Build Back Better Bill Could be Transformative- BUT -Running out of Time

December 15, 2021

Time About Out To Pass Build Back Better Bill

Biden’s Build Back Better Bill is dying. Decades of divestment have cost American families in time, opportunity, and money, with the greatest impacts landing on communities of color, seniors, the disabled, women, and LGBTQ+ people. Building a stronger, more equitable future requires investing in good jobs, quality care, education, and housing. Senator Manchin and Sinema are blocking Biden’s Bill.

The Build Back Better Bill includes significant investments in our children, families, elderly and disabled

Seniors will get New Medicare Hearing Benefit

Biden’s ill includes lowered drug prices, Medicare Part D Benefit Redesign according to Kaiser Foundation. But the bill also includes new Medicare benefits for seniors in:

Expanded Home & Community Based Care Included

Biden’s Build Back Better Bill , offers so much in caring for families, kids the elderly. In addition to expanding Child Tax Credit payments and ensuring the lowest income families receive the full benefit, would invest in-home- and community-based care services for the aging and people with disabilities; provide pre-k for 3 and 4 year-olds; invest in housing, child care, and nutrition programs; create good jobs, and so much more

Biden’s Bill would provide four weeks of paid medical leave, so the United States can join the rest of the industrialized world in giving its people the dignity of paid time off for a family or health emergency. So, if an aging parent or child is sick or there is a newborn, family can care for them and get paid.

Write or Call Your Congressman Fast Before Mansion and Sinema Destroy Biden’s Bill

Sign and send a letter to your Democratic senators: Care is infrastructure. The Build Back Better Act must include substantial investments in our families and communities.

Here are some quick tips when writing a personal letter or what to say on a call :

Keep your letter short or call and to the point;
Remind them that you are a constituent;
Share your personal story about your career as a care manager, a social worker a nurse, a geriatric professional and your client’s needing care, client’s caring for a loved one, or the plight of a care worker
Emphasize that the majority of Americans support investing in human infrastructure, include: expanding Child Tax Credit payments, and ensuring the lowest income families receive the full benefit, investing in-home- and community-based care services for the aging and people with disabilities; providing pre-k for 3 and 4 year-olds; investing in housing, child care, and nutrition programs; creating good jobs; and more;
Encourage them to keep pushing to ensure investments in the care economy remain in the Build Back Better Act.
PLEASE DO THIS NOW ESPECIALLY FOR SENIORS IF YOU WORK WITH THEM

Biden’s Care Infrastructure Passed House -Wins & Losses 4 Seniors???

November 23, 2021

Biden’s Care Infrastructure Passed The House

Biden’s 1 Trillion $ Care Infrastructure Passed the House through the brilliant work of speaker Nancy Pelosi which was a great boost for deadly climate change, Child Tax Credits,paid parental leave and so much more. For seniors, the good news is it covers

New hearing benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, including coverage for a new hearing aid every five years.
A $35-per-month limit on the cost of insulin under Medicare and a cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $2,000

$1.2 billion in new spending for critical

programs and services under the Older Americans Act (OAA).
Dental & Vision Coverages Dropped But Sanders Tries to Save

The Care Infrastructure Bill passed but it dropped expanding dental and vision benefits after centrists called for paring down the overall cost of the package, which originally was proposed for $3.5 trillion.

The framework of the Care Infrastructure Bill also doesn’t include legislation to give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices, but senators say that it would eliminate a rule that gets rid of the safe harbor for Part D drug rebates.

Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to work vision and dental back into the Care Infrastructure bill and is outraged that both were dropped. 2-5 voters want dental and vision back in the bill
- Across political parties,
- Across political parties, voters’ top priority for the bill is adding dental and vision benefits to Medicare, which was cut from the White House’s latest framework after intense pushback from dental groups and amid concerns about the price tag. Still, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) indicated he is trying to work Medicare coverage for dental and vision services back into the final bill
- If You Are In Aging Call Your Congressman
Care Infrastructure Bill may not pass it’s next big hurdle , the Senate if folks in health care and older constituents do not contact their congressman or woman and tell them to support this bill. Your Congresswoman or man controls the votes for the bill and you have to let them know you will only vote for them if they do. Common Cause has this easy way to find and contact your congressman If you believe in Medicare and senior’s right to to not have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- so please email, pick up the phone now.

FDA Proposal Would Allow Millions of Consumers to Buy Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids in Stores or Online

October 25, 2021

FDA to Allow Buying Hearing Aides over the Counter- But Free Hearing Benefits on Chopping Block in Care Infrastructure Bill

A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.

More than four years after Congress ordered the agency to allow over-the-counter hearing aids, it took the first step Tuesday to broaden access to more accessible and affordable devices for millions of patients with mild to moderate hearing loss. The agency’s proposal would create a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids and supersede state-level regulations that require patients to go through physicians or audiologists to get prescriptions and fittings for them.

Infrastructure Trapped in Party Line Clash

President Biden’s Care Infrastruce bill is now trapped in a party-line clash where hearing benefits under Medicare will be ditched as the GOP is pulling away from the centrists that voted for it. Nineteen votes for the bill came from Republicans 2 months ago, as the Republican party is opposed to the Care infrastructure Bill

Progressives Hold The Line for Care Infrastructures for Seniors, Women Families

House Democratic Progressives held the line in a weeklong standoff with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who reversed course and canceled plans to vote on the infrastructure bill with the support of President Joe Biden. He told House Democrats the votes weren’t there to pass that bill without the larger social policy bill.

Biden Says Care Infrastructure Price Tag Must Come Down

President Biden told Democrats the initial $3.5 trillion price tag would have to be reduced, and that the talks ranged up to $2.3 trillion, a source familiar with the meeting said Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., floated a $1.5 trillion counteroffer that some decried as being too small. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., has declined to say what she’d back, frustrating her colleagues.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he aims to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill and Democrats’ broader investment in the social safety net and climate policy by the end of October.
The House delayed a vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure proposal as progressives sought an agreement on the larger piece of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.
Democrats are negotiating a compromise between centrists and progressives on a plan to invest in child care, paid leave, health care, education, and the fight against climate change.

If You Are a Woman or Work In Aging Call Your Congressman

Care Infrastructure may wait long if folks in health care and older constituents do not contact their congressman and tell them to support this bill. They control the votes for the bill, and you have to let them know you will only vote for them if they do. Common Cause has this easy way to find and contact your congressman. If you believe in Medicare and seniors’ right not to have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- do it now.

Sign up for my new free Webinar, How to Sign Up Concierge Clients When Adult Child Calls in Pain

Biden’s Caregiver Infrastructure Plan Crumbling

June 16, 2021

Caregiver Infrastructure Bill in Shreds

President Biden’s caregiver infrastructure bill appears to be in deep trouble . In fact the entire bill in is jeopardy.

The president set his sights on a sweeping infrastructure bill that would both revamp the nation’s roads and bridges as well as boost spending on services including healthcare and child care — though Republicans reject the idea that those latter priorities even qualify for the label “infrastructure.

Republicans Do Not see Care As Infrastructure

Many Republicans question government funding for care of the elderly and children, especially at the levels Biden wants. He initially proposed $400 billion for elderly and disabled care, and another $200 billion for childcare. Republicans want this entire Caregiver infrastructure section removed from the bill.

Congressional leaders have a math problem to pass the bill. To get through the evenly split Senate under the normal process, legislation would need support from all of the Democratic caucus and at least 10 Republicans — or more if any Democrats defect. If Democrats try to approve legislation on their own using budget reconciliation, they cannot lose a single vote.

What Will Biden’s Investment Create- in Jobs and the Economy

What are these lawmakers questioning? Basically the women who hold up half the sky of care in the United States by doing it through their low paid or no paid jobs. Like American bridges these

caregivers are collapsing.

Sixty-five percent of the jobs — approximately 1.5 million jobs —resulting from Biden’s investment would be in child care, residential care, and home health care. An additional 225,000 jobs can be created or supported in sectors that support care work, and over 500,000 jobs would be supported in other sectors as direct care workers spend their wages on goods and services.

Biden’s Plan of investing $77.5 billion per year would support over two million new jobs, at an average cost of $34,496 per supported job. Over 10 years, this translates to 22.5 million new jobs. Annually, a $77.5 billion investment in new jobs translates into $220 billion in new economic activity.

If Aging is Your Field Call You Representative Now

So find your local representative and tell them to support Biden’s bill if you care about aging or caregivers or women or shoring up the frayed- fraught care infrastructure.I have done a series of blogs on the bill . Check them out now

Give VA BENEFITS Veterans & Help Stop School Shootings on Memorial Day-

May 25, 2021

On this coming Memorial Day and every day, geriatric care managers can be a huge help to older veterans to get VA benefits.

With nearly 10 million veterans in the U.S. who are over the age of 65, older vets are usually good candidates for geriatric care management services both now and in the future.

Unfortunately, navigating the services supports, and VA benefits available to older veterans can be a challenge for geriatric care managers and clients alike. Services and supports for this population are available at the federal, state and local level addition to the service navigation complexity. The configuration of services received by veterans and their families is likely to consist of federal services provided by the Veterans Administration in addition to more localized services for older adults in general like those provided by senior centers, area agencies on aging, etc.

VA Benefits available to veterans and their families range from federal VA home improvement grants, burial benefits, medical care, respite, housing programs, pension, and even local benefits like business loans and discount programs.

Like most clients served by geriatric care managers, this population will need both VA Benefits and personalized assistance in meeting their care needs. For this reason, it is important to note that services and supports designed for older adults, in general, are also key resources for veterans.

While the VA is a great resource, don’t overlook the value and expertise in VA Benefits offered by local organizations like local healthcare centers, senior centers, and Area Agencies on Aging, among others.

Find the many ways care managers can access hard-to-find VA services and serve retired vets.

This memorial Day remember “More Americans have died from guns in the United States since 1968 than on battlefields of all the wars in American history.”

In the US there have been 2,032 school shootings since 1970 and these numbers are increasing. In the US 948 school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

Yesterday the shooting death of 19 3rd,4th, and 5th graders- at Robb Elementary School in Uvale Texas added another slaughter of US children in their schools.

As President Biden said “As a nation, we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” Mr. Biden said. “When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”

So on this memorial day stand up for common sense gun laws. Call your Congressperson and state senatorand ask them to pass Backgound Checks for purchasing guns.

A House-passed bill, HR 1446, backed by Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, would close what’s known as the “Charleston loophole,” which allows some licensed gun sales to go through before a required background check is donehttps://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/politics/gun-laws-us-congress/index.html.But the legislation is stalled in the Senate. Write or call your State Senator and ask them to pass this bill. On this memorial day make the death school children ( your kids , your grandkids , now dying more than people who go to war, less likely by a background check that 90% of Americans believe in

/Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4th edition includes a new chapter that will help you help vets Maximizing the Health and Well-Being of Older Veterans by Dr. Lenard Kaye, director of the Center for Aging at the University of Maine and Glenn Osbourne, director of the National Veterans Legal Aid Group . As an aging life or geriatric care manager, or senior advocate, learn how to to get elder veteran’s VA benefits they so deserve.

CONNECT WITH CATHY CRESS MSW

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Build Back Better Bill Could be Transformative- BUT -Running out of Time

Time About Out To Pass Build Back Better Bill

The Build Back Better Bill includes significant investments in our children, families, elderly and disabled

Seniors will get New Medicare Hearing Benefit

Biden’s ill includes lowered drug prices, Medicare Part D Benefit Redesign according to Kaiser Foundation. But the bill also includes new Medicare benefits for seniors in:

Expanded Home & Community Based Care Included

Write or Call Your Congressman Fast Before Mansion and Sinema Destroy Biden’s Bill

If You Are In Aging Call Your Congressman

Contact

Connect with Cathy

Get Cathy’s “10 Critical Success Steps to a Profitable Aging Life or GCM Business”

Time About Out To Pass Build Back Better Bill

The Build Back Better Bill includes significant investments in our children, families, elderly and disabled

Seniors will get New Medicare Hearing Benefit

Biden’s ill includes lowered drug prices, Medicare Part D Benefit Redesign according to Kaiser Foundation. But the bill also includes new Medicare benefits for seniors in:

Expanded Home & Community Based Care Included

Write or Call Your Congressman Fast Before Mansion and Sinema Destroy Biden’s Bill

Biden’s Care Infrastructure Passed The House

Dental & Vision Coverages Dropped But Sanders Tries to Save

If You Are In Aging Call Your Congressman

FDA to Allow Buying Hearing Aides over the Counter- But Free Hearing Benefits on Chopping Block in Care Infrastructure Bill

Infrastructure Trapped in Party Line Clash

Progressives Hold The Line for Care Infrastructures for Seniors, Women Families

Biden Says Care Infrastructure Price Tag Must Come Down

If You Are a Woman or Work In Aging Call Your Congressman

Sign up for my new free Webinar, How to Sign Up Concierge Clients When Adult Child Calls in Pain

Caregiver Infrastructure Bill in Shreds

Republicans Do Not see Care As Infrastructure

What Will Biden’s Investment Create- in Jobs and the Economy

If Aging is Your Field Call You Representative Now

So find your local representative and tell them to support Biden’s bill if you care about aging or caregivers or women or shoring up the frayed- fraught care infrastructure.I have done a series of blogs on the bill . Check them out now

On this coming Memorial Day and every day, geriatric care managers can be a huge help to older veterans to get VA benefits.

This memorial Day remember “More Americans have died from guns in the United States since 1968 than on battlefields of all the wars in American history.”

In the US there have been 2,032 school shootings since 1970 and these numbers are increasing. In the US 948 school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

CONNECT WITH CATHY CRESS MSW

Contact

Connect with Cathy

Get Cathy’s “10 Critical Success Steps to a Profitable Aging Life or GCM Business”