The American Geriatrics Society - News - American Geriatrics Society Hails Senate Vote to Start Debate on Health Bill, Lauds Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln for Her Key Contributions to Bill That Would Significantly Improve Healthcare for Older Americans

For Immediate Release
November 23, 2009

For Further Information:
Erin Weller
(212) 308-1414
eweller@americangeriatrics.org

American Geriatrics Society Hails Senate Vote to Start Debate on Health Bill,
Lauds Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln for Her Key Contributions
to Bill That Would Significantly Improve Healthcare for Older Americans

New York, NY - The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) hails the Senate's Saturday vote to begin full debate on healthcare reform legislation, and lauds Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) both for her support for beginning debate and ensuring that the Senate reform bill includes essential provisions that would significantly improve healthcare for older adults.

Thanks to the efforts of Sen. Lincoln and other champions of elder health, the Senate healthcare reform bill includes key provisions that would help ensure older Americans access to higher quality, more cost-effective and affordable healthcare, and help make the Medicare program more sustainable. The AGS -- a nonprofit association of geriatrics healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of older people -- has long advocated for and strongly supports these provisions.

"As a result of the efforts of Sen. Lincoln and other senators committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our nation's seniors, the Senate's proposed health reform legislation would improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care for even the frailest, most medically complex and vulnerable older Americans, and help ensure the sustainability of Medicare," said AGS President Cheryl Phillips, MD. "In addition to addressing growing, nationwide shortages of healthcare workers trained to meet seniors' unique care needs, provisions in the bill would expand health coverage for older people while lowering their out-of-pocket costs for preventive care and medications."

The Senate's proposed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would help address growing eldercare workforce shortages by employing strategies Sen. Lincoln and colleagues in Congress proposed earlier this year. Among other things, the Senate bill would make substantial investments in improving access to eldercare through the significant expansion of geriatrics training programs for healthcare professionals and for the direct-care workers who provide daily care for millions of America's seniors. It would expand training and educational opportunities for healthcare providers who specialize in the care of older patients. And it would establish a Graduate Medical Education policy allowing unused training slots to be reallocated in ways that increase the ranks of -- and seniors' access to -- primary care providers.

The Senate legislation would also reform Medicare payment policy so it more equitably reimburses those who care for older adults. Surveys have found that inequities in Medicare payment are a leading disincentive to pursuing careers in elder healthcare. Geriatricians -- primary care physicians with advanced training that prepares them to care for even the sickest and most complex older patients -- and other geriatrics healthcare providers are in increasingly short supply nationwide. The proposed legislation would address the deepening disparity in payments to geriatricians and other primary care providers through a 10% Medicare bonus payment for designated primary care services. And it would create a physician "value-based payment program" aimed at improving the quality of care beneficiaries receive.

In keeping with the Senate bill, Medicare would establish an "Innovation Center" to test new payment and care delivery approaches aimed at further enhancing the quality of care and reducing costs. Thanks to efforts led by Sen. Lincoln -- a member of both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Special Committee on Aging -- the legislation would fund demonstration projects to evaluate such promising models of care as those providing comprehensive geriatric assessments and care coordination for older patients with multiple chronic illnesses. These patients are among the sickest and most costly in the Medicare system and research suggests that this approach to their care can both improve outcomes and cut costs for these patients. Sen. Lincoln has long advocated for measures to expand Medicare coverage to include care coordination for these extremely vulnerable beneficiaries. Arkansas counts a particularly high percentage of older adults as residents -- 14 % -- compared with roughly 12.5% for the nation as a whole.

"Thanks to Sen. Lincoln and other committed Senate advocates for elder health, this reform legislation includes essential provisions that would make a significant difference in the lives of older adults in Arkansas and throughout the nation," said Larry D. Wright, MD, the Arkansas delegate to the AGS Council of State Affiliate Representatives, who presented the senator with the Society's inaugural "Congressional Leadership Award" last year. The award is presented annually to a legislator who has demonstrated outstanding dedication and leadership on behalf of America's seniors.

Other provisions in the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are designed to improve seniors' health by eliminating beneficiaries' co-pays and deductibles for preventive care, by shrinking the Medicare drug plan's "donut hole" coverage gap, and by establishing new programs to lower hospital readmission rates among Medicare patients. The bill also calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a national strategy for improving the quality of care provided through Medicare and other programs. In addition, the legislation would create a national commission to ensure that the nation's healthcare workforce meets America's needs.

ABOUT THE AGS
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (www.americangeriatrics.org) is a non-profit organization of more than 6,400 healthcare professionals whose shared mission is to improve the health, independence and quality of life of older people. Our vision for the future is that all older adults will have access to quality healthcare that meets their unique needs. To achieve this, the Society focuses on: advancing eldercare research; enhancing clinical practice in eldercare; raising public awareness of the healthcare needs of older people; and advocating for public policy that ensures older adults access to quality, appropriate, cost-effective care. The Society is a pivotal force in shaping practices, policies and perspectives in the field.