people with disabilities

People with disabilities testify against exclusion from proposed health Office

senmikeb
Press Release

An initiative to reduce health disparities linked to race and ethnicity should be widened to include people with disabilities, according to experts and self-advocates who turned out en masse at the State House.

A proposed new Office of Health Equity is directed explicitly to work in tandem with the existing Massachusetts Health Disparities Council, already tasked with a three-part focus on race, ethnicity and disability.  Yet recent legislative action, little noticed, seeks to exclude people with disabilities from the scope of the new Office, de-aligning its mission from that of the Council.

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Health equity push expands to include disability and gender

senmikeb
Press Release

An initiative to reduce health disparities linked to race and ethnicity has widened to include women and people with disabilities, thanks to a bill just passed by the State Senate.

Health disparities are gaps in access to care or in actual outcomes that confront certain groups disproportionately.  As they relate to disabilities, health disparities include inaccessible doctors’ offices, ill-equipped examination rooms and frustrating communications barriers.

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Health equity push expands to include disability and gender

senmikeb
Press Release

An initiative to reduce health disparities linked to race and ethnicity has widened to include women and people with disabilities, thanks to a bill just passed by the State Senate.

Health disparities are gaps in access to care or in actual outcomes that confront certain groups disproportionately.  As they relate to disabilities, health disparities include inaccessible doctors’ offices, ill-equipped examination rooms and frustrating communications barriers.

Read more →

In Uber debate, Barrett focuses on disabilities

senmikeb
Press Release

Boston – Ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft were at the center of a recent State House hearing. With passions riding high on both sides, State Senator Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, says he wants to make sure the needs of people with disabilities aren’t left out of the conversation.

While the packed auditorium — Uber drivers in a sea of blue, cabbies in all yellow — heard primarily about issues related to public safety and insurance, Barrett told the Committee on Financial Services this is a “golden opportunity” to make on-call transportation for people with disabilities “convenient and affordable.”

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Disabilities Caucus Kicks Off

senmikeb
Press Release

In concert with activists and advocates, State Senator Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, and State Representative Denise Provost, D-Somerville, recently launched a Disabilities Caucus within the Massachusetts Legislature. The inaugural event took place at the State House.

Barrett and Provost founded the Caucus to promote cohesive advocacy for people with disabilities. “Groups representing the disabled don’t have the State House clout other minority groups have,” said Barrett, who has served as Senate Chair of the legislative committee that oversees policies related to people with disabilities. “The difficulties posed by each physical, emotional, and cognitive challenge seem so distinctive. But distinctiveness needn’t mean fragmentation. The Caucus will help foster broad awareness.”

Provost and Barrett
State Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, and State Rep. Denise Provost, D-Somerville, give opening remarks at the kick off event for the newly-formed Disabilities Caucus.
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