Author Archives

August 26, 2019-Out-of-pocket cost for multiple sclerosis medications have quadrupled during past 10 years

New research published in JAMA Neurology on Monday reports that the annual cost of “self-administered disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis more than quadrupled” between 2006-2016, raising the mean yearly costs for drugs from $18,660 to $75,847. The median American family income is $61,372. The out-of-pocket spending for a patient needing these drugs has risen from $372 annually in 2006 to $2,673 in 2016. The researchers point out that considering

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August 16, 2019-The Arc Rejects President Trump’s Comments on Bringing Back Institutions

Washington, DC – The Arc, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), which was founded by parents and family members who rejected institutions and fought for decades to close them, released the following statement on President Trump’s comments about creating new institutions for people with mental health needs. Read more


August 16, 2019-In Trump’s world, it’s easier to regulate the bodies of disabled people than to limit deadly weapons

(CNN)On his way to a rally in New Hampshire on Thursday, Donald Trump unveiled his latest musing — to incarcerate the vulnerable. This time, he’s coming for people with mental illness, suggesting that the United States build more mental institutions because of mass shooters. Worse, it’s all too possible some Democrats are going to help him round us up. Standing before his helicopter, Trump

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August 16, 2019-Trump misses the blazingly obvious reason we know mental illness doesn’t cause mass shootings

Donald Trump has a cycle after a mass shooting: First he pretends he might embrace some new gun safety laws, and then he backs away. After El Paso and Dayton and Gilroy, we’ve now reached the backing-away stage, and it’s a doozy. Sure, “We’re looking at the whole gun situation,” Trump told reporters Thursday, before pivoting quickly. “I do want people to remember the

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August 15, 2019-Voters who asked for mail-in ballots in last two elections must reapply, state says

In a move that creates even more confusion with New Jersey election law, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has decided that voters who requested vote-by-mail ballots in 2017 and 2018 must reapply to receive mail-in ballots for the upcoming election. That means Democratic candidates seeking to flip Republican Assembly seats won’t be able to ride the coattails of vote-by-mail programs conducted by the Murphy for

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August 15, 2019-What The Decisions Of Illinois Goodwill Say About Overall View On Disabled Workers

The state of Illinois is to raise its minimum rage from $8.25 to $9.25 by January of 2020, $10 by the next July, and then a dollar more each year until it reaches $15 by 2020. Although this seems to be a step in the right direction for workers’ equality, a certain population is going to take a fall because of it: employees with disabilities.Specifically,

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August 8, 2019-NEW STATE GUIDANCE ON RESOLVING SPECIAL EDUCATION DISPUTES

Every year there are hundreds of special ed disputes between school districts and families. The Department of Education has issued new rules in hopes of settling them more quickly Facing a federal order to speed up the process, the Murphy administration is attempting to address a longstanding challenge in how New Jersey’s public schools resolve hundreds of special education disputes every year. The state

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August 8, 2019-DISTURBING’ INCREASE IN NJ BIAS INCIDENTS LAST YEAR, ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUNG

Task force to combat youth bias is set up as Attorney General decries ‘rising tide of hate’ The number of bias incidents in New Jersey climbed in 2018 for the third straight year, with the total number reported at the highest level since 2011 and 55 percent above the lowest point in 2015, a new state report shows. In releasing the latest bias incident

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August 7, 2019-Community raises more than $50,000 to keep man with special needs as neighbor

GLOUCESTER TWP. – Some people really know how to make a guy feel at home.  Lamar Harris’ neighbors were so set on having him stick around, they raised more than $50,000 to pay off the back taxes he owed on his house.   Harris, an adult with special needs, has lived on Cherry Circle in Gloucester Township all his life. But over time, he lost the

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August 6, 2019-Acting Governor Oliver Signs Legislation Assisting Hard of Hearing Community

TRENTON – Today, Acting Governor Sheila Y. Oliver signed S2044 and S2045 into law, establishing a “Deaf Student’s Bill of Rights” and a Working Group on Deaf Education. Additionally, the legislation requires the Department of Education to develop a parent resource guide and for both the Department of Education and Department of Health to collect and report data for children who are deaf or hard

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