> Hi Folks-
> Two items of interest have crossed my desk today which are time
> sensitive. Here they are:
> 1. Ed Crinnion's father's memorial service.
> 2. An ACTION ALERT from the National Council on Independent
> Living
>
>
> 1. Ed Crinnion's father's viewing and service is scheduled for
> Saturday  9/11/04   6 to 8 P.M. at the H Merritt Hughes Funeral
> Home, Inc. at 451 N. Main Steet, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18705
> hmhughesfh@aol.com
>
> September 5, 2004- Edward V. Crinnion, 80, of Wilkes-Barre, died
> Sunday at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre.  He was born in New
> York, New York on August 6, 1924 to Edward T. and Eleanor A.
> (Hynes) Crinnion. He graduated from the prestigious Bronx High
> School of  Science and Cornell University with a degree in
> Engineering.
>
> During World War II, Ed was a first lieutenant of the 446th BS
> (M) of the 321st BG (M). He flew B-25's on 67 combat missions
> between September 1, 1944 and April 1, 1945. He was awarded a DFC
> and an Air Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters.
>
> After the war, Ed had a long and varied career as a PE in
> Structural Engineering. Some of his more notable projects
> included the Lincoln Tunnel, the Western Electric Building in New
> York City, the Japanese Pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair, as
> well as many skyscrapers, nuclear reactors, tunnels and bridges
> throughout the United States. During the past several years, Ed
> had been marketing his two patented precast wall systems,
> MODUwall and STEPwall and served as a consultant to precast
> concrete producers.
>
> Ed is survived by his longtime companion Mary Jane Lecce of
> Wilkes-Barre, his children Edward V. Crinnion, Jr. of Pittsburgh,
> James S. Crinnion of Hollis, N.H., Eleanor (Norie) Crinnion of
> Dallas, PA, and Amanda Kaplan of Connecticut, and his
> grandchildren Charity Jenkins, Michelle Crinnion, Benjamin Kaplan
> and Lauren Kaplan.
>
> A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 11th
> between 6-8 p.m. at the H. Merritt Hughes Funeral Home, 451 N.
> Main St., Wilkes-Barre. Donations may be sent to the American
> Heart Association.
>
> Edward T. Crinnion, his father, was the Building Commisioner of
> New York City and designed the timing system of the trafic lights
> on all the one way streets in the city.
>
> 2. ACTION ALERT from the National Council on Independent Living
>
> National Call-In Day  September 14, 2004
> For Money Follows the Person/ Family Opportunity Act
>
> Congress has returned! They will be in session for only one
> month. There is much business to be conducted. If
> disability advocates want to be on their agenda, we must
> make a concerted, forceful push to get there. Therefore,
> disability organizations, including NCIL, ADAPT, AAPD, PVA,
> The ARC, United Cerebral Palsy and NAPAS, as well as other
> organizations like AARP and Family Voices have joined
> together to encourage advocates and friends from all over
> the country to take part in a national call-in day on
> Tuesday, September 14th.  Our goal is passage of federal
> legislation supporting Money Follows the Person and the
> Family Opportunity Act.
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> The Senate passed the Family Opportunity Act (S 622)
> earlier this year. A separate Money Follows the Person bill
> (S 1394) has been introduced, but not passed by the Senate.
>
> In the House of Representatives, the Family Opportunity Act
> (H 1811) was amended in late June to include Money Follows
> the Person. It was on the suspension calendar and about
> to be voted upon when concerns about offsets in Medicaid to
> fund the legislation led to disagreements about how to
> proceed. H 1811 was pulled from the suspension calendar and
> has not been acted upon since.
>
> TALKING POINTS
>
> 1. Family Opportunity Act
>
> The bipartisan Family Opportunity Act would allow families
> with children who have severe disabilities to buy into the
> Medicaid program so that they have access to important
> health care services and supports which they cannot get
> through private insurance plans. The following are reasons
> Congress should support this legislation.
>
> * Passage of this bill would help these families stay
> employed, keep their children at home, and ensure that
> their children get the services they need.
>
> * It requires parents to pay premiums for this coverage on
> a sliding scale, based upon their incomes.
>
> * This program would be a state option and not mandatory.
>
> * It requires parents to take employer-sponsored family
> coverage, if available, but it allows them to buy into
> Medicaid to supplement the employer benefit package.
>
> 2. Money Follows the Person
>
> Money Follows the Person is a demonstration project that
> would require the federal government to reimburse the state
> for 100% of the first-year costs of home and community
> based services for individuals on Medicaid who move to the
> community from nursing homes or other institutions. In year
> two, the state match returns to the original rate. The
> reasons for passing this bill include:
>
> * Allowing individuals real choice in where they live;
>
> * Assisting states in Olmstead implementation which would
> help eliminate the institutional bias in Medicaid funding;
>
> * Reducing costs since home and community based services
> are far less expensive than institutional care
>
> * Honoring the promise made by President Bush in 2003 to
> provide $1.75 billion for a Money Follows the Individual
> Rebalancing Demonstration Project
>
> * Being consistent with family values and doing the right
> thing.
>
> CALL TO ACTION!!
>
> 1) Call the White House and urge the President to deliver
> on his promise for Money Follows the Person legislation.
>
> The White House Comment Line is (202)-456-1111 (TTY
> Accessible)
>
> 2) Call your Representative in the House and urge passage
> of legislation to include both the Family Opportunity Act
> and Money Follows the Person.
>
> NOTE: If you do not know your Representatives Phone
> Number, see below.
>
> 3) Call Your Senators and urge passage of Money Follows the
> Person Legislation (S 1394) since they previously passed
> the Family Opportunity Act.
>
> NOTE: If you do not know your Senators Phone Numbers See
> Below
>
> 4) How to find your Representative or Senators phone
> numbers
>
>  Go to www.congress.org
>
>  Find the box under the heading Write Elected Officials,
>  type in your zip code and press the enter key.
>
>  Then, when the names of your elected officials come on
>  the screen, click your mouse on the word Info under the
>  name of the elected official you want to contact. The
>  telephone number will be listed on the page that comes up
>  next.
>
> This is a real opportunity for the disability community to
> live up to the NCIL motto of Not Just Responding To
> Change, But Leading It!
>
> Lets make the most of it.
>
> IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS: Contact Gwen Gillenwater, NCIL
> Director of Advocacy and Public Policy or Daniel Davis,
> NCIL Policy Analyst by phone at (703)-525-3406 or by e-mail
> at gwen@ncil.org or daniel@ncil.org.
>