Annals of Long Term Care

AGS Board of Directors Expresses “Strong Support” for Healthcare Reform in Letter to President as Democratic Leaders in Congress

The AGS’s Board of Directors expressed its strong support for the enactment of healthcare reform in a letter sent to President Barack Obama in mid-March, just as this issue of Annals of Long-Term Care was going to press. The letter reached the President’s desk as Democratic leaders in Congress began pressing for final votes on reform legislation before month’s end.

In its March 12 letter to President Obama, the AGS Board notes that “numerous provisions in the reform legislation now before Congress will lead to far‐reaching and lasting improvements in the quality of care provided to older Americans, and will help ensure the sustainability of Medicare.

“As an organization we have had the opportunity to provide extensive comments and feedback on health reform to Congress and to your Administration,” the letter continues. “As a result, the legislation under consideration in the Capitol will bring about much needed policy changes that, we are convinced, will result in better coordinated, higher quality and more affordable care for older adults. This legislation will also enhance geriatrics education and training and expand the capacity of the nation’s healthcare workforce so it can provide high quality, efficient and affordable care that meets the unique needs of seniors nationwide.”

While Democratic leaders were optimistic midmonth—vowing to pass, as early as the third week of March, two measures that must be approved if healthcare reform is to take effect—uncertainties remained.

One of the bills, the so-called “reconciliation bill” drafted by Democratic leaders in both chambers, would amend the Senate plan to address House concerns about certain elements of the Senate legislation. By using reconciliation, Democrats can prevent Republicans from blocking health reform by filibustering.

As of mid-March, however, obstacles remained, including differences among Democrats over the wording of abortion restrictions in the legislation. Rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers were asking the leadership for more detailed information about the reconciliation bill, and telling reporters that without this information it would be difficult for them to decide how to vote. In addition, leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers alike were still awaiting a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessment of the proposed legislation, without which they cannot move forward.

An earlier CBO report concluded that the Senate bill would cover 31 million uninsured Americans over the next ten years at a cost of $875 billion. According to the CBO, this would be more than offset by new taxes and fees and reductions in Medicare spending—the President has vowed that these will result from stepped-up efforts to eliminate widespread fraud and waste in the program—and trim budget deficits by $118 billion over the ten-year period.

“Like you, we are convinced that healthcare reform must move forward so that we, as a nation, can begin to address the long‐term viability of the Medicare program,” the AGS Board writes in its letter to the President. “Soaring health costs, in combination with the wave of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age, are placing the sustainability of the program in jeopardy; waiting to address these challenges is a risk our nation cannot afford to take. Increased costs that are passed along to Medicare beneficiaries are already challenging for older Americans on fixed incomes.