federal budget problem. Growth in health-related spending also drives the fiscal challenges facing state and local governments. The magnitude of these challenges presents long-term sustainability challenges for all levels of government." Summary p. 1. The testimony provides an analysis on long -term and as well as near-term issues.
Read the GAO testimony.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Show Continuing and Growing Problems
October 20, 2008. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has published its reports on 2007 data. The National Health Disparities 2007 Report shows worsening trends across a range of measures for many minorities. The National Healthcare Quality 2007 Report shows that quality is improving but that the rate of improvement is declining.
Access National Health Disparities 2007 Report in .pdf.
Access National Healthcare Quality Report for 2007.

Mental Health Parity Act Passes as Part of Bailout Bill
October 9, 2008. When Congress passed and the president signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, H.R. 1424, they also included the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The legislators chose to use that bill for a variety of procedural reasons to be the vehicle to carry the bailout package. That is why the mental health legislation is actually buried in Subtitle B, of Title V, of Division C of the new legislation which now carries the proper designation of P.L. 110-343. The easy way to find it is to click on the link below and then use you Adobe search tool and type in mental health. It will get you to the mental health parity part.
Access P.L. 110-343.

GAO Reports Major Gaps in Dental Care for Children
September 24, 2008. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report entitled "Extent of Dental Disease in Children Has Not Decreased, and Millions Are Estimated to Have Untreated Tooth Decay" which indicates a serious lack of dental care particularly for children not covered by private insurance. "Nationally representative data from the 2004 through 2c005 MEPS survey -- which asks participants about the receipt of dental care for household members -- indicate that only one in three children in Medicaid ages 2 through 18 had received dental care in the year prior to the survey. Similarly, about one in eight children reportedly never sees a dentist. More than half of children with private health insurance, by contrast, has received dental care in the prior year. Children in Medicaid also fared poorly when compared to national benchmarks, as the percentage of children in Medicaid who received any dental care -- 37 percent -- was far below the Healthy People 2010 target of having 66 percent of low-income children under age 19 receive a preventive dental service." Report summary, p. 1.
Access the report.

Congress Passes the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
September 19, 2008. Congress has passed and President Bush has promised to sign S3406, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The legislation was designed to reverse a number of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limited eligibility for Americans with Disabilities Act protections and a variety of other purposes.
Read S. 3406 as approved by the House and Senate.

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 Becomes Law
August 28, 2008. Congress has enacted and the president has signed H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 which is now P.L. 110-314. The new statute responds to broad criticism of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the fact that the agency lacked authority and resources to do its work. The criticism and congressional investigations followed revelations of numerous toys and other children's products that were imported into the U.S. from China with high lead levels. The new legislation not only reauthorizes the CPSC and makes changes to the commission's authority and operations, but Title I of the act, entitled Children's Product Safety also specifically addresses a range of issues concerning toys and other products designed for children, including "Children's products containing lead; lead paint rule; Mandatory third party testing for certain children's products; Tracking labels for children's product; Standards and consumer registration of durable nursery products; Labeling requirements for advertising toys and games; Mandatory toy safety standards; Study of preventable injuries and dealths in minority children related to consumer products; and Prohibition on sale of certain products containing specified phthalates."
Read H.R. 4040.

Inspector General Finds that Its Contractor Found that a HHS Contractor Missed Errors
August 26, 2008. The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released a report assessing error rates in inappropriate payments for durable medical equipment in which it found inappropriate payments by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In addition to the substantive findings, it is interesting to note that the Inspector General hired its own contractor to assess the work of the contractor hired by CMS to check for errors in CMS payment programs. The HHS IG concluded that "Based on the 20 errors that both the CERT contractor and KePRO found and the additional 73 errors that KePRO found, we estimated that the error rate in the FY 2006 CERT DME sample was 28.9 percent." Id., p. 2. For further information and link to the HHS IG report see the Public Contract Management page of this website.

GAO Examines Transition Issues for Young Adults with Mental Illness
June 30, 2008. The U.S. Government Accountability office has issued a report on transition challenges for young adults with serious mental illness entitled Young Adults with Serious Mental Illness: Some States and Federal Agencies Are Taking Steps to Address Their Transition Challenges. The report looked into programs in four states and the federal government designed to address the special needs of these young adults.
    The GAO study published in 2006 is still an interesting and useful document in its own right in discussing challenges of coordination of transition services at the state and federal levels. That report stemmed from a conference convened by GAO to examine challenges in transitions for youth with disabilities to work or postsecondary education at the state and local level which used California as a case study.
   Access June 2008 GAO report on transition and serious mental illness.
    Read the GAO 2006 Transition Report.

Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 Signed Into Law
May 28, 2008. Congress has passed and the president has signed H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. One title of the act addresses discrimination by insurance companies on the basis of genetic information and the other major title deals with disrimination by employers based on genetic information about employees.
Access H.R. 493.

Oregon LEND Program Multilingual Resources on Disabilities Page
May 28, 2008. Trainees in the Oregon LEND (Leadership Education for Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) program have created a multilingual web resource on disabilities and development.
Access the LEND site.

D.C. Circuit Strikes Rules that U.S. Paper Currency Violates the Rehabilitation Act
May 20, 2008, 2008. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that the current manner in which U.S. paper money violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The panel ruling rejects the position of the Department of the Treasury that the fact that all bills are the same size does not violate the statute because of the difficulties faced by blind or severely visually impaired persons in using the money. Even if it does, Treasury argued, the judiciary should limit its response because of the costs and burdens imposed in changing the paper currency. However, the D.C. Circuit panel rejected both arguments.
Access the opinion.

Legislation Introduced to Increase Regulation of Human Growth Hormone
March, 2008. Following on recent publicity about the abuse of human growth hormone, legislation has been introduced to add this drug to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The legislation was introduced by Representative Stephen Lynch (D, MA). The House Government Oversight Committee, Chaired by Henry Waxman (D, CA), held hearings in February on the "Myths and Facts about Human Growth Hormone, B-12, and Other Substances. These hearings are also related to other hearings on the use of performance enhancing substances in sports. The proposed legislation and the video or transcripts of the February hearing are provided below.
Access H.R. 4911.
Access House Oversight Committee Hearing.

FDA Publishes Guidance on Publicity by Drug Companies of Off-Label Uses of Drugs
February 16, 2008. The Food and Drug Administration has published a proposed new guidance document on the ways in which drug companies can use reprints from existing journal articles to promote off-label uses of currently licensed drugs. The FDA accounced this proposed guidance on its website on February 15, but publication is still pending in the Federal Register.
   Read the Press Release.
   Read the Proposed Guidance in the Federal Register.
   Read the Proposed Guidance as published on the FDA website.

Administration Medicaid Rule to Eliminate Key Reimbursable Expenses to Schools for Children Disabilities
February 3, 2008. The administration has issued a final rule that prohibits reimbursements to school districts for special transportation for children with special needs, the costs of enrollment of those children in Medicaid and related programs, and for service coordination. The rule was to go into effect in February but Congress placed a moratorium on it until June. Action is also being taken in Congress to invoke the Congressional Review Act, but the joint resolution required by that legislation to block the rule faces a veto threat.
Read the Medicaid final rule.

Study Points to Genetic Findings on Chromosome 16 and Autism
January 10, 2008. The New England Journal of Medicine has published online an article by researchers for the Autism Consortium. The article entitled, "Association between Microdeletion and Microduplication at 16p11.2 and Autism," by Lauren A. Weiss and colleagues, presents findings about a relationship between some persons with autism and a Chromosome 16 issue.
Access the article.

Oregon Supreme Court Rules on OHSU Liability Cap
January 8, 2008. The Oregon Supreme Court has issued its long awaited ruling in the case testing the validity of the Oregon Tort Claims Act liability cap asserted by Oregon Health Science University. The provision was challenged under Article I, Section 10 of the state constitution. For more information a link to the opinion, click on the Oregon page of this website.

Head Start Program Reauthorized
December 13, 2007. The Congress has passed and the president has signed the "Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007," H.R. 1429. The president praised the fact that the bill "increased competition among Head Start providers, improved coordination of early childhood delivery systems, and stronger educational performance standards." He was not happy that it authorized more funds and that it did not provide for faith-based provider hiring autonomy.
. Access H.R. 1429.
Access the President's statement on signing H.R. 1429.

Congress and President at Deadlock Over Health Spending Continues
December 13, 2007. President Bush has vetoed H.R. 3963, the "Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 which is the latest effort by Congress to reauthorize the SCHIP program. The last effort, H.R. 3043, the "Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations, 2008" was vetoed by President Bush in November. At this point the relevant agencies are operating under continuing resolutions. At this point it is not clear whether the administration and congressional leaders will resolve this matter through negotiations or whether there will be an omnibus spending bill adopted later. The following links take the teader to the both versions of the legislation as they passed both houses of the Congress and to the veto messages issued by President Bush.
   . Access H.R. 3963.
   . Access the President's veto message on H.R. 3963.
   . Access H.R. 3043.
   . Access the President's veto message.

Urban Indian Health Commission and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Issue Report "Invisible Tribes" Report
December 5, 2007. The Urban Indian Health Commission has issued a report entitled Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their Health in a Changing World. With chapter on "A Population in Crisis; Urban Indian access to Health Care; Challenges in data Collection; Depression among Urban Indians; Type 2 diabetes among Urban Indians; Cardiovascular disease among Urban Indians; and Models of success, the report offers a variety of findings regarding a population often ignored in discussions of health disparities.
Access the Report

National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study Published
November 29, 2007. The National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study was published in 2007. The study, entitled Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families: Participants, Services, and Outcomes, tracked 3,338 children who entered early intervention between September 1997 and November 1998. The study identifies the key questions for the study as follows: "Who are the children and families receiving EI services? What EI services do participating children and families receive? What are the costs of the EI services? What outcomes do participating children and families experience? How do outcomes relate to variations in child and family characteristics and services received?" The study was funded by the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education and conducted by SRI International in collaboration with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, RTI International, and the American Institutes for Research. SRI International.
. Access the NEILS Report.
. Access the NEILS Website.

GAO Issues Report on VA Health Care Contracting
October 31, 2007. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee entitled "VA Health Care: Status of Inspector General Recommendations for Health Care Services Contracting." The report examines the recommendations made by the VA Inspector General for fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006. For more information and a link to the report see the Public Contracting Management page of this website.

National Academy Releases PTSD Report
October 19, 2007. The Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of the National Academy, Institute of Medicine's Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice has issued a report entitled Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Assessment of the Evidence. The report, requested by the Veterans Administration, assesses existing evidence on treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in the wake of national debate on services available to returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
. Access the PTSD report.

Government Accountability Office Publishes Study of Pediatric Drug Research
October 19, 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has published a study of the experience thus far under the 2002 Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act. The legislation was enacted because of the fact that most drugs prescribed for children were only tested on adults.
. Access the GAO report.

President Vetoes SCHIP Reauthorization Act
October 3, 2007. President Bush has vetoed the SCHIP reauthorization bill H.R. 976. He asserted in part that: "If this bill were enacted, one out of every three children moving onto government coverage would be moving from private coverage." He also claimed that the bill would not produce enough revenue to support the expanded coverage of SCHIP.
. Read the president's veto message.
. Read H.R. 976.

GAO Provides Report on Federal Global Health -- Infectious Disease Surveillance Programs
October 4, 2007. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the operation of the four major U.S. global health -- infectious disease surveillance programs, including Global Disease Detection (CDC); the Field Epidemiology Training Programs (CDC, USAID); Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (WHO's Regional Office for Africa with CDC and USAID); Globale Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (DOD) .
. Access the GAO Global Health report.

U.S. Government Accountability Office Holds Forum on Moderning Federal Disability Policy
August 13, 2007. The U.S. GAO has published the highlights of a forum entitled "Moderning Federal Disability Policy" that was convened in April of this year and involved representatives of some twenty federal agencies operating programs concerned with persons with disabilities.
. Read the GAO Forum HIghlights.

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Demands by Terminal Patients for Access to Research Drugs
August 8, 2007. A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a challenge to the Food and Drug Administrations restrictions on experimental drugs where those seeking the medications are under a terminal diagnosis. In affirming the district court ruling, the D.C. Circuit panel concluded: "that there is no fundamental right 'deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition' of access to experimental drugs for the terminally ill." The challenges had argued that there is such a right and that it is protected by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
. Read the Abigail Alliance v. von Eschenbach.

GAO Finds Loss of Coverage for Patients Believed Qualified Under Citizenship or Immigration Status Proof Requirements
July 29, 2007. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report finding that significant numbers of persons whom the state governments considered should have been eligible under the proof of citizenship of immigration status requirements imposed on Medicaid by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 could not receive benefits because of problems of proof and implementation issues. States reported significantly increased costs and difficulties with particularly burdensome requirements of the statute and implementing regulations such as the requirements "(1) that documents must be originals and (2) the list of acceptable documents was complex and did not allow for exceptions."
. Read the GAO Report.

Oregon and Other State Education Departments Develop New IDEA Rules Based on New U.S. Department of Education Regulations.
May 17, 2007.Oregon and other state education departments are completing rulemaking processes to put in place new rules, following the issuance in August of 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education of final regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.
    Access the U.S. Department of Education IDEA regulations.
    Access the 2004 IDEA Legislation.
    Access the Oregon Department of Education IDEA page Regarding Rulemaking.
    Read Oregon Proposed IDEA Rules.
    Read current Oregon IDEA rules OAR 251-015.

GAO Finds More Work Still Needed on FDA Postmarket Drug Assessments
May 10, 2007. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued the second in a series of reports on improvements needed in the Food and Drug Administrations processes for postmarket assessment of drugs. While the report finds progress underway in three areas of its previous recommendations, there is still work to be done as well as a need for careful implementation of the recent initiatives at the regulatory agency.
Read the GAO Report.

Report Finds One in Five Latinos in the U.S. Faces Food Insecurity
December 20, 2006. The National Council of La Raza has issued a report entitled Sin Provecho: Latinos and Food Insecurity. Among the conclusions reached by the report is the finding that: "Nearly one in five Latinoes (19.6%) faces food insecurity each year, which compromises their health and well-being. If the trends of food insecurity within the Latino community persist, the impact of insufficient nutrition will greatly increase the risk that the next generation will become even less healthy." p. iii.
Read full report.
Read the executive summary.

Senator Wyden Proposes National Health Care Policy
December 14, 2006. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has announced a broad new national health policy proposal that he has entitled the Healthy Americans Act to be introduced in the new Congress. In announcing the proposal, Wyden indicated that the plan will "guarantees private health care coverage that cannot be taken away for all Americans; provides benefits for all Americans equal to those of Members of Congress; provides incentives for individuals and insurers to focus on prevention, wellness and disease management; provides tough cost containment and saves $1.48 trillion over 10 years; and is fully paid for by spending the $2.2 trillion currently spent on health care in America." Press Release at URL below.
   Read the press release.
   Read the "Cost and Coverage Estimates" for the Wyden proposal.
   Read the Full Text of the proposed Healthy Americans Act
   Read a "Section by section explanation of the legislation."

Oregon Senate Interim Commission on Health Care Access and Affordability Announces Plan to Introduce a Comprehensive Health Plan for the State in the Upcoming Legislative Session
December 14, 2006. The Senate Interim Commission on Health Care Access and Affordability created by Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney held a news conference recently to announce a plan for a comprehensive health care program for the state. A formal report has not yet been issued, but members of the commission announced that a bill would be forthcoming in time for the upcoming state legislative session.
Read Senator Courtney's Release at Creation of the Interim Commission.
Read the Portland Oregonian article announcing the Commission's proposal.

Institute of Medicine "Future of Drug Safety" Report Challenges Food & Drug Administration Practice
September 23, 2006. The Institute of Medicine is releasing a study entitled the "Future of Drug Safety: Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public" that criticizes the Food & Drug Administration's drug oversight activities. This report follows on a lengthy period of criticism of FDA practices that has been intensified as a number of high visibility lawsuits have suggested a series of issues first with the licensing of drugs, but later and more particularly with the lack of monitoring of evidence showing serious problems in previously licensed drugs. As the executive summary of the report indicates; "In response to growing public concern with health risks posed by approved drugs, the FDA had requested that the IOM concene an ad hoc committee of experts to conduct an independent assessment of the current system for evaluating and ensuring drug safety postmarketing and make recommendations to improve risk assessment, surveillance, and the safe use of drugs." Executive Summar, S-3. The study was done at the request of the FDA Acting Commissioner. The study group was called the "Committee on the Assessment of the U.S. Drug Safety System." The executive summary of the report is available in a standard pdf format while the full report is only available at present for purchase on the IOM website. However, it can be read chapter by chapter without charge on the site. The Committee has also published online a report brief entitled ""The Future of Drug Safety: Action Steps for Congress."
   Read the executive summary of the Institute of Medicine Report.
   Read the report brief "Action Steps for Congress."
   Read the full Institute of Medicine Report Chapter by Chapter.
   Read the FDA Acting Commissioner's Press Release in Response to the IOM Study.

U.S. Department of Education Inspector General Issues Report Critical of the Department's Administration of the "Reading First" Program
September 24, 2006. The Department of Education Inspector General has issued a report sharply critical of the administration of the "Reading First" program. Among other things, the IG found that the program's administrators "Developed an application package that obscured the requirements of the statute; Took action with respect to expert review panel process that was contrary to the balanced panel composition envisioned by Congress; Intervened to release an assessment review document without the permission of the entity that contracted for its development; Intervened to influence a State's selection of reading programs; and Intervened to influence reading programs being used by local educational agencies (LESs) after the application process was completed. These actions demonstrate that the program officials failed to maintain a control environment that exemplifies management integrity and accountability." The Reading First Program's Grant Application Process: Final Inspect Report at 2.
Read the IG Report.

GAO Reports Vulnerabilities in Medicare and Medicaid Data Networks
September 6, 2006.The Government Accountability Office has issued an additional report on vulnerabilities in data communications networks for Medicare and Medicaid both with respect to the agencies themselves and contractors. This comes as these agencies are seeking to increase networked operations.
Read the GAO Report.

Federal Report Identifies Concerns with Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare contractors Outsourcing to Offshore Operations Involving Health Care Records
September 6, 2006.The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the fact that many of these programs have outsourced services with organizations that, in turn, have outsourced some aspects of their work to offshore firms such that health care records are placed at risk for breaches of privacy. The report is entitled, Privacy: Domestic and Offshore Outsourcing of Personal Information in Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. The GAO then notes that: "In responding to our survey, over 40 percent of the federal contractors and state Medicated agencies reported that they experienced a recent privacy breach involving personal health information. By survey group, 47 percent of Medicare Advantage contractors reported privacy breaches with the past 2 years, as did 44 percent of Medical agencies, 42 percent of Medicare FFS contractors, and 38 percent of TRICARE contractors." (p. 5.)
Read the GAO Report.

GAO Issues Report on Implementation of National Health IT Policy
September 1, 2006.The Government Accountability Office has issued its latest report on progress toward implementation of the National Health IT policy which is a priority of the Bush administration. The report finds that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and HHS have made progres and have awared contracts in five areas of the policy effort: "(1) defining certification criteria for and certifying electronic health records, (2) identifying interoperability standards to facilitate the exchange of patient data, (3) defining requirements for the development of prototypes for the Nationwide Health Information Network, (4) addressing privacy and security issues associated with the nationwide exchange of health information, and (5) taking steps to integrate public health into a nationwide health information exchange." (Health Information Technology, p. 2)
Read the GAO Health IT Report.

Oregon Department of Human Services Issues Medicaid Citizenship Verification Policy
August 8, 2006. The Oregon Department of Human Service has issued policy guidance to Medicaid services as to the way in which the citizenship verification requirements of the Deficit Reduction Act will be implemented in the state beginning on September 1, 2006. (CAF -- Children, Adults, and Families] [SPD Seniors and People with Disabilities]
    "CAF Child Welfare Policy and Procedures."
    "CAF Self-Sufficiency Policy and Procedures".
    "SPD Policy and Procedures."
    " Process Flow Chart."
    "Questions and answers."

GAO points to a Need for Coordination in Federal Autism Program Activities
August 8, 2006. The Government Accountability Office has published a report on federal autism programs in which is indicates that there a number of useful programs and increased resources to support them operated by such federal agencies as HHS, the Department of Education, CDC, and NIH. However, GAO also contends that more effective coordination is needed among those agencies, nothwithstanding the fact that interagencies committees already exist. The DOEd and HHS disagree with GAO's assessment, but the report provides an interesting study of coordination issues in this complex field.
Read the GAO Federal Autism Activities Report.

New Medicaid Proof of Citizenship Requirements Go Into Effect July 1
June 30, 2006. The new policy requirement poof of citizenship to obtain Medicaid benefits goes into effect on July 1, presenting a wide variety of challenges to service providers and state agencies. These requirements originated with the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) P.L. 109-171, actually passed earlier this year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has posted policy guidance and related materials for those who must participate in implementing the new law. In particular, CMS has issued a June 9 policy letter to state Medicaid directors that specifies the requirements and the acceptable forms of identification and a "fact shee" to add further explanations. A reading of the policy guidance letter and examination of the charts provided in it provides and indication of some of the many complexities that will be involved in implementing the law.
    Access the citizenship requirement portion of the Deficit Reduction Act
    Access the CMS Guidance Letter of June 9, 2006 explaining the policy.
    Access the CMS Fact Sheet on the citizenship identification policy.

U.S. GAO Publishes Report on Transition from Secondary School to Work or Postsecondary Education for Youth with Disabilities
June 22, 2006. The U.S. Government Accountability Office has published a report on findings and recommendations from a conference convened by GAO to examine challenges in transitions for youth with disabilities to work or postsecondary education at the state and local level. The conference was held in San Francisco and used California as a case study. "First, they noted that the education system as they experience it in California does not provide adequate training in vocational and life skills or transition preparation for students with disabilities. While acknowledging the importance of academic studies, the panelists noted that for those youths who will not pursue postsecondary education, there are few vocational programs in high school and inadequate time during school to study vocationald and life skills. Second, panelists indicated that lack of coordination and differences in program structure between organizations responsible for assisting these youths hind the seamless provision of services." p. 3 The brief report (only 27 pgs) was prepared for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as well as the House Rules Committee.
Read the GAO Transition Report.

Institute of Medicine Issues Reports Finding the Nation's Emergency Room Care In Critical Condition
June 14, 2006. The Institute of Medicine has issued three reports on the dramatically stressed condition of the nation's emergency medical services. These reports were produced by the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System created by the Institute in 2003. While the first of the reports has drawn considerable media attention, the reports are best understood together. The third report specifically addresses emergency services for children and considers "The role of pediatric emergency services as an integrated component of the overall health system; System-wide pediatric emergency care planning, preparedness, coordination, and funding; Pediatric training in professional education; and Research in pediatric emergency care."
    Access the "Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point" Report.
    Access the "Emergency Medical Services At the Crossroads" Report.
    Access the "Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains" Report.

"Lessons Learned for Protecting and Educating Children after the Gulf Coast Hurricanes"
May 11, 2006. The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on concerning the lessons that were learned about protecting children from the experiences of the Hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast in the fall of 2005. This brief report provides a number of thought-provoking findings such as: (1) the four states hit by the hurricanes had high rates of children in poverty, ranging from 20.5% to 27%; (2)2,000 of Louisiana's foster children were displaced by the hurricanes of whom 370 were displaced outside the state; (3) 900 employees of the Louisiana Deparment ot Social Services were diverted to emergency shelters for five weeks and only then were able to return to full-time child welfare assignments; and (3) 29 Louisiana schools "were destroyed and half of the state's schools were damaged" while for Mississippi "29 schools were destroyed."
Read the GAO Report.

CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Releases Autism Report
May 5, 2006. The CDC has released its MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) which provides results of recents studies on autism entitled "Parent-Reported Estimates of Autism Prevalence." The report was released in a webcast yesterday. The CDC Autism Research Fact Sheet notes that: This study presents parent-reported data from two national surveys. Estimates of diagnosed autism were 5.7 per 1,000 school-aged children from the National Health Interview Survey and 5.5 per 1,000 school-aged children from the National Survey of Children's Health. Together, these two national surveys of parents suggest that at least 300,000 school-aged children had autism in 2003-04." (Autism Research Fact Sheet, p. 1)
    MMW Report for May 5 containing the Autism Study.
    Read the Autism Research Fact Sheet.
    Read the Fact Sheet: MMWR -- Parental Report of Diagnosed Autism in Children Aged 4-17 Years, United States, 2003-2004"

GAO Report Raises Questions About the Role of Infant Formula Advertising in Level of Breastfeeding for Mothers in the WIC Program and Those Who Are Not
Fenruary 9, 2006. The Government Accountability Office has issued a PowerPoint report to Congress considering several questions raised recently regarding the relationship between rates of breastfeeding as encouraged by Healthy People 2010 and the marketing of infant formula. Specifically the study considered: "(1) What are the estimated breastfeeding rates for infants in the general population and for infants on WIC, and how do these rates compare to recommended breastfeeding rates? (2) How is infant formulat market to women in general and to women on WIC in particular? (3) What is known about the impact of infant fomular marketing on the breastfeeding rates of women in the general population and women on WIC?" (p.2)
Read the GAO Report.

Government Accountability Office Report Raises Concerns About Lack of Testing to Protect Against Children's Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water
January 26, 2006. After elevated levels of lead were found in the drinking water in Washington, D.C., Congress asked he U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to do a national study to determine whether there were risks that children might be exposed to lead in their drinking water. The GAO has published a report calling upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do more to ensure protection against such exposures, particularly with respect to schools and day care facilities. While the GAO found that the EPA reported progress in eliminating lead from drinking water over the years, there had been little reporting of any systematic test results from the states to the federal regulator. "On the basis of the limited data available, it appears that few schools and child care facilities have tested their water for lead, either in response to the Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988 or as part of their current operating practices. In addition, no focal point exists at either the national or state level to collect and analyze test results. Thus, the pervasiveness of lead contamination in the drinking water at schools and child care facilities -- and the need for more concerted action -- is unclear." Highlights, p. 1.
Read the GAO Report.

U.S. Supreme Court Decides Two Important Health Care Related Cases
January 20, 2006. The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down rulings in two recent cases that are important for health care. The first opinion rejected the claims by the U.S. Attorney General to authority under the Controlled Substances Act to block the Oregon Death With Dignity act. The second recognized the challenge to the New Hampshire parental notification law in abortion cases because it lacked exceptions for situations involving serious health risks to the patient, but narrowed the authority of courts in fashioning a remedy for that problem which struck down the entire statute.
Read the Opinion in the New Hampshire Case.
Read the Death with Dignity Opinion.

Government Accountability Office Releases Study on the Implementation at the State Level of the Family, Infant, Toddler Program with Oregon as a Primary Research Site
December 14, 2005. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) today released a study on the implementation of the Family, Infant, Toddler program, Part C of IDEA, at the state level with attention to variations among states and also attention to transitions from FIT program to the Part B program in schools. While the study draws on nation-wide data, it is primarily based on on-site studies in seven states of which Oregon was one. The study provides a good deal of useful descriptive information on FIT as well as interesting comparisons of differences in program operation across states. "GAO recommends that Education provide states with additional guidance on transition planning and services, especially for children who would enter Part B during the summer." Summary, p. 1.
Read the GAO Study.

NIH Announces Study Challenging Presumed Unwillingness of Minorities to Participate in Health Studies
December 6, 2005. The NIH has just announced that a group of researchers, David Wendler, Raynard Kington, Jennifer Madans, Gretchen Van Wye, Heidi Christ-Schmidt, Laura A. Pratt, Otis W. Brawley, Cary P. Gross, and Ezekiel Emmanuel has published a study entitled: "Are Racial and Ethnic Minoriies Less Willing to Participate in Health Research?" in the on-line journal PlosMedicine which concludes: "These findings . . . suggest that racial and ethnic minorities in the US are as willing as non-Hispanic whites to participate in health research. Hence, efforts to increase minority participation in health research should focus on ensuring access to health research for all groups, rather than changing minority attitudes." p. 1.
Access the article in pdf format.
Access the article in html.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules that the Burden of Proof in IDEA Hearings Rests on the Family Challenging an IEP
November 14, 2005. Writing for the majority in Shaffer v. Weast Docket No. 04-698, Justice Sandra O'Connor rejected a call by parents that the burden of proof in a due process hearing challenging the adequacy of an Individual Education Plan under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) should be on the school district. Justices Breyer and Ginsburg dissented.
Read the Schaffer v. Weast Opinion.

U.S. Education Departmet Issues Guidance on New or Changed Elements in Reauthorized IDEA.
October 13, 2005. The U.S. Department of Special Education Office of Special Education Programs has published guidancde materials on processes and requirements that have changed under the provisions of the reauthorized IDEA enacted last December (see item below on New IDEA rules). They are relatively brief documents and do not provide the full language of the statute or the rules, but indicate the agency's understanding of new directions. There are a variety of items here that are very new and will likely surprise those who have been involved with IDEA programs in one way or another previously. One of the key features of the new approach by the DOE is to integrate IDEA implementation with the No Child Left Behind initiatives.
   "Alignment with the No Child Left Behind Act" Read the Document.
   "Changes in Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation" Read the Document.
   "Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools" Read the Document.
   "Discipline" Read the Document.
   "Disproportionality and Overidentification" Read the Document.
   "Early Intervening Services" Read the Document.
   "Highly Qualified Teachers" Read the Document.
   "Individualized Education Program (IEP), Team Meetings and Changes to the IEP" Read the Document.
   "Individualized Education Program (IEP)" Read the Document.
   "Local Funding" Read the Document.
   "National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)" Read the Document.
   "Part C Amendments in IDEA 2004" Read the Document.
   "Part C Option: Age 3 to Kindergarten Age" Read the Document.
   "Procedural Safeguards: Surrogates, Notice and Consent" Read the Document.
   "Procedural Safeguards: Mediation and Resolution Sessions" Read the Document.
   "Procedural Safeguards: Due Process Hearings" Read the Document.
   "Secondary Transition" Read the Document.
   "State Funding"
   Read the Document.
   "Statewide and Districtwide Assessments" Read the Document.

U.S. Department of Education Has Already Opened and Closed Opportunities for Input on New IDEA rules.
October 6, 2005. The U.S. Department of Education published notice of proposed rulemaking for rules to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), reauthorized by Congress late last fall, on June 21, 2005 in the Federal Register. It then set a closing date for comments and participation of September 6, less than 60 days after the publication of the notice. The public meetings that were scheduled to discuss the notice of proposed rulemaking took place in only 7 cities, including D.C. and began on June 17, before the publication, and ended with a meeting in D.C. on July 12, a surprisingly short period for a policymaking action as complex and significant as this one.
   The legislation was signed on December 3, 2004. The agency gave notice on December 29 that it would hold public meetings in January and February about the new law. However, it did not publish its notice of proposed rulemaking until June 21.
   Read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
   Read the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004

U.S. Surgeon General Issues Call to Action document to "Improve the Health and Wellness of Persons with Disabilities"
October 6, 2005. The U.S. Surgeon General has issued one of the Call to Action documents sometimes issued by that office. This one focuses on current findings about and strategies for improving the health and wellness of persons with disabilities.
Read the Call to Action document

GAO Reports Health Care Access Problems in the Indian Health Service
October 6, 2005. The Government Accountability Office has reported that there are a number of factors making access to health care difficult for Native Americans, even at Indian Health Service facilities.
Read the GAO report

Disability and Development Policy

U.S. Department of Transportation Publishes a Technical Assistance Manual to Support "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability
July 19, 2005. The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a technical assistance manual to facilitate air travel for persons with disabilities pursuant to the requirements of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act of 2000. The agency does not purport to add any new legally binding requirements in this document, but explains its purpose as facilitative and explanatory. It is intended to assist both carriers and passengers.
Access the Manual

Canadian Supreme Court Raises Complex Questions About the Canadian Health System
June 9, 2005. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a challenge to the operation of the Canadian health care system in Quebec, with important implications for the rest of the country. In the Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2005 SCC 35, case the Court struck provincial legislation that presented barriers to private health insurance in Quebec citing the waiting times for necessary surgical procedures and the infringement of rights to life and security under the provincial and national charters. The ruling has already sparked a nation-wide debate as to the future of the Canadian health care system and the ongoing argument about a two tier option, and this ahead of a promised election sometime late next fall or winter.
Read the Opinion

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Reauthorized
After a prolonged process (and well after the anticipated date) Congress has enacted and the president has signed the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, reauthorizing the Individuals With Disabilities Act.
Read P.L. 108-446
Read President Bush's Statement on Signing the IDEA reauthorization act.

Budget and Finance

Omnibus Spending Bill and Defense Appropriations Act Join Earlier Spending Package to Complete Appropriations Bills for FY 2012
January 4, 2012. President Obama has signed H.R. 2055, the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012" and H.R. 1540, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012" which, together with H.R. 2112 which was passed in November completes the appropriations legislation through the end of the FY 2012 fiscal year.
   Access H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012.
   .Access H.R. 1540, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.
   .Access H.R. 2112, "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012.

Disability Law

Americans with Disabilities Act
U.S. Department of Justice ADA page provides a great deal of information on the act and regulation.
Access the DOJ page on the Americans with Disabilities Act
Read the ADA

Individuals with Disability Education Act
Read the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004

The Developmental Disabilities Assistanceand Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (DD Act)
Read the DD Act

Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Read the Act.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a website with a range of resources on HIPAA law, regulations and guidance documents.
    Access the HHS website on HIPAA
    Access the HIPAA
    Read the HIPAA Regulatons.

Constitution of the United States
Access the U.S. Constitution via Cornell Legal Education Insittute.

Executive Orders
   Executive Order 13160 To Prohibit discrimination because of "Race, Sex, Color, National Origin, Disability, Religion, Age, Sexual Orientation, and Status as a Parent in Federally Conducted Education and Training Programs"
   Read EO 13160.
   Executive Order 13145 [.pdf format] To Prohibit Discrimination in Federal Employment Based on Genetic Information
   Read EO 13145
   Executive Order 13166 Required Access to Federally Funded Programs for Persons With Limited English Proficiency
   Read EO 13166

Cultural Competency and Equity Issues in Disability and Development Policy

Oregon LEND, OIDD, and CDRC Provide Multi-Lingual Web Resources Site for Disabilities Questions
The Oregon Leadership Education for Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND), the Oregon Institute on Disability and Development, and the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center of Oregon Health Sciences University have provided a website that features multilingual resources that provide information on a wide range of disabilities.
Access the multilingual resources page.

National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care
    The national standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services in health care were developed and explained in detail in the Final Report: National Standards for Culturally and LinguisticallyAppropriate Services in Health Care issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesOffice of Minority Health in March 2001. (Note: it is easiest to download the file and then open it offline.} The standards themselves are provided on the website of the Office of Minority Health.
   Access the CLAS Standards National Standards for Culturally and LinguisticallyAppropriate Services in Health Care.
   Access the Final Report.
   Access the Oficina de Salud de law Minor�as en espa�ol.

Addressing Language Access Issues in Your Pratice: A Toolkit for Physicians and Their Staff Members, from the California Academy of Family Physicians
   The California Academy of Family Physicians has created a website to assist clinicians in understanding and addressing issues of culturally competent care. Part of that site is a "toolkit" for dealing with language issues in practice and also a document offered by Molina HealthCare and the California Academy on the problems of medical jargon and the difficulties that poses for clear communications.
    Access the Multicultural Health Site.
    Access the California Medical Leadership Council on Cultural Proficiency site.
    Access the Toolkit.
    Access Medical Jargon & Clear Communication.

National Center for Cultural Competency
   Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development (one of the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities See AUCD below under Professional Associations and Family Support Organizations)).
   Access the National Center for Cultural Competency Site.
   Access the National Center for Cultural Competency Site, en espanol Language.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Cultural Competence Resources for Health Care Providers
    Access the HRSA Cultural Competency Site.
    Access the HRSA "Indicators of Cultural Competence in Health Care Delivery Organizations: An Organizational Cultural Competence Assessment Profile."
    Access the HRSA "And the Journey Continues... Achieving Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Systems Serving Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and their Families."

Oregon LEND (Leadership Education for Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Multilingual Resources on Disabilities Page
Access the LEND site.

Medline
Medline en espa�ol.
Medline in English.

KidsHealth.org for "Parents"
KidsHealth.org en espa�ol.
KidsHealth.org in English.

MCHB Maternal and Child Health Bureau
MCHB Health Resources en espa�ol.
MCHB Health Resources in English.

Oregon Health Sciences University Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology
OHSU CROET
Recursos en espa�ol

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, Resources/Publications
Publications
Recursos en espa�ol

National Council on Disabilities Studies and Resources for Native American Communities
    Access the 2004 Summary of the Native American Forum: "Disability Matters in Tribal Communities".
    People with Disabilities on Tribal Land: Education, Health Care. Vocational Rehabilitation, and Independent Living.
    Understanding Disabilities in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities:Toolkit Guide.

Proceedings of the Oregon Cultural Competency Summit
Access the Summit Report

Environmental Health Issues in Disability and Development

University of California at Berkeley Center for Children's Environmental Health Research
US Berkeley Center for Children's Env. Health

Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS)/El Centro de Evaluaci�n de la Salud de las Madres y los Ni�os de Salinas
    CHAMACOS in English
    Educational Materials in English
    CHAMACOS en espa�ol
    Material Educativo en espa�ol

Center for Children's Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
UC Davis Center for Children's Env. Health.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Children's Environmental Health Centers
EPA CEHC

U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Centers for Children's Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research
    NIEHS Centers Children's Environmental Health & Disease Prevention Research
    NIEHS
    Health & Education Materials
    Kid's Pages

Oregon Health Sciences University Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology
OHSU CROET
Recursos en espa�ol

U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Health
    CDC Environmental Health Website
    CDC en espa�ol
    National Agricultural Safety site
    Recursos en espa�ol
    Health & Education Materials

U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry
ATSDR
STSDR en espa�ol

"Toxic Children 2006" Report Issued Causing Concern and Rapid Official Response in Canada"
June 2, 2006. A Canadian environmental group issued a report this week entitled "Polluted Children, Toxic Nation: A Report on Pollution in Canadian Families (2006)." It reported the results of a study carried out to determine the current levels of environmental pollutants in children. Although it was a very small study, the number of chemicals found in these otherwise healthy young people caused alarm and prompted Health Canada to promise that a study would be done next year on 5,000 Canadians. The current study indicated an average of 23 toxic chemicals in the children tested, including PCBs that had been banned in Canada three decades ago. The release of the findings prompted the Ministers of Health and Environment to agree to participate as subjects in the study.
Read the "Polluted Children Report.

Governmental Bodies in Disability and Development Policy

Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has a number of responsibilities in the area of disabilities. It also provides an online quarterly news source.
    http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/
    Access the "Disability Rights Home Page."
    Access the "Disability Rights Online News."

Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD)
The ADD is part of the Administration for Children & Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
The AHRQ, among other things, publishes the National Health Care Disparities Report.
AHRQ Home Page.
Access National Health Care Disparities Report 2006.

National Institute of Mental Health
The ADD is part of the Administration for Children & Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/

DisabilityInfo.gov
This site is operated by the president's New Freedom Initiative.
http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do%3fparentFolderId=500

Title V Block Grant Programs for State for Mothers, Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Children with Special Health Needs
Title V programs are administered by the Maternal and Child Health Bureas of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/programs/default.htm

National Council on Disability
http://www.ncd.gov/

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Access the HRSA Site.

Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCH)
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/

Oregon Institute on Disability & Development
The Institute is part of the Child Development and Rehabilitation Center of the Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU).
http://www.ohsu.edu/oidd/

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
The Center is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/default.htm

State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
These are state councils whose members are appointed by the governors that receive financing through Subtitle B of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (DD Act). The U.S. Administration on Developmental Disabilities explains that: "State Councils pursue systems change (e.g., the way human service agencies do business so that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families have better or expanded services), advocacy (e.g., educating policy makers about unmet needs of individuals with developmental disabilities), and capacity building (e.g., working with state service agencies to provide training and benefits to direct care workers) to promote independence, self-determination, productivity, integration and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in all facets of community life.
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/add/states/ddcs.html

Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities
One of the state councils on developmental disabilities.
http://www.ocdd.org/

Professional Assocations and Family Support Organizations in Disability Policy

Association of University Centers on Disabilities
http://www.aucd.org/

University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDs)
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/add/states/ucedds.html

OHSU Global Health Center
Access the Global Health Center Home Page.

Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health
Access the homepage.

Family Voices
http://www.familyvoices.org/
Access the Family Voices "Title V Tookkit" for families

The Sibling Support Project
"The Sibling Support Project is a national effort dedicated to the life-long concerns of brothers and sisters of people who have special health, developmental, or mental health concerns."
http://www.siblingsupport.org/

The ARC
"The Arc is the national organization of and for people with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities and their families. It is devoted to promoting and improving supports and services for people with mental retardation and their families. The association also fosters research and education regarding the prevention of mental retardation in infants and young children."
http://www.thearc.org/about.htm

Sources on Children and Environmental Health
EnviroHealthAction, operated by Physicians for Social Responsibility.
   http://www.envirohealthaction.org/children
Children's Environmental Health Network.
   http://www.cehn.org/
Children's Health Enviornmental Coalition.
   http://www.checnet.org/

DisabilityCompass.org
Disabilitycompass.org is an information site operated by Community Vision, Inc., of Portland, OR. The organizations describes its site as follows: "Disability Compass is a web-based resource center containing disability-related information and referrals. This site has been specifically crafted to serve Oregonians with disabilities and their families."
http://www.disabilitycompass.org/

Native American Youth and Family Center
Access the NAYFC Homepage

Disability Policy and Terms Glossary

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Glossary of Terms in Disability, Aging, and Long Term Care
Connect to HHS Glossary