AGS Leaders Fan out on Capitol Hill – Asking Congress to Fund Programs Important to AGS Members and the Older Adults They Serve
February 18th, 2011
This week, AGS leaders fanned out across Capitol Hill to convey the importance of funding for Geriatrics Health Professions Programs, the National Institute on Aging, and the Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development to Congress. Members also urged Congress to address the Medicare payment cuts mandated by the sustainable growth (SGR) rate formula and end the practice of piecemeal and retroactive payment fixes by enacting permanent and meaningful SGR reform.
AGS leaders visited over 30 Congressional offices and eight of the teams met with members of Congress in addition to Congressional staff. “We found the Hill staff and those members whom we met with to be very receptive to our requests,” said Dr. Peter Hollmann, who chairs the AGS Public Policy Committee and who led the team meeting with Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. “There is support on Capitol Hill for programs that will lead to improved care of older adults. Having said that, it was clear to us that this will be a difficult budget year for everyone as Congress and the administration look for ways to reduce the federal deficit,” he noted. “I am encouraged by the interest that Democrats and Republicans have in working with us in a bi-partisan manner to ensure that we are providing the best possible care to older adults.”
Other members of Congress who met personally with AGS leaders and staff included: Senators Bennet (D-CO), Franken (D-MN), Johnson (R-WI), Vitter (R-LA), and Congressmen Bartlett (R-MD) and Harris (R-MD). AGS leaders also met with key members and committee staff from the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, Senate Finance, Special Committee on Aging, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as the House Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means Committees.
“At the end of the day, we felt our efforts were successful toward helping both key members of Congress, and staffers for Committees which oversee our funding, to understand why these programs are so important toward ensuring high-quality care for older Americans,” commented AGS President Sharon Brangman. “We were encouraged that the President’s budget included funding for these programs and will continue to educate Congress on their importance to the field and to the older patients that we serve.”
Senator Casey Addresses AGS Leaders Attending the Society’s Annual Public Policy Summit
Also this week, AGS leaders convened for a day of intense discussions focused on setting the Society’s public policy priorities for 2011. Highpoints of the meeting included Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), the Senior Senator from Pennsylvania, joining the meeting to discuss the healthcare needs of older Americans. Senator Casey, a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, is an ardent supporter of the need for the healthcare workforce to be prepared to care for America’s growing population of older adults. He shared the story of his father, former Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995, and state Senator from 1963-68, and the care that he had ultimately received from direct care workers. He noted that he was inspired by these workers to introduce a bill in the 111th Congress, ‘The Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act’, that would guarantee fair pay for direct care workers. Senator Casey encouraged AGS leaders to voice their own personal stories in the following day’s Hill visits – noting how members of Congress appreciate hearing from their constituents how federal policy effects their own work and lives.
AGS member Chad Boult, MD who is now serving as a Senior Advisor to the CMS Innovations Center met with AGS leaders to provide an overview of the Innovations Center and the status of implementation. He noted that there was a strong commitment at CMS to focusing the work of the Center for Innovation on testing innovative payment and service delivery models. Dr. Boult expressed that such a commitment was focused on the goal of reducing program expenditures under Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, while preserving or enhancing the quality of care furnished. He told the group that CMS was close to releasing its overall plan for how the Center would operate and that a hallmark of the Center will be that of inviting ideas from stakeholders for consideration for testing.
Summit attendees also discussed and reaffirmed the Society’s core public policy priorities. Summit attendees engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of specific areas of policy that the Society will need to focus efforts on in 2011. These include sustainable growth rate reform, advising CMS on structuring accountable care organizations, looking at potential ways to restructure graduate medical education, and continuing work on increased funding for Title VII and VIII geriatrics health professions programs. “AGS was truly effective in its advocacy around integration of programs which seek to improve care of older adults and also help geriatrics health professionals,” commented Dr. Michael Malone, Vice Chair of the Public Policy Committee. “Relative to our size, we had a large footprint in health reform and I am convinced that we will be equally successful as we continue to work to ensure that older Americans receive safe, high-quality care that is cost-effective.”
Modified On: January 2nd, 2013
