On March 26, LeadingAge president and CEO Katie Smith Sloan sent a letter to housing authorizing committees on our wish-list for affordable housing within any infrastructure package. President Biden is expected to release an outline of his infrastructure proposal, Build Back Better, the week of March 29 and congressional hearings have begun on the topic.
LeadingAge’s housing priorities for an infrastructure bill include:
The House Committee on Financial Services is circulating a discussion draft of the Supporting Seniors and Tenants in Subsidized Housing Act. The draft bill, a version of 2020’s Emergency Housing Assistance for Older Adults Act introduced in the House (as HR 6873) and Senate (as S 4177). The draft bill is sponsored by Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance.
The Medicare Accelerated and Advanced payment program is a tool that CMS can use to offer to increased cash flow to providers whether due to a disruption in claims processing or due to public health or other emergencies. CMS began offering this option to providers related to the COVID-19 emergency and the terms of the program were expanded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
March 24, 2021, Washington, DC—A top aging services organization urged the Senate to follow the House of Representatives’s lead and head off billions of dollars in imminent Medicare cuts—which could hurt millions of older Americans and care providers still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts would affect funding for quality care at skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospices, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) organizations that provide care for older adults.
Contact: Lisa Sanders, lsanders@leadingage.org
We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.
On March 19, the House passed bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1868) that would prevent reimbursement rate cuts for Medicare providers, including several types of aging services providers that bill Medicare.
Previous legislation suspended the 2% sequester cut to Medicare through the end of March 2021. If further legislation does extend the suspension, Medicare providers will see the 2% cut reinstated beginning April 1.
On March 17 the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing entitled “A National Tragedy: COVID-19 in the Nation’s Nursing Homes”. Witnesses addressed the out-sized impact of the pandemic on nursing home residents – more than 170,000 dead, 40% of total deaths – and staff, and made recommendations about how to protect residents and improve quality. It was very clear from the statements by the members of the Committee as well as testimony, that attention must be paid to workforce, improving how we identify, measure and report on quality, and transparency.
On March 16, Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing Chair Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) introduced the Broadband Justice Act of 2021.
The bill would provide $5 billion to expand affordable broadband access to millions of families living in federally subsidized housing, including HUD, USDA Rural Housing Service, and Low Income Housing Tax Credit housing.
The American Rescue Plan contains several provisions directing money to state and local governments. This article is meant to help LeadingAge members navigate and understand where these dollars are going and which provisions are applicable to aging services and older adults.
Provisions That Could Help Fund Aging Services
March 10, 2021, Washington, DC—With vaccinations well under way in nursing homes and long-term care, four leading aging services organizations urged the Biden Administration, as a matter of equity, to prioritize other vulnerable older Americans in urgent need of vaccinations—including homebound older people—as well as those who work in aging services.
Contact: Lisa Sanders
lsanders@leadingage.org 202-508-9407
We represent more than 5,000 aging-focused organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we address critical issues by blending applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building. We bring together the most inventive minds in our field to support older adults as they age wherever they call home. We make America a better place to grow old. For more information: www.leadingage.org
As of March 10, the Senate and House have passed (on March 6 and March 10, respectively) the American Rescue Plan Act. President Biden is expected to sign the bill quickly. The bill is based on his Administration’s own American Rescue Plan outline and is replete with funds and programs critical to aging services providers and the older adults they serve as the nation continues to grapple with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
