CDCAN REPORT #171-2011: Second rally for SB 946, autism health insurance mandate reform bill, set for 11 AM September 30 (Friday)

SENATE PRESIDENT STEINBERG TO SPEAK AT RALLY FRIDAY SEPT 30TH IN BERKELEY TO URGE GOVERNOR TO SIGN AUTISM  HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM  BILL - WILL BE JOINED BY FAMILIES, PARENTS AND ADVOCATES
Senate Budget Committee Chair Mark Leno and Sen. Ellen Corbett Both Scheduled To Also Speak for the Bill - Rally Set For 11 AM At Ed Roberts Campus In Berkeley -  Follows September 26th Rally At State Capitol - Governor Has Until October 9th To Sign or Veto Bills Sent To Him By Legislature - Position on SB 946 Uncertain

SACRAMENTO, CALIF (CDCAN)  [Last updated 09/29/2011 01:00 PM] - Following a similar event held Monday, September 26 at the State Capitol, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (Democrat - Sacramento), along with families, parents and advocates, will hold on Friday (September 30th) at 11:00 AM at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, a second rally and press conference to urge the Governor to sign SB 946, the legislation that would require private health plans and insurance companies to provide coverage of behavioral health treatments for persons with autism spectrum and related disorders. Steinberg is scheduled to be joined by Sen. Mark Leno (Democrat - San Francisco), chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and Sen. Ellen Corbett (Democrat - San Leandro), the State Senate Majority Leader. Both senators were strong supporters of the bill.   [CDCAN Note: The Ed Roberts Campus (ERC) is located at 3075 Adeline Street, in Berkeley, California, which is south of Ashby Avenue between Tremont and Woolsey Streets. The campus is at the Ashby BART Station on the Richmond/Fremont BART line.]

The Legislature passed SB 946, authored by Steinberg,  in the final days of its 2011 Legislative session, that advocates say is a landmark bill in protecting the rights of children and adults with disabilities.  A copy of the 32 page bill, as sent to the Governor, is attached to this CDCAN Report as a pdf file, saved as a document, which means persons who are blind or sight impaired should be able to view it using a screen reading device.  The document is titled "2011-09-14 - SB 946 - Enrolled.pdf"

Governor Jerry Brown has until 11:59 PM Sunday evening October 9th to sign or veto (or allow to become law without his signature - a practice that has almost never been done in State history) SB 946 and several hundreds of other bills that the Legislature sent to him in the closing days of the 2011 Legislative Session.

The rally will include performances by the Bay Area band, “The Dream Seekers,” made up of musicians who have autism spectrum disorders. Local family support groups will have information tables set up for families and others looking for information or other assistance.regarding autism spectrum disorders and supports and services.

Details On September 30th Rally in Berkeley

WHAT: Rally/Press Conference in Support of SB 946 (Autism Health Insurance Reform Mandate Bill)
WHEN: September 30, 2011 - Friday
TIME: 11:00 AM
WHERE:  Ed Roberts Campus (inside the atrium), 3075 Adeline Street (at Ashby BART Station), Berkeley.

SPEAKERS (Not listed in order of speaking):

• Senate President ProTem Darrell Steinberg (Democrat - Sacramento)
• Sen. Mark Leno (Democrat - San Francisco), chair Senate Budget Committee 
• Sen.Ellen Corbett (Democrat - San Leandro), State Senate Majority Leader
• Rocio Smith, Executive Director, Area Board 5 on Developmental Disabilities
• Feda Almaliti, parent of a young son with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Executive Director of Autism Health Advocates
• Cecilia Corral, parent of an 8 year old son with autism spectrum disorders (Remarks Given in Spanish)
• Albert Wang, parent of a young-adult son with autism spectrum disorders, Founder of Friends of Children with Special Needs [Available for Chinese language interviews]
• Kristin Jacobson, Founding Member of the Alliance of California Autism Organizations, Statewide Advocacy Chair for Autism Speaks and President of Autism Deserves Equal Coverage
• Karen Fessel, parent of a teenage son with Asperger’s, Founder and Executive Director of the Autism Health Insurance Project
• Marty Omoto, Director of the California Disability Community Action Network

TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION TO ED ROBERTS CAMPUS

• PARKING - Do not park in the BART parking lot (people CAN park there for free if it is AFTER 3 PM on weekdays and on weekends).  There IS street parking (limit is 2 hour parking in the neighborhood)  or a paid parking garage under the Ed Roberts Campus building with a minimal cost. The entrance to the garage is on Woolsey Street.
• BUS -   In the East Bay: Take AC Transit bus #12 via Martin Luther King Jr. Way, or the #49 bus via Ashby Ave. From San Franciscotake the F bus from the San Francisco Bus terminal, get off at the corner of Ashby and Adeline Avenues.
• BIKE:  Adeline Avenue has bike lanes and Berkeley Bicycle Boulevards on Russell and Milvia Streets are nearby and provide safe routes. Both AC Transit and BART accommodate bicycles. Bike racks are provided on the east side of the building and secure bike parking is available for a minimal fee at the Ashby BART station.
• CAR - The Ed Roberts Campus (ERC) is located at 3075 Adeline Street, in Berkeley,  From Interstate 80/580, take Ashby exit.  The campus is south of Ashby Avenue between Tremont and Woolsey Streets

Rally Site At Ed Roberts Campus Considered Significant By SB 946 Advocates & Supporters

• Ed Roberts, who passed away at age 56 on March 14, 1995,  is revered and considered by many across the world as the "father of the independent living movement" who came to statewide and national prominence when he first pushed for disability rights during his time as a student at UC Berkeley.  Those efforts and his commitment led to what became the model for independent living centers in California and across the nation.
• He was the first person with a disability to serve as director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, appointed by  Governor Jerry Brown during his first term as governor in 1975.
• Roberts was also co-founder of a respected disability advocacy organization based in the Bay Area, the World Institute on Disability (WID) along with co-founders Judy Heumann and Joan Leon
• The Ed Roberts Campus was developed and built as a living tribute to his work and legacy for independent living and the rights of people with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind, seniors to live in their own homes and in their own communities and to participate in school, work and social life as a fully included member of one's own community.
• Disability advocates and supporters of SB 946 say the location of the September 30th rally is "very significant and appropriate" because they say the bill advances the priciniples of inclusion and disability rights that Roberts believed and fought for.
• In recognition of Ed Roberts work and legacy, Sen. Loni Hancock (Democrat - Berkeley) authored and successfully pushed into state law signed on July 19, 2010 by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, legislation that proclaimed January 23rd each year as a "Day of Significance" honoring Ed Roberts - and the work of other disability advocates.  The first "Ed Roberts Day" was held in January 2011 - ironically when Jerry Brown began his third term as California Governor - the same man who appointed Ed Roberts as director of the California Department of Rehabilitation in 1975.
• The Ed Roberts Campus houses the offices of the collaborating organizations as well as fully accessible meeting rooms, a computer/media resource center, a fitness center, a cafe, and a child development center.
• For more information about the campus go to the Ed Roberts Campus website at: http://edrobertscampus.org/

Issue - and Bill Has Drawn Major Controversy on Need for Critical Services for Autism and Other Disorders

• As previously reported, families of children with autism spectrum and other disorders and other advocates say the legislation is critical - especially during a time of massive budget reductions, with more cuts likely - and will result in savings to the State's general fund of over $100 million.
• Advocates and supporters of the bill say SB 946 is necessary because of continued denied insurance coverage for medically necessary treatment (including behavioral treatments) by private health plans and insurance companies.  SB 946 would establish a new requirement or mandate that would, supporters say, end what they call is a ongoing "discriminatory practice" by those private health plans and insurance companies.
• Supporters say the new requirement is "fair" because of ongoing deep and permanent cuts made in the past 10 years by the State to critical services and supports for infants, children and adults with developmental and other disabilities, the blind, people with mental health needs, seniors, and to the community-based providers, facilities and workers who provide those services.
• The issue also has direct impact to local school districts special education programs and the 21 non-profit regional centers who coordinate services and supports to over 240,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities. 
• The issue - depending on how it is resolved - also impacts other community-based services and supports for children and adults with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind and seniors, with the State - and Federal governments - implementing deep permanent new reductions - with more likely to come in 2012.
• The bill is strongly opposed by private health plans and insurance companies who believe the required benefits in SB 946 are not medical or health related and should be covered by other entities, such as the schools.
• Some groups oppose the bill because it exempts those who are covered under government funded programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, those under public employee retirement programs or would change existing settlements impacting coverage of some children and others.
• Opponents of the bill also disagree with supporters of the bill who claim there will be a major savings to the State general fund, and instead say that SB 946 will result in higher insurance premiums and costs to all those covered under private health plans and insurance.  Supporters of the bill strongly disagree.
• Persons in support or in opposition to the bill (or any other bill before the Governor) can send in their written comments to the Governor (email is not the best way to communicate this type of information to the Governor's office unless a person knows someone working there and the email is addressed to that person specifically):

Governor Jerry Brown
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

File Attachments: 

2011-09-14 - SB 946 - Enrolled.pdf (122.44 KB)