Michigan Disability Resistance

Some of the facts are quite surprising...

https://goo.gl/scBBKB

After a period of relatively slow growth, total and per capita Part D spending has increased more rapidly in the past few years mainly due to treatments for hepatitis C, and is projected to increase more rapidly in the next decade as more high-priced specialty drugs become available, according to the recently-released annual report of the Medicare Boards of Trustees.

Even with Medicare’s prescription drug coverage, beneficiaries can face substantial out-of-pocket costs, particularly if they use specialty drugs or multiple high-cost brand-name drugs. The following series of graphics examines trends in Medicare spending on prescription drugs, Medicare beneficiary out-of-pocket drug spending, and what the public thinks about different options for keeping drug costs down.

1. Medicare accounts for a growing share of the nation’s prescription drug spending: 29 percent in 2015 compared to 18 percent in 2006, the first year of the Part D benefit.

https://goo.gl/5ZQpA3

On March 23, 1847, a group of Choctaw leaders and others met in eastern Oklahoma to raise money for "the relief of the starving poor in Ireland." They collected $170, which was sent first to the Memphis Irish Relief Committee, then to the General Irish Relief Committee of the City of New York. This gift from an American Indian nation was recognized as extraordinary even at that time; the chairman of the New York committee mentioned it specifically in reports to the Central Relief Committee in Ireland.

This week, at the beginning of a St. Patrick’s Day visit to the United States, the Irish head of state visited Oklahoma to thank the Choctaw Nation and announce an Irish scholarship program for Choctaw youth. It is not the first time the Irish have remembered the Choctaws' extending their hand. In 1992 a group of Irish men and women walked the 600-mile Trail of Tears, raising $170,000 to relieve suffering in famine-stricken Somalia—$1,000 for every dollar donated by the Choctaw people in 1847. Last year a Choctaw delegation took part in the dedication of Kindred Spirits, a sculpture commissioned by the people of County Cork to commemorate the Choctaws' kindness. “These people were still recovering from their own injustice, and they put their hands in their pockets and they helped strangers,” County Councilman Joe McCarthy pointed out at the ceremony. “It’s rare to see such generosity. It had to be acknowledged.”

Here Judy Allen, historic projects officer for the Choctaw Nation, describes the Choctaws' original gift to the Irish and how it reflects enduring cultural values.

https://goo.gl/Zc2Ufx

Black disability history matters because without us putting our voices and very bodies on the line, the political and societal strides many of us take for granted would not have occurred.

What do Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Mary Davidson have in common? They were all important Black historical figures who made incredible strides in our nation’s ongoing struggle for human and civil rights, and they were all disabled.

If you were surprised to learn that these women were disabled, you are not alone. Many Black historical figures, innovators, and activists have had their disabilities erased when their stories are taught in schools and covered during Black history and women’s history observances—by educators and advocates alike.

This erasure speaks volumes about how our society recounts stories of disabled people and the narrow lens through which stories are told, particularly those involving disability. Our history is forever incomplete if we fail to highlight and respect the identities of Black and disabled heroes and trailblazers.

On February 28, I co-hosted the #BlackDisabilityHistory Twitter chat with Imani Barbarin and Neal Carter, along with support from Alice Wong of Disability Visibility Project. We decided to do this chat because it was long overdue; our voices and experiences deserved to be heard.

https://goo.gl/XAgaKv

Kelly's presentation is less than 17 minutes and yet he thoroughly explains why assisted suicide should not be legalized and why assisted suicide threatens the lives of people with disabilities and others. 

With all the talk about re-creating asylums and similar institutions, it is important to remind ourselves why advocates and families fought for their elimination. When I was a full-time advocate, every institutional setting in my catchment had physical and sexual abuse, every one including the Schools for the deaf and blind. That is what will happen if we recreate institutions...

https://goo.gl/yP1DNM