Utahn Barbara Toomer, who has traveled the nation protesting for rights for the disabled, and has often been arrested for it, says House Speaker Newt Gingrich is listening to - and agreeing with - concerns of protesters like her.
Toomer and 14 other members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) met with Gingrich in the Capitol rotunda Wednesday and say they have persuaded him to look seriously at their proposals for Medicaid reform.They want Medicaid to allow funding for "attendant services" at home - such as help with dressing, bathing, eating and personal care - and not just for nursing-home care and the full medical services they provide.
"We not sick. We don't need medical help, just attendant services," said Toomer, who uses a wheelchair as a result of having polio as a child. "Nursing homes are really a jail, except with a jail you know when you will get out."
To try to get Gingrich's ear on the issue, members of ADAPT nationwide have staged protests wherever Gingrich has been signing autographs for his new book.
"Many would buy a book just so they could deliver the ADAPT message to him face to face," she said.
That helped lead to the meeting Wednesday between ADAPT leaders and Gingrich. Toomer said that while Gingrich said many people do not like the group's tactics, it has some good ideas and pledged to look hard at including them in Medicaid reform.
"He really listened to us and heard what we had to say," Too-mer said. "The principles we endorse are really the same ones in his book. He finally said, `Let's get together.' "
Toomer noted that attendant services also cost less than nursing homes, which could save the government money, but Gingrich wants to verify what costs would be.
Toomer has often traveled to Washington to assist in protests that sometimes block access to the Capitol and other buildings. She said she has been arrested several times there, and in other cities such as St. Louis and Los Angeles. But she said the peaceful protests follow the model set by Martin Luther King.