focusing on Health, Wellness, and Prevention, as part of the Rocky
Mountain Roundtable series in connection with the Democratic National
Convention. Participants included Bruce
Bodaken, Dr. Denis Cortese, Michael Critelli, Sen. Tom Daschle, Trace
Devanney, Dr. Patty Gabow, Jeff Kindler, Dr. Jeanne Lambrew, Thomas
Menino, Gavin Newsom, Dr. Samuel Nussbaum, Barbara O'Brien, Dr. Stephen
Oesterle, Linda Pryor, Kenneth Shachmut, Kevin Sharer, Hilda Solis,
and Dr. Reed Tuckson. Sounds like a great place to hear innovative
ideas about the future of disability policy, right?
Wrong. Though the
panel participants mentioned diabetes, cancer, and other chronic
conditions repeatedly, not a single panelist mentioned community-based
care, the cost of medical goods like prosthetics, or even stem cell
research. The panel discussed at length the cost of care for chronic
conditions, yet the savings possible by de-institutionalizing adults
with disabilities and providing home-based services were not noted.
Even the cost of pharmaceuticals was mentioned only in passing, with no
attention paid to the rapidly rising costs of drugs such as the
injectables that can slow progression of chronic conditions like
Multiple Sclerosis. With one in six Americans living with disability,
the lack of attention to disability issues left a gaping hole in the
panelists' proposals.
The panel focused
primarily on prevention of chronic disease through proactive wellness
programs, including education of families and the provision of
healthful foods in school lunchrooms and employee cafeterias. Boston
Mayor Thomas Menino suggested that the new President should use
Massachusetts as a model for designing a universal health care plan for
the nation, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson discussed his city's
groundbreaking health care program that provides coverage to children
ages zero to twenty-five, and the adult health care program that has
provided care to 40% of San Francisco's uninsured.
Colorado Lieutenant
Governor Barbara O'Brien discussed the design of communities and
neighborhoods to make healthy choices easier, including making streets
safer for children bicycling to school and expanding cycling and
pedestrian paths. Here again was a smart idea that could also expand
access and community participation for those with disabilities, and
again the speaker failed to take a moment to mention that pedestrian
paths would also help persons with disabilities access the community,
in turn reducing costs by improving health as Dr. Patty Gabow defines
it-- "The mental, physical, and spiritual state that allows an
individual to reach their full potential and engage fully in the
community."
A roundtable of top
thinkers and innovators in the health care industry produced many
bright ideas. However, without the merest mention of the disability
community's significance or the unrealized potential of individuals
currently disabled more by the lack of community-based services than by
their underlying conditions, many in the audience were surely left
skeptical about the panelists' committment to truly universal health
care.
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