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100 from ADAPT Arrested at
White House Demanding Apology from President for "Stolen Lives"
Police arrested 100 members of ADAPT on Mother's Day when
they refused to leave the front of the White House while demanding
an apology from President George Bush for the institutional bias
in Medicaid that robs Americans of choice in long-term care services.
Before the arrests, 500 members of ADAPT from 30 states listened
as a dozen people gave personal testimony about the harm they suffered
for many years when forced into nursing homes and other institutions.
Backed by a 150-foot banner filled with pictures and similar personal
stories from across the country, they told how the Medicaid institutional
bias had stolen their lives, and about the freedom they now feel living
in their own homes.
"It's pretty ironic that a few feet behind us is our American flag
waving in the breeze on top of the White House," said Gayle Hafner,
of Maryland ADAPT, one of those arrested. "Our flag is supposed to
symbolize freedom. Try telling that to all the people who are locked in nursing
homes and institutions right now for the crime of disability, or
to Linda from Maryland who is here because she is trying desperately
to get out of a nursing home. Does this country legitimately owe us
an apology for all our stolen lives? You bet it does!"
Along with the apology from President Bush, and Congress, ADAPT
was in Washington seeking additional support for passage of MiCASSA, the
Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act. S.
971 has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), along with nine additional co-sponsors.
In the House, H.R. 2032 has been introduced by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), along with 25 additional co-sponsors.
In MiCASSA, Medicaid money follows the person, instead of being
attached to a setting like a nursing home, thus permitting people
to choose to receive their long-term care services in their own homes in
the community instead of being forced into institutional settings
to get the assistance they need. MiCASSA also includes the provision
of significant economic incentives for states to help their transition
from institutional to community-based services as the option of choice.
"It's time for the President to return his attention to the domestic
agenda," said arrestee Bobbie Coward of Capitol Area ADAPT. "With
most of the states experiencing fiscal crises tied to Medicaid, MiCASSA
will provide some measure of relief, and will put in place a safety
net for both the states and their older and disabled citizens. The
President and Congress need to get busy solving problems right here
at home. ADAPT is committed to one of the solutions being the passage
of MiCASSA, and we'll be back in D.C. this fall, marching all 144 miles
from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to make sure it happens."
The next day ADAPT stopped traffic on busy Constitution Ave. and
on surrounding streets including an entrance to Interstate 395, for
seven hours Monday to gain a meeting with U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) officials. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Ralph
Boyd, filled in for his absent boss, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft,
meeting with 500 ADAPT activists from 30 states for more than an hour
in the middle of the closed street in front of DOJ headquarters.
Several ADAPT demands for Ashcroft and the DOJ related to the lack
of compliance by states with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The
ADA requires state and local governments to provide services and
programs, including long-term care, "in the most integrated setting."
States had until 2002 to perform self-evaluations detailing their
ADA deficiencies and their proposed correction plans. According to
ADAPT officials, when asked if DOJ would agree to review the state
plans for compliance with the ADA, especially in regard to long-term
care services, Boyd answered, "Yes." Calling the ADAPT protest "Democracy
in action," he added that he and his staff would be willing to personally
visit and investigate institutions when they receive specific complaints
from community advocates.
"Mr. Boyd also promised to review the many civil rights complaints
we have filed against states that aren't moving people into the community
from nursing homes and institutions in compliance with the ADA and
the U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead decision.," said Anita Cameron, ADAPT
Organizer from Denver, Colorado.
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