disabilities

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LISE HAMLIN, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY FOR THE HEARING LOSS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, EXPERIENCED FRUSTRATION OVER A LACK OF INTERPRETIVE SERVICES DURING A RECENT TELEHEALTH VISIT./ERIC HARKLEROAD/ KHN

Pandemic Medical Innovations Leave Behind People With Disabilities

Some people with disabilities have been left behind even as telemedicine, teleworking, rapid tests, virtual school, and vaccine drive-thrus have become part of most Americans’ pandemic routines.

Mar 15, 2022

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Lack of Covid Data on People with Intellectual Disabilities ‘Comes With a Body Count’

Early studies have shown that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a higher likelihood of dying from the virus than those without disabilities, likely because of a higher prevalence of preexisting conditions.

Feb 12, 2021

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Oregon Scraps Crisis Care Guidelines for Health Care Providers 

The move marks another redo by the authority over policies created without the input from minorities and communities of color.

Sep 23, 2020
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Treasury Launches Oregon Able Savings Accounts on Dec. 8

The treasury has moved up the start date for families and people with disabilities to open state savings accounts to help them with the costs of daily living. Account holders will be able to invest up to $14,000 a calendar year to put toward expenses while still keeping their Medicaid benefits. Correction NOTE: Program launches Dec. 6, not Dec. 8.

Nov 22, 2016

Treasury Expects 2017 Launch for Savings Accounts for Disabled People

The accounts will take a year for the Oregon 529 Savings Board to set up with the help of outside investment advisors. Families of people with disabilities will be able to deposit money in the accounts that will be invested without losing government assistance.

Dec 4, 2015

Legal Settlement for People with Intellectual Disabilities Opens Door for Real Jobs

The state conceded its fight against disability rights advocates and agreed in a settlement to offer integrated job opportunities for thousands of intellectually disabled people, whom advocates argued had been unnecessarily cloistered in closed workshops doing menial work for terrible pay.

Sep 10, 2015

State Policy Encourages Fuller Lives for Disabled, but Denies Them Equipment

Disabilities activist Joseph Lowe has appealed to the Legislature to require the Oregon Health Authority to provide the equipment people need to move around in their communities -- not just their homes -- so that others won’t have to fight for their right to participate as he did. Even as CCOs show a 9 percent profit margin, people with disabilities are being denied the wheelchairs and scooters they need to leave the house.

Mar 19, 2015

Keny-Guyer Hopes to Create Pilot Program to Refurbish Used Medical Equipment

Project would attempt to fill a gap that creates long wait times, logistical headaches for disabled people and their families

Jan 22, 2014

Employment Providers for Disabled Still Waiting on DHS Funding

When the agencies that provide jobs for people with disabilities lobbied the Legislature for a better Department of Human Services budget this summer, their leaders thought they would see their own funding restored that was cut in the recession.

Dec 16, 2013

State Agencies Seek Disaster Relief Map of Vulnerable Residents

Sen. Betsy Johnson nearly quashed a plan for state agencies to seek federal funds to keep track of disabled and elderly residents in case of a Katrina- scale emergency, saying the agencies would be duplicating others’ efforts and stepping beyond their authority.

Nov 25, 2013