schaumburg township disability services · pdf filebratanch, jim and toni girten, joan...
TRANSCRIPT
March - April 2014
SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP DISABILITY SERVICES
ABLEGRAM
Special thank you to all our 2013 volunteers for their time and assistance.
Because of you, our programs and events are very successful! We couldn’t do it without you!
Anil Phadke, Ann Thomas, Anna Bossart, Annette Langston, Annie Brown, Ardath Jones, Barbara Adrianopoli, Barbara Hook, Barry and Jan Himmelfarb, Betty Delahunty, Betty Jo Lucero, Bill Eliasek, Bonita Brooks, Carleen Emde, Carole Helm, Carole Lindeman, Charlyne St. Leger, Cheryl Kirsch, Claire Majewski, Clerk Tim Heneghan, Cook County Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP), Darrell Taylor, Dave Schackelton, Diane Fatouros, Diane L. Wilson, Diane M. Wilson, Dolores Haase, Don and Marie Balsitis, Eileen Rozborski, Emma Fatouros, Eric Brandt, Eva Feng, Gaetano Adamo, Gail Edgren, Jane and Joe Delulio, Jennie Bratanch, Jim and Toni Girten, Joan Nichols, John Minginas and Pilot Pete’s Volunteers, John O’Hare, JR Hutson and Village Tavern Volunteers, Kathy Conway, Kathy Gaeding, Kathy Robertazzo, Larry and Rose Szyszka, Leo Salais, Lucas and Lee Vos, Mark Chereso, Mary Ball, Mary Ann Fleck, Mary Ellen Heyd, Mary Jo Stelzner, Mary Lou Szigeti, Micki Coppel, Nadine Sargent, Nick Chapas, Nick Gisseler, Olivia Centeno, Pat Ryan, Paula Altenbern, Phyllis Ackermann, Priscilla Anderson, Purva Jani, Schaumburg-Hoffman Lions Club, Schaumburg Township Road and Bridge Department, Scott and Char Kegarise, Susan Giannone, Steve Brandt, Tom Sucher, Trisha Phadke, Trustee Nimish Jani, Trustee W. Robert Vinnedge, and Yvonne Holzknecht.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it's the only
thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
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Abilities Expo Free Admission!
Where: The Schaumburg Convention Center 1551 North Thoreau Drive Schaumburg, IL 60173
When: Friday, June 27th: 11:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. Saturday, June 28th: 11:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 29th: 11:00 a.m.— 4:00 p.m.
The Abilities Expo will bring the disability marketplace together for three days to see new products, learn about advances in technology, and provide education for professionals and consumers. There will be a stellar line up of informational, educational and interactive events, exhibits, and sessions. For the latest updates on special events, the conference program and exhibitors, visit www.abilitiesexpo.com or call (310) 450-8831, ext. 130.
If you need transportation to the Abilities Expo from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 27th, and are currently registered with our transportation department, please call 847-882-1929 to make a reservation. Seating is limited, so please reserve your seat early. Reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis.
Schaumburg Township is proud to be an Organizational Sponsor
for the Abilities Expo June 27 — June 29, 2014
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New CEDA Programs Available
The Community Economic Development Association (CEDA) will resume accepting applications for their Community Service Block Grants (CSBG). The Community Services Block Grant Programs Intake and Assessment process is used to gather applicant information to determine eligibility and to make informed decisions about needed programs and services. This process is also used to screen applicants to determine if they meet the requirements for case management services and to assess the applicant’s readiness to engage in case management. Information from the assessment provides the basis for admission to the case management program and for helping the applicant to develop a Family Action Plan. Approved applicants must sign a Service Agreement and must complete two case management sessions and present a verifiable hardship to be eligible for financial assistance services.
CSBG programs include: dental assistance, auto repair assistance, elderly projects, family nutrition, housing counseling/information and referral, scholarship programs, Veterans employment program, and vision assistance.
Income Eligibility Guidelines:
CEDA representative Neshanta Cartwright will be at the township on Tuesdays by appointment only—no walk-ins accepted. To schedule an appointment with Neshanta, please call 312-459-7028.
(CEDA)
Family Size
Gross Income
3-Months 1-Year
1 $3,646.88 $14,587.50
2 $4,915.63 $19,662.50
3 $6,184.38 $24,737.50
Medicare Medicaid Financial Alignment Initiative (MMAI)
Illinois has begun a new program called the
Medicare-Medicaid Financial Alignment Initiative (MMAI) for dual eligible Medicare and Medicaid recipients who are age 21 and over in the Greater Chicago area—Cook, Lake, Kane, DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties. If you do not want to join the MMAI, you can opt out. Call 1-877-912-8880 to opt out.
Dual eligible beneficiaries (those enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid) in these counties will be asked to enroll into a managed care program for all of their health services. With this program, one health plan will cover all of your healthcare. This program combines the benefits from Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drug benefits (Part D), and Long Term Care Support Services—such as in-home services available through the Community Care Program. You will keep getting all your Medicare and Medicaid services, and you may get additional benefits. Your health plan will consist of a team of providers and care coordinators that will help you reach your health goals. Remember, if you do not want to join, you can opt out.
All dual eligible beneficiaries in these counties will receive a letter from Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) announcing the new system for their healthcare benefits. An enrollment packet will be mailed with information about the six different health plan choices in your area and how to enroll in one of these plans. To enroll or find out more information, call HFS at 1-877-912-8880 from 8:00am to 7:00pm, Monday through Friday or 9:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday or at www.EnrollHFS.Illinois.gov.
(MMW Alert: MMAI Update) 4
St. Patrick’s Day Dance
Free Admission!
Date: Friday, March 7th Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Hoffman Estates Village Hall, 1900 Hassell Rd., Hoffman Estates
Come wear your green, find the pot of gold, and be ready to dance with the leprechauns! The dance is sponsored by the Hoffman Estates Commission for Disabled Citizens and is open for residents and visitors 14 years of age and older with disabilities. Light snacks and beverages will be provided. For more information or to register, please contact the Commission for Disabled Citizens at 847-781-2606.
(Hoffman Estates Commission for Disabled Citizens) Social Security Field Offices No
Longer Providing Social Security Printouts
Effective February 3, 2014, the Social Security Administration will no longer offer Social Security printouts and benefit verification information at their field offices. Beneficiaries and recipients needing a benefit verification letter can obtain one immediately by registering for a ‘My Social Security’ account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount, or through the mail within 5-7 days by calling 1-800-772-1213. It is the responsibility of the client to have the proper documentation prior to applying for LIHEAP and/or other programs.
2014 Illinois Miss Amazing Pageant
When: April 18-19, 2014 Where: Ramada in Glendale Heights
The Miss Amazing Pageant is a non-profit program that gives girls and young women with disabilities the opportunity to build self-confidence in a supportive environment. Any girl or woman ages 5 and older who meets the definition of disability under the government laws and acts defining a disability can participate. There are three required areas of participation: interview, introduction and evening wear. The talent showcase is optional. The participants are rewarded by one representative in each age division being selected as a queen to represent her state for a year. All participants will be crowned as princesses and will be awarded a trophy for their bravery and hard work. Medals are also awarded to the talent participants. The cost to participate is 5 cans of food for charity. A $10 donation will be needed for those attending the final show. Apply online at http://missamazingpageant.com/applicants. For more information, please contact Jordan Somer at 402-238-6152 or Kimberly Somer at 402-238-5476. 5
Supporting Illinois Brothers & Sisters (S.I.B.S.)
Resource Guide
Supporting Illinois Brothers Sisters (S.I.B.S.) is offering their resource guide, Stronger Together, at no cost when you visit their newly designed website at www.sibsnetwork.org/free-resource-guide/. S.I.B.S.’ mission is to provide support to siblings of people with disabilities in Illinois by connecting them with information, networking opportunities, and resources in order to enhance the quality of life for their entire family. For more information or to download your free resource guide, please visit www.sibsnetwork.org.
(Family Support Network)
Diabetes Support Group
The diabetes support group will be meeting on Wednesday, March 12th at 1:30pm at the township. If you plan to attend,
please call Bonnie Sargent at 847-884-0030, ext. 2022.
Medicare Hospital Outpatient or Inpatient
A Medicare beneficiary’s inpatient or outpatient status in a hospital greatly affects the way that Medicare bills the beneficiary and whether the patient qualifies for skilled nursing facility care following the hospital stay. Hospitals in the State of Illinois are not required to tell a patient if they are under observation status (outpatient) or being admitted to the hospital (inpatient). It is very important for the patient to ask.
Hospital observation stays typically happen when patients go to the emergency room and have symptoms that require physicians to monitor them and the doctor has not written an order to admit the patient to the hospital as an inpatient. If you are in the hospital under observation status, you are an outpatient. Patients can even stay in the hospital overnight and still can be considered an outpatient. Outpatient hospital costs are usually covered under Part B. For outpatient stays, you pay a co-pay for each medical service you receive after you meet the Part B deductible. Original Medicare covers 80 percent of the cost of most outpatient doctors services you receive, after you have met your yearly deductible.
Inpatients hospital costs are covered by Part A. If you have Original Medicare, you generally have no copayments for the first 60 days, after you pay your Part A deductible. Part A hospital benefits include nursing services, medically necessary medications, x-rays, supplies, and equipment the hospital provides for you to use during your inpatient stay. Medicare will only cover care in a skilled nursing facility if you first have a qualifying hospital stay for at least 3 days in a row. An observation stay will not qualify you for skilled nursing facility care.
(MMW Alert: Observation Status ) 6
Benefit Counseling Services The Senior Health Insurance Program (SHIP) is sponsored by the Illinois Department on Aging. Schaumburg Township is a SHIP site dedicated to providing free one-on-one insurance counseling.
Benefit counseling services include answering questions about Medicare, Medicaid, and the prescription drug assistance program. We can also help with eligibility, benefit questions, and enrollment. SHIP is not affiliated with any insurance company and does not sell or solicit any type of insurance. Please call the senior or disability services department at 847-884-0030 to schedule an appointment or for more information. We look forward to assisting you!
Arab American Family Services
Ms. Wafa Zegar will be available at Schaumburg Township on the last Monday of each month from 9:30am until noon to assist Arab Americans with social services available to them. Walk-ins accepted. Ms. Zegar will be here Monday 3/31 and 4/28.
Free Amplified Telephones Available
The Illinois Telecommunications Access Corporation (ITAC) offers free amplified telephones for qualified Illinois residents with a certified hearing loss. Schaumburg Township Disability Services is a selection center to test the phones. There are four phones to choose from. Also, every four years you are eligible for an additional free amplified telephone. Please contact disability services at 847-884-0030 for more information, to verify if you are eligible for your second free phone or to schedule an appointment to test the phones.
Mental Health Awareness Fair Tuesday, May 6th
The Schaumburg Mental Health Committee will be hosting a Mental Health Awareness Fair on Tuesday, May 6th from 2:00pm-6:00pm at the township. The fair is designed to provide information on various mental health agencies that serve residents of Schaumburg, Hanover Park, and Elk Grove.
Monday Retail Shopping Trips with the Township Bus
Below is the March and April Monday Retail Shopping Trip schedule for the Schaumburg Township Bus. Reservations are required. Please call the transportation department at 847-882-1929 to make a reservation.
Monday - 7th Walmart
Barrington
Monday - 14th Target
Barrington
Monday - 21st Walmart Meacham
Monday - 25th Target
Meacham
March
Monday - 3rd Walmart
Barrington
Monday - 10th Target
Barrington
Monday - 17th Walmart
Elk Grove
Monday - 24th Target
Meacham
Monday - 31st Walmart
Elk Grove
April
Dental Lifeline Network Program
The Dental Lifeline Network Program serves disabled and aged people who
cannot afford needed dental treatment and have no other way of getting assistance. Qualified applicants must be permanently disabled, chronically ill, or elderly. Each person’s condition must be severe enough to prohibit or significantly limit substantial gainful employment. In addition, they can neither afford dental care or receive it through other programs. They must need extensive treatment, not just a cleaning and check-up. To apply for services from the program, please complete an application online at http://dentallifeline.org/illinois/ For more information, please contact Helen Peters at 1-800-893-1685.
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IRS Now Allows Caregiver Parents to Exclude Medicaid Waiver
Payment from Income
The Internal Revenue Service has reversed a long-standing policy and agreed to allow parents of people with disabilities who receive Medicaid waiver funds in return for caregiving services provided to their children to exclude those funds from their incomes.
For years, the IRS has allowed foster parents to exclude "qualified foster care payments" from state agencies from their incomes, and foster parents of children with disabilities can also exclude so-called "difficulty of care" payments, which are funds provided to foster parents for the additional care provided to a child with disabilities. The excluded income does not count towards the taxpayer's gross income at all, making these payments essentially "tax free" funds in many states. Biological parents of children with disabilities receive compensation from various Medicaid programs for the time they spend providing assistance to their children above and beyond what would be expected of parents of children without disabilities.
(IRS Excludes Medicaid Waiver Payments continued next column)
(continued below—IRS Excludes Medicaid Waiver Payments article)
However, the IRS has long fought biological parents who seek to exclude this income because, in the IRS's view, biological parents can never be "foster" parents and are not covered by the law, which only applies to "qualified foster care payments".
A new revenue notice, Notice 2014-7, changes this. Echoing claims that advocates have made for years, the notice explains that the law "does not explicitly address whether payments under Medicaid waiver programs are qualified foster care payments. Medicaid waiver programs and state foster care programs, however, share similar oversight and purposes.
The purpose of Medicaid waiver programs and the legislative history of [the law] reflect the fact that home care programs prevent the institutionalization of individuals with physical, mental, or emotional handicaps.
The programs share the objective of enabling individuals who otherwise would be institutionalized to live in a family home setting rather than in an institution, and both difficulty of care payments and Medicaid waiver payments compensate for the additional care required."
Because the IRS has finally recognized the objective behind Medicaid waiver payments, beginning on January 3, 2014, the IRS has begun to allow parents of children with disabilities to exclude qualified Medicaid waiver payments from income. It is unclear from the notice if parents who have not previously excluded Medicaid waiver income may amend previous tax returns to do so.
For more information about how you may be able to exclude Medicaid waiver income, talk to your special needs planner today.
(Spain Spain &Varnet Special Needs Planning Newsletter 02/14)
Annual Town Meeting April 8
Join Schaumburg Township for our Annual Town Meeting at 6:30pm on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, at One Illinois Blvd., in Hoffman Estates.
Come and meet your local township officials and learn about how township government works for you! Supervisor Mary Wroblewski, Clerk Timothy M. Heneghan, Assessor John Lawson, Highway Commissioner Scott M. Kegarise, and your Board of Trustees: Diane Dunham, W. Robert Vinnedge, Jeffrey S. Mytych, and Nimish Jani, will provide an informative overview of the “State of Schaumburg Township” and will be available to meet with township residents.
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One Illinois Blvd. Hoffman Estates, IL 60169
847-884-0030 (V) 224-520-9763 (VP)
847-884-1560 (TTY) 847-884-0039 (FAX)
The Ablegram, Deaf Line and Town Crier Newsletters are available on our website at:
www.schaumburgtownship.org
Disability Staff Email: [email protected]
Disability & Deaf Services-
847-884-0030 (V) Gerry Bartnicke—Director—Ext. 2020 Sarita Phadke—Deaf Services Coord.
224-520-9763 (VP) 847-884-1560 (TTY)
Bonnie Sargent— Asst. Director—2022 Lauren Perschon—PR &Event Coord.—2025
Caryn Remer—Benefits Specialist—2024
Township Officials
Mary Wroblewski—Supervisor Timothy M. Heneghan—Clerk
Diane Dunham—Trustee W. Robert Vinnedge—Trustee
Jeffrey Mytych—Trustee Nimish Jani—Trustee
John Lawson, CIAO—Assessor Scott M. Kegarise—Highway
Commissioner
REPRINT REMINDER
We thank other newsletters, which have been reprinting our articles with proper credit! Any organization may reprint articles from either of our newsletters if credit is given by name of newsletter and date. Any questions? Call 847-884-0030 (V), 224-520-9763 (VP) or 847-884-1560 (TTY).
ABLEGRAM AND DEAF LINE
The Ablegram and Deaf Line Newsletters are available to Schaumburg Township residents at the disability services office or by calling 847-884-0030 (V), 224-520-9763 (VP) or 847-884-1560 (TTY). They include articles of interest to people who are disabled, deaf or hard of hearing or agencies working with them. The Ablegram is bi-monthly and Deaf Line is monthly and includes a calendar. Agencies should call 847-884-0030 (V), 224-520-9763 (VP) or 847-884-1560 (TTY) to request either newsletter.
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Schaumburg Township Disability Services One Illinois Blvd. Hoffman Estates, IL 60169
March 2014
Thursday, March 6 – Alzheimer’s Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 11 – CFDC Meeting – 6:45 p.m.
Wednesday, March 12 – Diabetes Support Group – 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 25 – Fibromyalgia Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 26 – Epilepsy Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 27 – Ups For Downs Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
April 2014
Thursday, April 3 –Alzheimer’s Support Group Meeting
Tuesday, April 8 – Annual Town Meeting/CFDC Meeting – 6:45 p.m.
Tuesday, April 22 – Fibromyalgia Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 24 – Ups For Downs Support Group – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 30 – Epilepsy Support Group – 7:00 p.m.