Annals of Long Term Care

“The stars are aligned” for healthcare reform this year, President Obama declared in early May, as this issue of Annals of Long-Term Care went to press. “We’ve got to get it done this year, both in the House and Senate. We don’t have any excuses.”

Aiming to meet that deadline, committees in both chambers of Congress have been holding hearings and drafting healthcare reform proposals over the past few months. They plan to “mark up” proposed legislation this month with a goal of introducing a comprehensive bill in each chamber before the August recess. Once that’s accomplished the House and Senate would have to hammer out a single version of health reform legislation that would ultimately go to a vote.

The American Geriatrics Society—

both independently and in coalition with likeminded organizations—has been advocating and continues to advocate for reform legislation that ensures older adults access to appropriate, high-quality care.

By press time, the Senate Finance Committee had released two, of a planned three, healthcare reform documents for public comment. In addition, AGS had provided extensive comments on the first document, Transforming the Healthcare Delivery System. Among other recommendations, the Society asked the Finance Committee to consider increasing the “bump” for primary care specialties from 5% to 10%, and called for measures addressing the needs of frail older adults with multiple chronic conditions through quality initiatives and care coordination. In its comments, AGS also advocated for solutions that would increase and enhance the professional and direct-care workforce. In parallel comments on legislative proposals being developed under the auspices of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, AGS supported reauthorization and expansion of Title VII and Title VIII geriatrics health programs. AGS provided both the HELP and Finance committees with information supporting inclusion of the programs in health reform legislation.

AGS and the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs (ADGAP) have long advocated for increased funding for Title VII Geriatrics Health Professions Programs. And, in a step forward for geriatrics training, President Obama requested $42 million for these programs—a 35.5% increase over 2009 funding—in the 2010 budget proposal he released last month. Working to raise awareness of the importance of the programs in Congress and the White House, AGS and ADGAP shared longitudinal data from AGS’s Geriatrics Workforce Policy Studies (GWPS) Center in letters to President Obama’s transition team and to leaders advocating for its inclusion in the economic recovery and stimulus package.

The President’s request for the 35.5% increase in funding for Title VII programs came the same week that the White House announced that Mr. Obama was planning another $17 billion in cuts to the current budget. The proposed 2010 increase in funds for Title VII geriatrics programs is nearly twice the overall increase for all Title VII health professions training programs combined. In contrast to President Obama, President Bush included no funding for the programs in his last two budget proposals, with Congress ultimately restoring the funding in the wake of concerted AGS and ADGAP advocacy efforts.

In further efforts to ensure that healthcare reform addresses the needs of all older adults, AGS provided the sponsors of the “RE-Aligning Care Act” (Reaching Elders with Assessment and Chronic Care Management and Coordination Act)—which was introduced in the House and Senate last month—with essential information concerning the care of older adults with multiple chronic health conditions. In letters of endorsement and a nationally distributed press release, AGS also lauded the sponsors, Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representative Gene Green (D-TX) for introducing the bill. The RE-Aligning Care Act (S. 1004/ H.R.