Senate Passes Work Incentives Legislation

[F. Pennell]

*****************************************

Senate OKs Disability-to-Work Bill

By Laura Meckler
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 16, 1999; 3:10 p.m. EDT=20



WASHINGTON (AP) =96 After months of delay, the Senate voted 99-0 Wednesday =
to
make it easier for people with disabilities to return to work.=20

The centerpiece of the bill would allow many of the nation's 9 million
adults with disabilities to retain their health insurance when they take
jobs.=20

``If America means anything, it means not leaving people out or people
behind,'' said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who helped spearhead the bill.
He called it a ``real invitation'' to people with disabilities to ``be part
of the American dream.''=20

Kennedy and Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., joined disability activists for
hugs, cheers and snapshots after the vote. The gathering off the Senate
floor was part celebration and part relief that the bill had finally come
up for a vote after months of delay.=20



``I can't tell you how thrilled I am,'' Jeffords said.=20

Although the bill had 77 co-sponsors, Sen. Phil Gramm objected to its
reliance on tax changes to pay for it.=20

So the Senate put off finding a way to pay for the $800 million, five-year
measure. Instead, it directs future negotiators to come up with unspecified
spending cuts.=20

Kennedy predicted that wouldn't be a problem, saying that President Clinton
personally promised to find cuts.=20

``We'll find a way to pay for it,'' he said.=20

The legislation also has considerable support in the House but is stalled
over how to pay for it. It has cleared the Commerce Committee but still
must move through the Ways and Means Committee, which sets tax policy.=20

Clinton and Senate backers are hoping Congress can finish work on the
legislation by late July, when they will mark the 9th anniversary of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.=20

Less than one half of one percent of Americans receiving disability
benefits ever return to work. That's mostly because they fear losing the
health insurance that is often so central to their lives, advocates say.=20

The bill would also inject competition among those who train the disabled
to work. Those with disabilities could choose to continue getting services
from government rehabilitation programs, or they could go to privately run
programs.=20

And it would give the trainers an extra incentive to get people to work --
the trainers would get some of the money saved because of decreased
government disability benefits.=20

The legislation would affect about 9 million adults who collect federal
disability benefits.=20

Those who use the Social Security Disability Insurance program could keep
their Medicare benefits after returning to work. States would get the
option to extend Medicaid to those in the Supplemental Security Income
program for low-income people, allowing them to buy into the program and
pay premiums that would rise as their income grows.=20

States will each have to decide whether to extend Medicaid, which is paid
for with a combination of state and federal money. Kennedy predicted
disability activists will soon be flooding state legislatures.=20

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, because the bill makes the
disability program more attractive, it will attract new people to the
program. That, combined with the changes to rehabilitation services, would
cost the federal government $800 million over five years.=20

Only Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who is traveling with the president in
Europe, did not vote on the bill.=20




=A9 1999 The Associated Press=20