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The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and Administration on Aging (AoA) have been hosting webinars on applying for the new federal Health Care Innovation Challenge grant.

The webinar will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. EST.

To view the webinar, register online.

Visit the CMS Innovation Center’s Events Archive to view a recording of the first webinar — an overview of the grant — and check back for the other webinars.

PHI recently published its own online guide to developing a strong Innovation Grant proposal.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is holding a hearing on the CLASS Act entitled “The Implementation and Sustainability of the New, Government-Administered Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Program.”

Here are the details on this public event:

Thursday, March 17
9:30 am EST
2322 Rayburn House Office Building
Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street
Washington, DC

Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary, Administration on Aging, and William Minnix, Jr., chair of Advance CLASS and CEO of LeadingAge, are among the witnesses testifying in support of the CLASS Program.

Advanced CLASS Executive Director Connie Garner issued a statement noting that “HHS is still working on the program design and the group hopes that critics will reserve judgment until the work is complete.”

Advocates are encouraging supporters of the CLASS Program to attend the hearing.

Additionally, Families USA (pdf) is providing a toll-free telephone number, 888-876-6242, that CLASS supporters can call to let members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce know that 1) CLASS will be invaluable to people with disabilities and older adults in need of long-term services and supports, and 2) according to law, the program will be self-sustaining.

– by Deane Beebe

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning to locate the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act Office at the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA).

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius advised the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Representative Harold Rogers (R- KY), of the decision to establish the new office at AoA in a letter (pdf) dated January 5.

The letter states that “to efficiently and effectively implement the provisions of Title VIII, the CLASS Act, it is necessary to have a dedicated office that has as its primary focus the implementation and management of this new and innovative program.” The CLASS Act was a provision of the Affordable Care Act, the national health reform legislation enacted last spring.

The CLASS Act Office is charged with administering the new voluntary, federal insurance plan designed to help people purchase long-term services and supports.

Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel

The CLASS Act Office is also responsible for convening and supporting the Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel (PCAWAP) and the CLASS Independence Council.

“We are pleased that HHS has announced the opening of the CLASS Office and that the work developing this important program will be moving forward,” said PHI Government Affairs Director Carol Regan. “We hope that an announcement of the Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel will soon follow so that for the first time, attention is paid to this critical workforce in order to meet the demand for quality long-term services and supports.”

The PCAWAP will examine issues related to the personal care attendant workforce and make recommendations to the Secretary of HHS and Congress on this workforce. Key topics for exploration by the Panel include:

• the adequacy of the number of these workers,
• the salaries, wages, and benefits of these workers, and
• access to services provided by these workers.

– by Deane Beebe

Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee unveiled the Administration on Aging’s new e-newsletter on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and how it is impacting the aging network.

The content planned for the newsletter includes:

• information on upcoming funding and training opportunities
• relevant notices in the Federal Register
• reports from across the nation on how health care reform has been put into action

The Affordable Care Act takes “a number of steps that improve health care for people with Medicare and with Medicaid,” Greenlee wrote on November 30, when announcing the inaugural November issue (pdf).

She added that the aging network can play a critical role in making health care improvement happen.

– by Deane Beebe

Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging, HHS

Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary on Aging Kathy Greenlee released a statement on July 14 to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Older Americans Act (OAA), which Congress is expected to consider for reauthorization in 2011.

Greenlee notes that the number of Americans age 60 and over have more than doubled since President Lyndon Johnson signed the OAA into law in 1965.

She forecasts that “reliance on family members, who currently provide 80 percent of the long-term care assistance for our nation’s seniors, will increase,” since people age 80 and over are the fastest-growing age group and will need long-term care.

Greenlee also calls the Affordable Care Act (ACA) an opportunity “to harness the successes and progress of the last four decades to further improve the health and lives of older Americans and support their caregivers.”

PHI OAA Recommendations

PHI has made several recommendations (pdf) to the Administration on Aging (AoA) on the 2011 reauthorization of the OAA, including:

• improving training and employment for direct-care workers;
• incorporating workforce planning and assessment in the aging services network; and
• building infrastructure for self-directed services by strengthening matching service registries.

This year, PHI has been in conversation with AoA staff and advocates on how the reauthorization of the OAA could be the opportunity to advance matching-service registries, which facilitate connections between consumers who receive self-directed care in their homes and the independent direct-care workers who provide that care.

Greenlee said the OAA, in combination with the creation of Medicare and Medicaid just about two weeks later and Social Security in 1935, “have served as the foundation for economic, health, and social support for millions of seniors, individuals with disabilities and their families.”

– by Deane Beebe

The nonprofit organization SAGE (Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders) has received a federal grant to create the first national resource center on LGBT aging in the U.S. Read the full story