Comprehensive Autism Legislation Introduced in House of Representatives

The Autism Society of American reports that major legislation regarding autism was introduced into the House of Representatives last week as a companion to a bill introduced into the Senate in April.

"The Autism Society applauds this comprehensive autism legislation focused around enhancing the quality of life for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families.

The Autism Society especially applauds the inclusion of support services for adults on the autism spectrum in this bill. Currently, the federal government provides for educational services until age 21; however, autism is a lifelong disorder, and when the school bus stops coming, individuals and families are often left to fend for themselves. ATAA creates a demonstration project to provide an array of services to adults with autism spectrum disorders, including: postsecondary education; vocational and self-advocacy skills; employment; residential services, supports and housing; nutrition, health and wellness; recreational and social activities; and transportation and personal safety.

The legislation also would provide for the establishment of a national network in order to strengthen linkages between research and service initiatives at the federal, regional, state and local levels, and facilitate the translation of research on autism into services and treatments that will improve the quality of life for individuals with autism and their families. A national data repository would be created to share emerging data, findings and treatment models.

Other key aspects of the bill include:

* the establishment of a national training initiative on autism and a technical assistance center to develop and expand interdisciplinary training and continuing education on autism spectrum disorders; and
* a requirement that health insurers cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, including Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, assistive communication devices and other effective treatments.

The Autism Society needs your help in order to help pass this critical legislation. Please contact your U.S. Representative and ask him or her to co-sponsor the bill. We’ve composed an e-mail describing all the vital aspects of this bill but it will be especially effective if you add your own story describing how ATAA would help you and your family.

The time to act is now. Please support this important issue today, and urge your friends to take action as well. Together, we can improve the quality of live for individuals with autism across the lifespan."

Keeping Track of Healthcare Reform in Washington

For those of you interested in President Obama's effortsd to reform the nation's healthcare system, here is an article regarding the pledge of some healthcare providers to reduce the cost of healthcare and to support portions of the President's program.

Ohio Insurance Reform

ACT NOW  Your Senator Can Bring About Fair  Health Insurance Rates

Ask Your Senator to "Keep the Open Enrollment Reforms in H.B. 1" Paying claims costs insurers money, so they have a powerful reason to protect themselves against covering individuals in less-than-perfect health. In Ohio, insurers can deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions, exclude coverage for a pre-existing condition, or charge higher premiums.  Over a decade ago, Ohio created an Open Enrollment Program for people who were denied coverage. Unfortunately, that Program no longer works because the extremely high premiums are out of reach for most Ohioans. Over 196,063 Ohioans between ages 50-64 are uninsured and that number is growing with more lay-offs and plant closures every day. For these individuals, who do not have employer-based coverage, insurance rates in 2010 are expected to average $815 per individual per month. Some insurers are advertising rates that exceed $3,000 per individual per month.  This can be fixed. The new Open Enrollment Program in House Bill One will narrow the wide variation in premiums. It will also limit "cherry picking"... also known as "segmentation," to prevent unfair discrimination against individuals with less-than-perfect health or with perceived health risks.          There's no time to delay.      Please Call 1-888-844-5009 You will be connected to the office of Your Senator.  Tell Your Senator...  "Fix It Now. Keep the Open Enrollment Reforms that were passed by the House.  HB 1 -- State Budget Bill."  Please send this Alert to others who support fair insurance rates.  From AARP

Tax Disaster May Await You

The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will result in tax savings of up to $400 for individuals and up to $800 for couples, depending upon your earned income. The credit is 6.2% of your earned income up to the maximum credit amounts. (Individuals making more than $95,000 and couples making more than $190,000 are ineligible to receive any of this credit.

To implement this tax credit, the IRS adjusted the withholding taxtables, effective April 1, 2009. So employees have started receiving more money in their paychecks. Unfortunately, the withholding tables do not withhold enough money for several groups of taxpayers.

Those at greatest risk are workers with more than one job, retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments, college students who are claimed as dependents on their parents' tax returns, and couples who file joint returns and both work.

This problem has been brought to the IRS' attention, but so far, the IRS has yet to figure out a way to fix the problem.

Some examples:

A. A single taxpayer who has two jobs making at least $20,000 at each job. The withholding tables will give her an extra $800, but she will only get a $400 tax credit. This means she'll have her tax refund reduced by that extra $400, or she will have to repay Uncle Sam the extra withholding she has already spent.

B. A married couple with a combined income of at least $50,000 will get the full $800 tax credit. But if they both work and each earns at least $13,000, they will have $400 too little withheld from their paychecks.

C. A college student claimed as a dependent by his parents and making at least $10,000 will have $400 too little withheld from his paychecks. He'll have to repay the whole $400 to the IRS by April 15, 2010.

D. Pension benefits are not earned income. Those taxpayers who have taxes withheld from these benefits will likely have to repay the $250 payment social security is sending them this month (May). If they do qualify for the tax credit, they will have to deduct this $250 from their credit.

What can you do to try to protect yourself? The IRS, recognizing that there is a problem has created a "Withholding Calculator" on its web site, http://www.irs.gov.

Go to the IRS web site and in the Search box on its home page, type in "IRS Withholding Calculator." The first result will likely be a link to the calculator. You will need to have your most recent pay stubs and your most recent tax return. Follow the directions carefully and fill in the information requested. You may find that you will have to fill out a new withholding form, Form W-4, to give to your employer(s), or you may need to get Publication 919, "How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?"

This may turn out to save you from possible financial disaster next Spring.

Special Needs Trust

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Special Needs Trust

View more presentations from PaulNidich.

New Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases in 2009

The Stimulus package passed in early 2009 created a special sales tax deduction for new vehicles purchased between February 16 and December 31, 2009.  Here's a brief article about the deduction:

How to Take Advantage of the New Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases

Bill Introduced in the Senate to Eliminate 2-Year Medicare Waiting Period

Here is some information about a bill introduced in the Senate on March 25th.

S.700
Title: A bill to amend title II of the Social Security Act to phase out the 24-month waiting period for disabled individuals to become eligible for Medicare benefits, to eliminate the waiting period for individuals with life-threatening conditions, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] (introduced 3/25/2009) Cosponsors (3)
Latest Major Action: 3/25/2009 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

---

COSPONSORS(3), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)

Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 3/25/2009
Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME] - 3/25/2009
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 3/31/2009