Seeking the apologies, supporting MiCASSA legislation, and advocating for disability rights generally, the 5 days of advocacy and action kicked-off with a march to the White House. Below are a report from the Washington Post and the ADAPT news release. Contrary to the Post's numbers, police reports indicated that more than 80 protesters were arrested after they handcuffed themselves to the White House fence and refused to disperse.
Washington Post Monday, May 12, 2003; Page B03
Protesters Denounce Medicare Rules (Washington, DC) About 150 people in wheelchairs gathered outside the White House yesterday to demand an apology from President Bush and Congress for what they said were decades of forced institutionalization caused by rigid Medicare rules that favor nursing homes and other institutions over at-home care for the disabled.
About two dozen protesters, chanting "free our people," handcuffed themselves to the fence in front of the White House, but D.C. police officers quickly unlocked and confiscated the handcuffs.
Organizers said the protest was the start of five days of action to push for passage of the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act, which would allow people with disabilities to receive Medicaid to cover care in their homes rather than forcing them to go to nursing homes and other facilities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43319-2003May11.html
>From ADAPT:
Immediate Release
May 8, 2003
For Information Contact; Bob Kafka, 512/431-4085 Marsha Katz, 406/544-9504
ADAPT in D.C. to Demand Apology for "Stolen Lives", and Passage of MiCASSA
Washington, D.C.--- Over 500 ADAPT disability rights activists are converging on Washington, D.C. to demand an apology from President George W. Bush and Congress for the lives stolen from persons with disabilities by decades of forced institutionalization. ADAPT arrives in D.C., riding a wave of recent victories, to begin the campaign for passage of MiCASSA, Medicaid reform legislation that will provide all Americans with real choice in where they receive their long term care services and supports.
"We'll be in Washington from May 10-15, bringing evidence of 'Stolen Lives' - pictures and personal stories sent by people from all over the country who lost years of their lives languishing in back wards of the nation's nursing homes and institutions," said Bruce Darling, ADAPT Organizer from Rochester, New York. "Many of those people, or their friends and family, will be with us in person, and will be demanding an apology from both the President and the congressional leadership for the years they spent locked up for the crime of disability."
On the eve of ADAPT's arrival, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have reintroduced the Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA), which allows individuals of all ages to choose to receive long term care services in their own homes, rather than be forced into institutional settings by the institutional bias currently in the Medicaid program.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 971 in the Senate, joined by bill co-sponsors Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY), and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS). House co-sponsors of MiCASSA are Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL).
Along with reintroduction of MiCASSA in Congress, there is a "money follows the person" provision in the President's New Freedom 2004 Budget for Health and Human Services that echoes the "money follows the person" contained in MiCASSA. This five-year $1.75 billion provision is an economic incentive for states to move funds serving people in institutional settings into a community setting when the person so chooses. When states permit funding to move with the person from an institution into the community, the federal government would cover the entire first year of costs, with the state resuming payment of their portion of the costs in subsequent years.
"We're in Washington to refocus the President and Congress on the need to reform America's institutionally biased long term care system so it prevents future "Stolen Lives", said Bob Kafka, national ADAPT Organizer. "Now that MiCASSA has been reintroduced in Congress, with an unprecedented coalition of groups supporting it, we intend to see it passed. We'll make that point all next week, and we'll continue making it in September, when ADAPT's two week Free Our People March covers the 144 miles from Philadelphia's Liberty Bell to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C."
-- Marta Russell Los Angeles, CA http://www.disweb.org