Disability Thrive Initiative

A Google self-driving car hits the road in California. The National Council on Disability is recommending several steps the federal government should take to ensure that autonomous vehicles are accessible to people with disabilities. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS). Read more.

Some good new laws. I am pleased to report on legislation recently signed by the governor that will help consumers in our state.

SB 137: Requires Accurate Provider Directories

Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, effective July 1, 2016

This law will require health plans to update their provider directories weekly. The updates will include office location, and whether the provider is accepting new patients and which languages, other than English, are spoken by the provider and staff. Read more.

SACRAMENTO — California’s health and human services secretary on Wednesday defended the state’s plan to close the Sonoma Developmental Center by 2018, a date that critics, including family members of some of the 400 residents, say does not allow enough time to complete the process and ensure the welfare of those who will be displaced. Read more.

The CMS has granted California permission to change the hospital admission process for some Medicaid beneficiaries in the state.
Under a newly approved waiver, California will launch a two-year process for hospitals to voluntarily transition to a more streamlined process for admitting Medicaid patients. Read more.

Employment of people with disabilities by the U.S. government is at an all-time high, according to a new federal report.

At the close of fiscal year 2014, Uncle Sam employed more people with disabilities and these individuals represented a larger share of the workforce than at any other time since such record keeping began 34 years ago, the Office of Personnel Management said.

The news comes in an annual report to President Barack Obama issued this month that tracks disability hiring. Overall, the report found that federal offices hired 20,615 people with disabilities in 2014, bringing the total number of workers with disabilities to 247,608. Read more.

It seems like an essential part of medical care should be access to doctors and hospital. And now, after a couple of years of Covered California, state lawmakers agree.

Governor Brown has signed Senate Bill 137, which requires insurance companies to provide accurate directories of doctors and hospitals participating in the state’s version of Obamacare. Read more.

Social Security recipients will not see an increase in benefits next year for the third time since 2010 — the only three times the increases have been skipped in the last four decades.

The lack of a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, also affects federal retirees and their survivors, disabled veterans and recipients of Supplemental Security Income. Read more.