Vol. 2, No. 3, May/June 1994	Previous Issues Subscribe to AT Messenger Download PDF Viewer
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FINANCING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY: The DATI Health Care Reform Summit & Beyond

Ron Sibert, Funding Specialist, DATI

It's hard to believe that so much has happened on Delaware's health care reform front in such a short period of time. In just the last issue, I discussed the need for the disability community to become involved in health care reform. Now I am happy to report that Delaware is on the move! Also, the DATI has the proud distinction of having paved the way for the remarkable progress that has been made on behalf of people with disabilities in Delaware.

Back at the end of January, representatives from several Delaware health care-related organizations and State agencies were invited to participate with the DATI in a national teleconference on health care reform. Mr. Allan Bergman, attorney and nationally renowned expert on disability law, spoke urgently of problems with proposed health care reform legislation. The audience was cautioned to beware of the pitfalls and gaps in the proposed reform measures for people with disabilities. Also discussed was how consumers and advocates should take action to help remedy the situation. As the Delaware participants met afterward to discuss what they had just heard, Dr. Beth Mineo, DATI's project director, recommended and laid the groundwork for a summit meeting of disability-related organizations. The gathering she proposed turned out to be a landmark event for the State. On January 24, approximately three weeks after the teleconference, the DATI hosted a Health Care Reform Summit meeting. Included were representatives of 17 of Delaware's major disability-related organizations, advisory councils, service providers and a major insurance carrier. Assistive technology consumers and parents of children with disabilities were also in attendance. It was the first gathering of its kind in the State. I had the privilege of opening the meeting with a discussion of assistive technology's crucial role in health care reform and a brief overview of proposed federal health care reform models. Kay Holmes, Director of the Delaware Health Care Commission, then described the Commission's charge from the Governor and its proposed plan for Delaware. The plan itself is a local approximation of President Clinton's Health Security Act (HSA), but is far less comprehensive*. Ms. Holmes then led a rousing discussion in which she heard many of the unique health care concerns of people with disabilities in Delaware...concerns that she and other Commission members had not heard before. Finally, out of that discussion came the challenge for which the summit had actually been called. Ms. Holmes asked the organizations represented at the meeting to develop a unified health care reform position; one that would represent the interests of Delaware's citizens with disabilities. She would then see that this position received the full consideration of the Delaware Health Care Commission.

Response to the challenge was swift and sure. The organizations quickly formed a coalition and selected Lynne Howard of the Delaware Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (DELARF) as chair. Next, a follow-up meeting was scheduled for one week later. At that meeting, the coalition defined its mission, and agreed on the name ACTION FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE - A Delaware Coalition of Advocates for Persons with Disabilities. The coalition has held three meetings since then. After several drafts and much deliberation, a position paper calling for comprehensive health care coverage for all has been generated. The position paper is to be presented at the May 5 meeting of the Delaware Health Care Commission. DATI mission accomplished...just in time for more to come.

* 1.Just in case you missed our last issue... HSA borrows many of its principles such as universal coverage, portability, etc. from the single payer model, but its financing and administration is based on that of managed competition. Managed competition, you may recall, creates a Health Care Alliance that collects money from industry and individuals and distributes that money to insurers based on the number of customers they are able to attract with the cost and quality of their policies. The Alliance would set and enforce minimum coverage standards, and furnish insurer performance reports to consumers.