Claims And Issues

FIRST VIRUS IN HISTORY WHERE DYING DEPENDS ON YOUR POLITICS.

COVID Patient in Hospital, Sarasota, FL.  (Shannon Stapleton / Reuters)

"Those who cannot  remember history are condemned to repeat it."  That is what George Santayana said in 1905.

Those who do not remember diseases and infections are condemned to repeat them.

Not getting vaccinated will lead to many more infections than cases of paralysis.  "When you see a case of paralysis, know that that is the tip of an iceberg."  Dr. Paul Offit said that in 2023.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

MOBILITY, THE LAW, AND YOU.

Nearly 70 percent of travelers with wheelchairs have had their wheelchairs broken.  It takes a very long time to get airlines to replace them, if ever.

Nearly 70 percent of travelers with disabilities have stopped travelling because of experiences like the ones I just described.  They just don't travel.

These poll results were taken by a group of American veterans with disabilities from service to our country.

Existing laws were shaped by the people who earn their money from other people who travel.  For example, the cost of a broken wheelchair in the mentality of the airlines is like the cost of lost luggage.  There is a difference that the travel merchants either do not recognize, or willfully ignore.

It is not unusual for power wheelchairs to cost upwards of $30,000.00.  If a person using a power-assisted wheelchair loses the use of that wheelchair, they lose the power of mobility.  One airline thought it had checked the box of its corporate "to do" list by offering the owner of a power wheelchair a manual wheelchair when they broke her power.  She was not able to use her arms, thus the power wheelchair.

The airline was ignorant of that; among other things, their mindset was based on an analogy to a lost piece of luggage and how much it cost.

Reframing the law in terms of making travel available to all persons with the money to pay for a ticket will reshape the outcomes.  If the travel merchants lose a bit of their profits in the process, they can more than make up the difference by making travel appealing to those 70 percent of disabled people who simply do not travel right now because for them travel is a horror show.

And it doesn't have to be.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

JUSTICE FROM THE D.C. APPELLATE COURT.

Did you hear about the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals removing the stay of Chief District Judge Beryl Howell's Order that one of The Former Guy's attorneys must turn over documents in one of the investigations of TFG?

Did you notice that all 3 judges on the D.C. appellate panel are women?

And that 2 were appointed by President Biden, one by President Obama?

We may not have Biden judges or Obama judges if we listen to John Roberts, but you know what?  We have Justice when we do NOT have TFG judges.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT, THE SCRUM, AND THE REST OF US.

Did you see the scrum of reporters surrounding the Manhattan District Attorney's Office?  Remember that scene when people start talking about journalism being essential to modern America.

No, I am not saying that we do not need the First Amendment; we do.  What I am saying is that the next time people start talking about how essential journalism is to our souls, put that kind of talk in perspective and remember that scene.  These are the people we are really talking about, not Woodward and Bernstein, not some ideal but the reality.

The First Amendment is more important than many of the people who claim its protections.  Despite them, we need First Amendment free speech and free press and all the rest of its protections.    We need to remember that when we see these scrums, I think.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

SUNSHINE IN FLORIDA GOVERNMENT? OBSERVATIONS IN SUNSHINE WEEK 2023.

"We share a common mission to promote transparency in government."

American Oversight, in its numerous EMails to the Florida Department of Education, starting on May 4, 2022.

(The Florida Supreme Court / 920 Inside Florida)

American Oversight is a nonprofit group that made more than eight (8) requests for public access to non-exempt public records held by the Florida Department of Education.  They made more requests than that, but they sued the DOE for not complying with respect to those 8 under the Florida Constitution and Florida's Public Records Act.  Here is their complaint:  Download American Oversight v. Florida Dep't of Education Complaint to Enforce Public Records Act filed March 16 2023 (2d Jud. Cir. Leon County Fla.).

American Oversight's public records requests are attached as Exhibits to their Complaint and you can read them for yourself.

They got fed up, apparently, and complained about DOE's business model of "a demonstrated history of delayed responses to American Oversight's public records requests."  Id. at 6 n.7.  So they sued for better access, or in many cases access in the first place, to the public records they requested on May 4, 2022; January 12, 2023, and February 15, 2023.  They sent follow up EMails on their earlier requests on January 25, 2023 and got crickets, nothing, Nada, Radio Silence from the current Florida Department of Education.  Finally, they repeated their public records requests (and may have added some) when they sent their public records request on February 15, 2023.  "To date, DOE has failed to produce a single record that is responsive to any of the eight requests at issue in this Complaint."  Id. at 20, ¶ 5.

Regardless of how the American Oversight v. Fla. Dep't of Education lawsuit turns out, in a decision cited in the Complaint (id. at 20), the Florida Supreme Court previously held:

The only challenge permitted by the Act at the time a request for records is made is the assertion of a statutory exemption pursuant to section 119.07.  The only person with the power to raise such a challenge is the custodian. 

Tribune Co. v. Cannella, 458 So. 2d 1075, 1078-79 (Fla. 1984).  There is of course no statutory exemption pursuant to section 119.07 here, parenthetically, and of course there has been no challenge here, allegedly just delay and silence and incomplete responses.

Further, the law has been clear for nearly 40 years, at least until the 2023 Florida DOE came along, that it is up to the Florida Legislature to exempt records from public disclosure, not the DOE (or anyone else):

The legislature has placed the books on the table; only it has the power to alter that situation.

    We therefore hold that the legislative scheme of the Public Records Act has preempted the law relating to any delay in producing records for inspection. The only delay permitted by the Act is the limited reasonable time allowed the custodian to retrieve the record and delete those portions of the record the custodian asserts are exempt.

Tribune Co., 458 So. 2d at 1079 (emphasis added).

Again, regardless of how the American Oversight v. Fla. Dep't of Education case may be decided, there is a question for Florida's chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General of the State of Florida:  Is the Florida Supreme Court's decision still the law of Florida?  Or in your judgment, General Ashley Moody, does the Florida DOE -- or anyone else -- now have the power to alter that situation?

On this last day of Sunshine Week, this article will be published both on Claims and Issues Blog and on Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

POWERCHAIRS, MEDICARE, AND YOU.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has published a proposed decision to expand Medicare.  They want to cover power seat elevation equipment in Powerchairs (Power Wheelchairs) for the wheelchair users that need it the most.  Medicare calls this group, Group 3, and they are looking for your Comments on their proposed decision -- and also on whether to expand Medicare to provide the same benefit to wheelchair users who are a little better off, which CMS calls Group 2.  (I know, the acronym should be CMMS rather than CMS, but you and I didn't invent it, so there you are.)

CMS's deadline for your Comments on these things is St. Patrick's Day, 2023, which as you know is tomorrow!

This being the federal government and Congress being what it was (and is), the Medicare people have to meet standards before they can expand Medicare coverage.  The overarching standards are that the extended coverage is reasonable and necessary.  First and foremost, that is what CMS is asking your Comments to address.

For this particular extension of Medicare to cover power seat elevation equipment, CMS is proposing to extend coverage when both of two things exist:  (1) wheelchair transfers do damage to the wheelchair user's body (arms, shoulders) when she transfers from the wheelchair to anyplace else at home, and (2) the reasonable necessity if you will to elevate the chair is established in a specialty evaluation by a medical specialist trained in wheelchair uses especially in the home such as a Physical Therapist or an Occupational Therapist.

Finally, they are looking for Comments from anyone affected by the ability of wheelchair users to raise their powerchair seats, including family members, physicians, therapists, the users themselves, and more.  It's simple and easy to leave your Comment:   Just write about "reasonable and necessary" and be sure to address (1) and (2) that I have summarized above.

 

The CMS Press Release explaining its proposed decision is here, https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-benefit-expansion-mobility-devices-advancing-health-equity-people-disabilities.

The portal to enter and leave your Comment is here, https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/nca.aspx?NCAId=309, just click the blue button that says Submit Public Comment. 

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

SECRET HEARINGS IN FEDERAL COURT DURING SUNSHINE WEEK.

Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, appointed by The Grievance Guy before he left town, scheduled a secret Hearing.  The judge did not put it on his public docket and last Friday he reportedly asked the lawyers in the case to keep quiet about it, until the story broke that he was holding a secret hearing.

The hearing was held in Amarillo, Texas yesterday.  Since the story became public, however, Judge Kacsmaryk felt pressured apparently to let some members of the public in, and so he did, but leaving many others outside of the courtroom looking in, after they had waited for hours to attend what is supposed to transparently be a public hearing.

And this is Sunshine Week, of all times to try to arrange a secret hearing, and by a person who they say is now a judge in Amarillo, Texas.  Sometimes they are right when they say, "You can't make this stuff up."

Any vows to safeguard transparency in our judicial system, General Ashley Moody?  As the Attorney General of the State of Florida, you should have something to say about safeguarding transparency in our judicial system, especially given the events of this week.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

TUESDAYS WITH MORE SUNSHINE WEEK! AND ASHLEY MOODY!

Fox News has reportedly requested the Court in the Dominion Voting Services case to seal materials Fox already produced, that Fox already redacted (blacked out), and that have already been made public.  Fox is reportedly concerned that someone will steal its "journalistic processes."  It should be concerned that it does not have any journalistic processes, but that's too much to ask of them.

On Tuesday of this Sunshine Week, the news about Fox is spot on.   So that leads me to ask Ashley Moody what she gets for appearing so much on Fox programs like Fox And Friends, which she did  most recently within the past week.  Is she a friend of Fox?  Are her appearances simply an act of devotion on her part, or on theirs?  What if anything is she getting for being a Friend of Fox?  Warning:  Be careful not to broadcast their "journalistic processes," if you find any, Ms. Moody.

Or take the Fox program Fox Business.  What business is it of the Florida Attorney General to appear on that program especially when she chooses not to appear as much (or at all) on TV programs in Florida?  Is she the Fox attorney general or is she the Attorney General of Florida?  She regularly issues a press release at this time of year that she "vows" to "safeguard" Sunshine Laws in Florida.

So let's actually be transparent, Ms. Moody.  What do you get from Fox, and what does Fox get from you? 

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved. 

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SUNSHINE WEEK IN FLORIDA!

This is the opening day of Sunshine Week in Florida!  (No, not the Opening Day of Baseball.  Alas, that is a little while off yet.)

This is a celebration of what should be Government in the Sunshine!  So let's begin with a story from Orlando's Channel 6, just click this link or copy it and paste it into your browser:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2023/03/12/as-sunshine-week-begins-floridas-attorney-general-silent-about-desantis-public-record-delays/?breaking_news=5517&utm_content=30812683&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News%20Alert&utm_term=wkmg_breaking

If you have any trouble reading the Channel 6 story, the headline from Channel 6 is As ‘Sunshine Week’ begins, Florida’s attorney general silent about DeSantis public record delays.  Florida's current attorney general is named Ashley Moody.  She said something that she did not have to say.  The Channel 6 story is all about what Ms. Moody did not have to say, but she did say, and she has not done what she said.

According to the Channel 6 news report, Ms. Moody has said that she will safeguard Florida's pioneering Open Record Laws.  However, she hasn't done that, if you read the report.

Ms. Moody, why not?  Unburden yourself and follow the law.  A good place to do that is with the Open Records Act statutes a/k/a the Sunshine Laws.  A good time to start is now.

Thank you.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LESSONS LEARNED ON THE LONG VIRUS.

 

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Polio is a virus.  It hit different people differently.  Now that Post-Polio is the main issue for many polio survivors, we have been seeing how PPS has hit different people differently.  PPS is a blanket description of people who have had polio and have survived with new and different symptoms.  It is not a means to treat anyone in and of itself, it is a description, a catch-all if you will.  Saying that someone "has PPS" does not by itself tell us how to treat each person who presents one or many of the symptoms that we group under one big PPS label. 

In life, it is wrong to treat every individual as if they are the same person.  Everyone is different.  So it is that it is also a big mistake to treat all polio survivors the same.

COVID is a virus.   (Thus "coronavirus.")  It hits different people differently.  We are only now beginning to learn how "long COVID" is affecting people, but we know one thing already:  Long COVID hits different people differently.  We know enough to know already, that it will be a huge mistake to treat everyone who has "long COVID" as if they are all the same.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

A MAN WHO IS WELL NAMED.

According to reports, several witnesses who gave testimony that trashed the FBI to a House Committee were paid money for testifying.

The witnesses were reportedly paid the cash by Kash Patel.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

GETTING MY NEWS FROM CHINESE PROPAGANDA. No thanks.

An Astronaut's View From Space.  (NASA)

I am not in the habit of getting my news from Chinese propaganda.  That is essentially what a defense official told a Republican Congress person who does get his news from Chinese propaganda.

Another Republican Congress person blamed President Biden for the deaths of two people from fentanyl.  They died in July, 2020 when someone else was in the Oval Office, not President Biden.

The tendency seems to be to shake our heads and wonder how these officials and their companions can say such stupid things.  If something bad keeps happening over and over, I think it is worthwhile to ask if it is not an accident.

These Republican Congress people and their compadres believe that if they simply repeat something over and over, enough people will believe it to keep them in power.  No matter how stupid it sounds to other people, even to most other people. 

Just think:  It may just not be an accident.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.