by independencenw | Aug 28, 2009 | caregivers, customers, domestic employees, employment, high school transition, independent contractors, policy, providers, resource
One of the most common questions we hear at brokerages is “What can I use my support services funds for?”
Each customer enrolled in a brokerage has a certain benefit level (an amount of support services funds to which they are entitled and may use to purchase needed services). Before any support services funds can be accessed, we first must look for natural supports in the community. This means we look to services like Vocational Rehabilitation, school districts, the Oregon Health Plan, Independent Living Resources and other organizations who offer services to individuals with disabilities first. This allows for maximum benefit to you, the customer and ensures the appropriate use of brokerage services, a taxpayer funded program.
All services purchased with Support Services dollars are what is known as a “social benefit”. A social benefit is a service “solely intended to assist an individual with disabilities to function in society on a level comparable to that of an individual…who does not have a disability”. The benefit can never:
- Duplicate services and benefits otherwise available to citizens, regardless of disability (such as paying for a college class since people with or without disabilities must pay college tuition.)
- Provide financial assistance with food, shelter or clothing
- Replace any other service that is available elsewhere in the community (also known as “natural supports”) like Vocational Rehabilitation or services from a school district
- Exceed the amount in the authorized Individual Support Plan.
To read more about specific types of support services options, check out the list below. Your Personal Agent can assist you with better understanding services available to you.
Chore Services
Community Inclusion Supports
Community Living Supports
Environmental Accessibility Adaptations
Family Training
Homemaker Services
Occupational Therapy
Personal Emergency Response Systems
Physical Therapy
Respite Care
Special Diet
Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies
Specialized Supports
Speech and Language Therapy
Supported Employment
Transportation
by independencenw | Aug 28, 2009 | customers, provider organizations, providers, resource
Are you considering a provider organization as a provider of support services? Provider organizations are private organizations certified through the Department of Human Services Licensing Unit. These agencies provide an array of services from site-based activities to supported employment, from community-based skills building to respite for caregivers. Below is a list of provider organizations you might consider. If you find yourself interested in learning more about one of these organizations, contact your Personal Agent here at Independence Northwest.
by independencenw | Aug 26, 2009 | resource
Full Life, a local provider organization is hosting a Saturday Game Night on the 29th. Admission is $2. Full Life is located at 3331 NE Sandy in Portland.
For more information on Full Life click here.
by independencenw | Aug 24, 2009 | social security
Via US News and World Report
Most Medicare beneficiaries won’t pay higher premiums for Part B medical insurance coverage next year. Under current law, Part B premiums cannot rise faster than Social Security annual cost-of-living increases. And the Congressional Budget Office predicts there will be no cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients in 2010 and 2011. But the law doesn’t protect all Medicare recipients from elevated health insurance costs. About 75 percent of people will be protected from the premium increase, according to Juliette Cubanski, a policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The remaining 25 percent of Medicare recipients will face larger than normal premium increases because the costs are spread across a smaller share of beneficiaries. Here is who will have to pay greater Medicare premiums in the near future.
Medicaid recipients. Medicaid, which is funded by states and the federal government, already pays Medicare part B premiums for low-income individuals who qualify for both government programs. Medicaid will absorb the larger premiums for the 17 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid. “The individual doesn’t pay the higher cost of the Part B premium, but the state does,” says Cubanski.
High income retirees. Seniors with a modified adjusted gross income above $85,000 for individuals and $170,000 for couples in 2009 already pay steeper premiums than other retirees. The wealthiest 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries aren’t exempt from further Part B premium hikes.
New enrollees. Retirees who sign up for Social Security and/or Part B medical coverage for the first time next year will also face higher premiums than existing Medicare recipients. While most Medicare Part B recipients currently pay $96.40 per month and will continue to be charged the same premium amount next year, costs are likely to increase for a quarter of retirees to $104.20 monthly in 2010 and $120.20 in 2011, according to the Medicare Trustees.
Current law does not protect Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage recipients from premium increases in years when there is no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Retirees who experience increases in their Part D premiums could receive smaller Social Security checks next year.
by independencenw | Aug 24, 2009 | social security
From KATU.com
For the first time in more than 30 years, Social Security recipients won’t be getting a cost-of-living adjustment. That increase is pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year.
Negative inflation is a good thing for consumers shopping for groceries and other staples, since it means lowered costs on many of the items we buy every day. But what is good news for the rest of us equals bad news for those expecting the same 5.8 percent raise they got January 2009 for their Social Security benefits starting January 2010. That’s because a negative inflation rate means there will be no Social Security increase come 2010.
The lack of an increase is expected to be especially hard on older people who spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care. Health care costs continue to rise faster than inflation.
For more information, you can go to Social Security Online to find out how cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. In general, that resource tells you that a cost-of-living increase is equal to the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next. If there is no CPI-W increase, there is no cost-of-living increase either.
This is the first time in a generation that there will be no adjustment this next January. While benefits would not go lower, the deductions for Medicare and especially the prescription drug plan written under the Bush administration, will go up. Since millions of seniors have those benefits deducted from their social security check, come January those millions will get a smaller amount for each regular Social Security check.
