Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Book Review - The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change

     Leonida Wanyama sat at her living room table in her mud-and-sticks house at the base of the Lugulu Hills in western Kenya contemplating her assets. Her fifteen-year-old son Gideon had been sent home from boarding school because she couldn't pay the latest tuition bill. Her four-year-old daughter Dorcas was begging for more food, even though the cupboard was bare. Her husband Peter, weak from malaria, a condition worsened by malnutrition, did what he could to feed his family, but the planting season was just beginning and themaize crop wouldn't be ready to harvest for months. Leonida decided to sell her last goat for a thousand shillings -- enough to convince Gideon's principal to take him back as she struggled to come up with the remaining tuition. Food would have to wait.

    Click here to read the review of The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change by Roger Thurow. The review is published on PhilanTopic, a Foundation Center blog.

Health Foundation Releases Dual Eligibility Report

    The New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) has released a report about the 700,000 people in the state who are enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, with the goal of improving the coordination and integration of care.

    Mathematica Policy Research completed the report that was funded by NYSHealth and titled, “Integrating Care for Dual Eligibles in New York: Issues and Options.”

Coalition Files Amicus Brief for Affordable Care Act

    A coalition of 79 groups has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, Florida v. HHS (United States Department of Health and Human Services).

    The amicus brief, or “friend of the court” brief, is a response to the State of Florida’s lawsuit that seeks to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The document says the Supreme Court’s challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility will endanger a range of federal-state programs.

Gov. Cuomo Releases 2012-13 Budget

    Advocates for people with disabilities are having mixed reactions to the New York State Executive Budget for 2012-13, released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on January 17th.

    The Center for Disability Rights, Inc. (CDR) issued a statement supporting the budget’s proposed reinvestment of Medicaid savings from hospital and nursing home closures or bed de-certifications toward housing but specified that the funds should support inclusive housing.

Changes Proposed to the Definition of Autism

    A panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association has proposed changes to the definition of autism that advocates fear could curtail heightening rates of autism diagnoses and make it more difficult to receive treatment.

    The proposal comes as part of an update to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for its upcoming fifth edition.

    The proposed changes would compress Asperger’s syndrome, “pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified” (PDD-NOS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) into one group.

House of Representatives Votes Against CLASS Act

    The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal the Community Living Assistance Service and Support (CLASS) Act but the bill remains in limbo. 

    The CLASS Act, a long-term care insurance program that is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was intended to provide payment assistance for people who develop physical disabilities to live independently.

Disabled in Action Joins Occupy Wall Street

    Members and supporters of Disabled in Action (DIA) joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, gathering at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan on October 16^th.

    Pat Walls, who attended the event with her husband Phillip Walls, said Occupy Wall Street reminds her of her college days as she spoke out against government service cuts.

    “Specifically, I am really afraid of the cuts to homecare services because I am really dependent on my home attendant,” said Walls. She also criticized a new limit for physical and occupational therapy to twenty visits a year, which restricts her ability to receive care for her leg problems.

    (David Dopico and Phillip Walls pictured)

Judge Denies Disability Benefits Based on Substance Use

    An upstate New York judge has ruled that a man with physical and emotional impairments can be denied disability benefits because his condition allegedly resulted from alcohol and opioid dependence.

    Judge Richard J. Arcara of the United States District Court of the Western District of New York said that the plaintiff, Charles L. Cutler, is not disabled under the Social Security Act because alcohol and substance use are a significant factor of his disability and that the plaintiff would no longer be disabled if he stopped his alleged substance use.

Jerry Lewis Leaves Muscular Dystrophy Telethon

    Jerry Lewis, the comedian and longtime head of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethon, will no longer be the host or chairman of the event.

    The MDA announced Lewis’s retirement in an August 3 press release saying, “Jerry Lewis has completed his run as its national chairman.”

    R. Rodney Howell, chairman of the association’s board of directors said, “Jerry Lewis is a world-class humanitarian and we’re forever grateful to him for his more than half century of generous service to MDA. We will not be replacing him as MDA national chairman and he will not be appearing on the telethon.”

Medicaid Stimulus Money Runs Out

    At the end of June, billions of dollars of Medicaid funds provided to states by the Obama Administration ran out. The money was provided for two years and totaled $90 billion.

    Medicaid provides free or low-cost insurance to people with low incomes, including those with disabilities. The cessation of the funds comes as budget discussions in Washington include possible changes to the program, which is funded by the state and federal governments.