by Joanne Bauman

On the 12th anniversary of the ADA, President George W. Bush announced that the government would be making changes to Medicare rules to save money and curtail fraud. New rules would require all persons who receive in-home assistance to be "homebound." The rule stipulates that a homebound person is one who has "a normal inability to leave home" where "leaving home requires a considerable and taxing effort by the individual." When a person does venture out, it must be "infrequent or of relatively short duration."

The "homebound" rule has provided governmental agencies and home health providers with the excuse to terminate service to those with the severest disabilities who generally need the most assistance. David Jayne, who has Lou Gehrig's disease, was initially dropped from coverage for attending a funeral. He wasn't aware that his home health service would be terminated for leaving the home, with the exception of doctors' visits or adult day care. Jayne's psychologist filed paperwork for the discharge process for homebound violations. Newspaper coverage of Jayne's case and help from Georgia Advocacy Office lawyers won him reinstatement.

Jayne said he grew bitter being "forced under house arrest and missing out on my children's activities. I didn't know the federal government was into rationing freedom," he said. Jayne, once an avid hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman, enjoys his children's sporting events and vacations. "I know going public with my activities would cause me to be discharged again," he says of his lobbying and advocacy, "but I wanted this punitive restriction exposed." Jayne had services cut again for having the audacity to attend a football game and speaking out on disability awareness. Unlike others who have been cut from services, Jayne has been successful in having his services restored.

Encouraging Americans to participate in fitness and exercise (National Fitness Day, July 2002) while at the same time punishing persons with disabilities unless they stay at home sends a mixed message.

Read the entire article at http://www.ncpad.org/175/1320/Exercise~Religiously