Health & Disability Advocates

 

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ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Health & Disability Advocates offers a range of services in three main areas:

Within these three areas, HDA has developed and implemented several successful projects which advance our policy and advocacy agenda.

Chicago Medical Legal Partnership for Children (CMLPC) The CMLPC is a medical-legal collaboration designed to improve patients’ access to healthcare and public benefits. CMLPC attorneys, onsite at University of Chicago Hospital and the Friend Family Health Center, are available to provide legal services in the hospital and pediatric medical clinics to low-income families of children under 18. In addition, they offer legal consultation to healthcare providers and social workers to facilitate solutions for their patients who are experiencing legal problems. This gives healthcare providers access to legal resources, something not typically available in a medical care setting. For more information, contact Amy Zimmerman at 312-223-9600.

HDA Client Services Health & Disability Advocates provides advice and individual representation to thousands of clients per year, including children and adults, in the areas of Social Security, SSI, Children’s SSI, SSDI, Medicare, Medicaid and Insurance law. Health & Disability Advocates will continue to provide individual representation in order to fill a community need and to inform administrative and legislative policy efforts. For more information, contact Tom Yates or Ellyce Anapolsky at 312-223-9600.

Make Medicare Work Coalition (MMW)  In 2005, HDA launched the Make Medicare Work Coalition, a collaborative project with aging and disability groups that marries public-policy development with education, outreach, and enrollment activities around implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. HDA is the lead agency providing policy analysis to the state of Illinois in the development of its state wrap-around program for Medicare Part D. HDA is working with other Midwestern states’ advocates and policymakers to ensure that their Medicare consumers are not adversely affected by the new plan. For more information, contact John Coburn at 312-223-9600.

Medicaid Leadership Group (MLG) The Medicaid Leadership Group, established in February 2002, brings together state policymakers, legislators, advocates, providers and consumers who are interested in working collaboratively to build relationships; share information and analysis; develop and promote policy, including a comprehensive plan for improving upon the current health care system in Illinois. For more information, contact Stephanie Altman at 312-223-9600.

Memisovski v. Maram HDA attorneys served as co-counsel in the landmark Memisovski v. Maram case, in which a federal judge ruled that the Illinois Department of Public Aid and the Illinois Department of Human Services had violated the rights of some 600,000 Medicaid-eligible children in Cook County to receive adequate health care. The provisions of the case’s settlement will dramatically improve children’s access to health care under the Medicaid program in Illinois. For more information, contact Stephanie Altman or Tom Yates at 312-223-9600.

HDA's Technical Assistance Project Through its Technical Assistance Project, HDA offers educational materials and training to consumers and service providers. The project offers information on a broad range of public benefits and health care programs including: Medicaid, Medicare, SSI and Social Security, and other programs. The project's resource library includes a range of materials for service providers and consumers; these materials are available here in our online library. For more information, contact Stephanie Altman at 312-223-9600.

National Consortium for Health Systems Development (NCHSD) Authorized under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (TWWIIA) and approved by the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA), the National Consortium for Health Systems Development (NCHSD) represents states that have joined together to assist other state agencies, legislatures, consumers and advocates in their efforts to build systems that support competitive employment for individuals with disabilities. The primary means for achieving this goal are state-to-state information sharing, individualized technical assistance, and the dissemination of best practices to a broad array of involved stakeholders in states around the country. For more information, contact Melissa Turner at 312-925-3040.

100% Campaign  In 2000, the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation to increase the medically needy income threshold for older adults and people with disabilities up to 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL). The 100% Campaign – initiated by Health & Disability Advocates and our partner the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago – was one of the largest advocate initiated program expansions of Medicaid in the history of Illinois.

Project Access Project Access, a four year collaboration between HDA and two Chicago-area hospitals (University of Chicago Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital), was designed to increase access to public benefits programs and improve the health outcomes of children with severe disabilities hospitalized in neo-natal intensive care units. The project connected very low birthweight infants and their families to a range of state and federally funded support programs and/or counseled them on the services covered by private health insurance. A randomized, controlled trial study of Project Access, called the Neonatal Infant Outcomes Study or NIOS, was completed by the Sinai Urban Health Institute in 2004. For more information, contact Amy Zimmerman at 312-223-9600.

Work Incentives Support Center (WISC)  The WISC provides benefits training and technical assistance on work incentives available through the Social Security Administration, Illinois Department of Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, to a variety of parent support groups, private vocational rehabilitation agencies and Centers for Independent Living. Members of the Work Incentives Working Group, a committee formed from the Work Incentives Support Center (WISC), developed the Self-Employment Resources Network (SERN) to expand employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. SERN provides education on how income from self-employment affects public benefits, and links people with disabilities to resources and networking opportunities. For more information, contact 312-223-9600.

Project on the Uninsured HDA played an active role in the preliminary development of new health care policy in Illinois to cover the uninsured. As policy development consultants to the Adequate Health Care Task Force, HDA provided state specific expertise on how to cover low income and disabled populations and crafted a “Consumer Health Care Access Strategy.” This strategy prioritizes provisions for including both low-income and high risk/disabled individuals in the health insurance market. In addition, it builds on the strength of the existing public and private-based systems. For more information, contact Stephani Becker at 312-223-9600.

For more information on any of the projects listed above, contact us at 312-223-9600 or 312-223-9518 (FAX).

Health & Disability Advocates Staff with email links:
Barbara Otto, Executive Director
Thomas Yates, General Counsel
Stephanie Altman, Programs & Policy Director
Jill Wohl, Director of Development and Communications 
Melissa Turner, Director, National Consortium for Health Systems Development (NCHSD)
John Coburn, Director, Make Medicare Work Coalition, Social Security=Family Security, Director of Training
Amy Zimmerman, Director, Chicago Medical Legal Partnership for Children (CMLPC)

Programs & Policy Staff with email links:
Ellyce Anapolsky, Staff Attorney
Stephani Becker, Senior Policy Analyst and Project Director, Illinois Health Matters
Joe Entwisle, Senior Policy Analyst
Laura Gallagher Watkin, Senior Policy Analyst, Illinois Connections: Assisting Military, Veterans & Families
Lisa Ekman, Senior Policy Analyst
Laura Wilhelm, Think Beyond the Label
Sarah O’Connor, Staff Attorney CMLPC

Administrative Team with email links:
Nancy Henderson, Accountant
Seomara Sanabria, Finance Manager
Emelin Santiago, Paralegal 

Consultants with email links:
Phil Milsk

Click here to go to our Staff Biographies page where you can find more detailed information about members of the HDA team.