The Department of Human Rights of Minnesota has charged the Regional Transit Board (RTB) with discrimination in regards to the fare increase for Metro Mobility. The RTB has accepted the charge and has agreed to negotiate with the Commissioner of Human Rights to come to a fair fare for Metro Mobility. Hopefully the agreement will be reached soon and the $2.00 increase will be repealed before anyone else loses a job or misses another important opportunity. ACCESS PRESS will be watching for more developments.
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Health Care is the focus of this issue, I hope you read all of the articles. This is a very important issue for everyone and especially people with disabilities. If a universal health care bill passes it will solve a major problem for people who needcontinuing medical support. Your help is needed on this issue. ACCESS PRESS will continue to keep you informed on the progress at the state and national level but you need to help by contacting legislators to let them know what you think.
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An important notice has been mailed out by Social Security Administration (SSA) called a Zebley Notice . It has to do with children who were found either not disabled or no longer disabled for medical reasons and therefore, ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). If you, or someone you know, was denied or lost their benefits from January 1980 through February 1990 they may now be eligible under new SSA revised standards for determining disability in children. If you are found eligible, you could receive retroactive payments. Read the article below for further details.
I think this is a great example of what can happen when you feel you have been unfairly denied a benefit. In this case Zebley’s appeal caused a dramatic change in the system and up to 452,000 people may benefit because of it. You might do the same on a county or state level but it has to start from you, the consumer in the system. There is help when making an appeal. It is not something you need to do alone, in fact it is better to ask for advice when making your case, and its your “case workers” job to tell you where to go for the help.
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ACCESS PRESS is still waiting to hear from you. Do you agree with everything we say? If you have any news for us or would like to challenge our experts, write or call at 379-0989. We do want to hear your comments or suggestions on how we can improve.
