2012 Employment Teleconference Series

We are pleased to present a series of teleconferences on a variety of topics regarding Employment and MS. The series is made up of six teleconferences held every other Thursday from January through March, 2012.

Each teleconference is accessible via a toll-free number. Participate in several calls or just the one that interests you. You will need to register individually for each call you wish to attend. Dial in information will be sent to you following registration. All calls will take place from 7:00 - 8:00 pm.

After the calls have taken place, audio recordings will be posted online

Topics and Dates:

January 12: A 21st Century Approach to Job Searching: Webinar
Network your way to find that next job. Learn about the role online job boards and social networking websites can play in your job search. This program will include an optional online component for those who have internet access.
The registration deadline for this call is January 5, 2012. Register online

January 26: Get Informed: Legal Protections in the Workplace
Learn about key employment laws, such as the ADA and FMLA, and how you can use them to make an informed decision about employment.
The registration deadline for this call is January 19, 2012. Register online

February 9: Managing Challenging Resumes
Do you need to restructure your resume due to gaps, layoffs, or a career change? Are you over 50 and need a resume makeover? HR professionals will address these and other resume challenges.
The registration deadline for this call is February 2, 2012. Register online

February 23: Reinvent Yourself
Hear from others living with MS who changed careers after their diagnosis, along with a vocational specialist, on how to navigate this transitional period.
The registration deadline for this call is February 16, 2012. Register online

March 8: Home-Based Employment: What Employers Want
Learn from employers about what they look for when hiring people to work from home.
The registration deadline for this call is March 1, 2012. Register online

March 22: Don't Do It Alone: Employment Resources
Learn about agencies and resources available to help you gain and maintain employment.
The registration deadline for this call is March 15, 2012. Register online

If you have any question, please contact us at 1-800-344-4867 or email amber.stalker@nmss.org.

MSConnection Winter 2011

Table of Contents — Winter 2011 Issue

Picturing Disability 9
Picturing Disability

Top Stories

The National MS Society Welcomes a New President & CEO
The Promise of NOW: Annual Meeting of Members Conference & EXPO with Stanley F. Waterman Research Series

News

Picturing Disability
Madeline Russell of Medford receives Mass. Family Caregiver Honor
Pediatric MS Studies Receive Federal Support

Newly Diagnosed

Taking the Next Step After Diagnosis
Can We Talk? Newly Diagnosed Conference Calls

Programs

MS Scholarships
Get the latest!
Live Fully, Live Well — The Holistic Approach to MS
Help is a Phone Call Away
Do you have SSDI Questions???
Educational Teleconference Series 2012
MS Encompass - Get Fit!
Mapping Your Way to Wellness, Discover the Route to Living Your Best Life!
MS and Wellness
Wellness Scholarship Program
Ask the Experts
In Touch Phone Groups
Self-Help Groups
Relationship Matters
Keep S’myelin
MS Learn Online
Living with MS Support Group
Caregiver Support Group

Research

Stress and MS
Vitamin D in African Americans with MS
A Link to Herpes?
Flu Shot, or Not?
Research Advocate
Clinical Trials Update

Advocacy

Up-To-Date FAQs on the Affordable Care Act
New ADA Rules
Wanted: MS “Grasstops”!
Federal Update
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Vermont
We Did It!
MS Activist Blog
Action Alert
Government Relations Committee

Living with MS

Walk This Way: Using Walking Poles
OK to Mix Pregnancy and MS

Volunteers

Giving Thanks

Fundraising

Want to Give at the Office?
Recent Event Re-caps
Join Us on a Journey of Hope
BC Field Hockey
Dennison Family Honors Memory of Sister with Multiple Sclerosis
Ride With Us In 2012
From Broken Back to Cycling Across America for MS Cure
Joey’s Story
Accept the Challenge

Calendar of Events - see current calendar

Classified Ads - see current listings

Funding Victories for the MS Community

As the holidays approach and the calendar year comes to an end, Congress passed and the President is expected to sign a spending bill to fund the government for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. The Fiscal Year officially began on October 1st and ever since, a “Continuing Resolution” has kept the government operating.

Each year, MS activists participate in the federal appropriations process—visiting and contacting their members of Congress repeatedly throughout the year to help ensure that MS research and programs important to people affected by MS continue to be funded at robust levels. Congress and the President are under tremendous pressure to cut spending in the face of historic budget deficits and while programs are being trimmed, the National MS Society is pleased to report that the ardent work of MS activists has paid off and MS research and programs will be funded at the following levels in FY 2012:

MS Research in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP): MS research in the CDMRP will receive $3.8 million. This is a funding stream that exists solely because MS activists urged Congress to create it and with the FY 2012 funding, MS research has received a total of over $20 million through the CDMRP over five years. The CDMRP funds high-risk, high-reward research that is complimentary to the vital basic and translational research conducted at the National Institutes of Health.
Lifespan Respite: Lifespan Respite Care programs help support, expand and streamline the delivery of planned and emergency respite services supporting our nation’s 65 million family caregivers—including those who care for people living with MS. Lifespan Respite will receive $2.495 million in FY 2012, offering states more funding to sustain or enhance their statewide respite systems.
National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH is the single largest source of biomedical research funding in the world and sponsors a majority of the MS-related research carried out in the United States. In FY 2012, NIH funding is increased by $300 million over FY 2011 levels—with total funding of $30.7 billion. The Society is pleased that as part of NIH funding, $10 million is provided to implement the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) that will help speed the translation and application of discoveries and get effective therapies to the people that need them quicker.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): FY 2012 funding for the FDA was finalized in mid-November as part of a separate package and the FDA will fortunately receive a $50 million increase over last year’s level—for a total of $2.5 billion. Funding for the FDA will help ensure that drugs and medical devices are safe and effective.
Social Security Administration (SSA): While the Society worked with many other advocates to increase funding for the SSA in FY 2012, the SSA will receive a $400 million cut in FY 2012--being funded at $10.984 billion. Significant cuts the SSA’s administrative budget can result in longer turnaround times for approval of disability benefits so the Society will monitor this potential impact.

Thank You! Thanks to everyone who made phone calls, sent emails, attended town meetings, joined our MS Activist blog and followed us on our @MSActivist twitter account. It’s through our collective, multi-faceted effort that we have been able to continue making progress and while we know new battles lie ahead, the Public Policy Office wants to share its appreciation for the terrific efforts of the more than 64,000 MS Activist network – you are the reason for the success detailed above. Happy Holidays and we look forward to engaging in 2012!

Urge Congress to Continue Access to Rehabilitation Services in Medicare

We need your help to protect rehabilitation services in Medicare! Without Congressional action, caps may be placed on outpatient physical, speech and occupational therapy services.

In an effort to save money, Congress passed legislation in 1997 capping the outpatient physical, speech, and occupational therapy services to which Medicare beneficiaries are eligible each calendar year. This placed an undue burden on many individuals with MS and other diseases whose annual costs for these services exceed the cap.

To alleviate this problem, Congress created an exceptions process for patients when therapy is a medical necessity. Unfortunately, the exceptions process is temporary and must be periodically reauthorized by Congress. If the exception process is not reauthorized, beneficiaries may face the choice between forgoing care, paying out-of-pocket for services, or traveling an unreasonable distance to receive care.

Congress only has until December 31 to reauthorize the current exceptions to the therapy caps -- and Congress may only be in session for a handful of days before the end of the year, so we need your help taking action now! Your members of Congress can help make sure this happens. Contact them today and urge them extend the exceptions process and ensure continued access to rehabilitative therapy in Medicare!

Federal Focus - December 2011

The National MS Society is incredibly grateful to our strong and bold network of over 64,000 MS activists across the country who advocate year-round for policies that will improve the lives of people living with MS. We wish everyone a very happy holiday season and look forward to continuing to work together next year!

Society Submits Recommendations as Funding Levels are Finalized
Each year, Congress is tasked with passing the federal budget that funds federal departments, agencies, and programs. Through the federal budget cycle, funding levels for agencies and programs important to people living with MS like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the National Institutes of Health are decided—which in turn, impact access to health and other services like respite care and the amount of funding available for MS research. This complex process is supposed to be completed each year by the start of the fiscal year—October 1—but in the recent past, has not been. Congress has instead passed what is known as a “Continuing Resolution” (CR) that maintains or "flat funds" programs to give Congress more time to complete appropriations.

The federal government is currently operating under one of these CRs that is in place through December 16. Over the next few weeks, Congress will be deciding whether to wrap remaining appropriations bills into a large package called an “omnibus” or pass another CR. Whichever path is selected, to help ensure that programs and services for people with MS receive adequate funding, the Society is sending a letter to Congressional leadership and appropriators to recommend robust levels for the following: MS research in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a new program aimed at expediting development of effective drugs called the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN), the Lifespan Respite Care Program that supports family caregivers, and the Social Security Administration. Funding for another Society priority—the Food and Drug Administration—has already been finalized and fortunately received a $50 million increase over last year’s level.

With Fade-Out of the Super Committee, Across-the-Board Cuts Expected
As part of the agreement to raise the debt ceiling this past summer, Congress created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise known as the ‘Super Committee.’ It was tasked with identifying $1.2 trillion in budget savings over the next ten years. The committee had a hard deadline of November 23 to bring forward a proposal but on November 22 the co-chairs announced they were unable to come to an agreement. Now all the focus is on what happens next.

Under the law, there will be automatic across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, beginning January 1, 2013, to meet the $1.2 trillion over ten years target--with half of the cuts coming from defense spending and half from non-defense spending. Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare beneficiaries are exempt from these cuts but it is possible that cuts to administrative costs within those programs could make things like SSDI submissions longer to approve. The cuts impacting Medicare will hit the providers – they face up to a 2% reduction annually. Other areas of the budget important to people living with MS, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) could face significant cuts. The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)--which fund high risk, high reward research including research into MS--may also be hit.

Congress could pass another law to alter the sequestration, or cancel it altogether, but President Obama has taken a hard-line stating that he would veto any effort to alter the Budget Control Act and the automatic cuts. The Obama Administration is likely hopeful that such a stance will get Congress back to the negotiating table to come up with a workable plan to achieve at least $1.2 trillion in savings. For more details on how sequestration will work, we urge you to read this