Do you understand Medicare? Of course you don’t. Neither does anybody else. So why would Congress abolish a modest federal program that pays for actual human beings who can explain it to confused consumers? Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee essentially voted to abolish the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) by quietly eliminating the entire $52.1 million in federal [...]
Most of us, most of the time, want to age at home. But the reality is not everyone can, or should. Sometimes staying in your own home as you become increasingly frail is a poor choice. It can be lonely and even dangerous. It can burn out family caregivers. And it even can be more costly than other options, especially [...]
Congress has finally renewed the Older Americans Act—a key piece of the social safety net for seniors. It is good that, after a decade in limbo, the law finally has been reauthorized. But before you break out the balloons and champagne, remember that keeping programs alive on paper is not the same as paying for them. And the government safety [...]
In his newly-unveiled 2017 budget, President Obama has proposed little or no increase in federal funding for key senior services programs, higher consumer out-of-pocket costs for brand-name drugs and home health services under Medicare, higher Medicare premiums for upper-income seniors, and reductions in federal subsidies to Medicare Advantage managed care plans. The budget also includes many other changes in the [...]
Just before leaving town for the year, Congress passed a budget that increased funding for Alzheimer’s research by 60 percent, but, as usual, provided little new money for programs that help those who have the disease, other frail elders, or their caregivers. Over the past six years, funding for most of these much-needed programs has not even kept up with [...]
Congress has again frozen funding for most senior services programs, from Meals on Wheels and other nutrition programs to falls prevention and state health insurance assistance programs (SHIPs). This has been the trend throughout most of the Obama Administration. But it may be about to come to an end, as we near a time when federal funding for senior programs [...]
For the first time since 2010, Congress may be about to acknowledge that people with disabilities cannot have a decent quality of life with limited financial resources and modest government support. It is on the verge of approving the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which would create tax-free savings accounts to assist some people with disabilities while not jeopardize their [...]
Republican control of Congress means that senior service programs—most of which have been frozen for years—will face growing budget pressures. At the same time, the GOP also may try to give states more flexibility in the way they provide Medicaid and other benefits to the elderly and disabled. And while the GOP leadership will be under pressure from Tea Party [...]
Federal senior services programs are in for another very difficult year. In the 2015 budget he released yesterday, President Obama proposed freezing or even cutting spending for many key programs. And Obama’s blueprint may be the highwater mark for many initiatives, which are likely to see even deeper cuts as the budget works its way through Congress. Key House Republicans have [...]
It sounds like a great idea: Move people out of long-stay nursing facilities and back into their communities, and give them flexibility to spend government dollars on the care they need. Such a change could make care more person-centered and reduce costs. But a federal/state demonstration aimed at achieving that goal has moved very few people. For six years, the federal government and state [...]