Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

  • Home
  • Products
    • GCM Manual New 5th Edition
    • VIP Care Management White Paper
    • Books
    • Geriatric Care Management – 4th Edition
    • Mom Loves You Best
    • Care Managers
  • Online Classes
    • GCM Operations Manual Online Course
    • Geriatric Care Management Business Online Course
    • CEUs for Individual Modules
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Past Webinars
  • Recommendations
  • About
  • Blog
    • Aging
    • Geriatric Care Manager
    • Siblings
    • Webinar
  • Contact

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.

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Bernie Sanfers, Biden Infrastructure Bill Passing, Biden's Care Infrastructure Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Biden's VA Infrastructure Bill, Biden’ social and environmental infrastructure package, Black Aging Family, Black Entrepreneur, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black entrepreneurs, Black Geriatric Care Manager, Black geriatric care managers, Black RN, Black Travel Nurses, Black Travel RN, Blog, care economy, Care Infastructure, Care Infrastructure, Care Infrastructure Dental, Care Infrastructure Hearing, Care infrastucture Vision, caregiver, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, case manager, Dental, Dental Coverage Medicare, Families, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric social worker, Hearing Coverage Medicare, Infrastructure Bill, Medicaid caregiver, Medicaid Caregivers, Medicare, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Vision Coverage Medicare Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging life or geriatric care management, aging parent care, aging parent crisis, ALCA, Biden's Infrastructure Bill, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, Call Your Congressman, Care Economy, Care infrastructure, Care infrastrucure Bill Passed, care management, care manager, care provider stress, case manager, Congress&Infrastructure Bill, Dental Coverage Medicare, geriatric care infrastructure, geriatric care manager, Hearing Coverage Medicare, infrastructure Medicare jobs, limit on cost insulin, Nancy Pelosi, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Vision Coverage Medicare

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

 

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, Aging Life Care Assocaition, aging life care manager, Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanfers, Biden Infrastructure Bill Passing, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill Trouble, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Biden's VA Infrastructure Bill, Black Entrepreneur, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black Geriatric Care Manager, Black RN, Black Travel RN, Blog, Care Infastructure, Care Infrastructure, Care Infrastructure cut out, caregiver, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, End of Life, Families, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric social worker, hearing Medicare coverage, Infrastructure Bill, Joe Manchin, Medicaid caregiver, Medicaid Caregivers, Medicare, Medicare Expansion, Medicare For All, nurse advocate, nurse care manager Tagged With: aging life or geriatric care management, ALCA, Biden's Infrastructure Bill, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, Blocked Care Infrastructure bill, Call Your Congressman, Care Economy, Care infrastructure, care management, care provider stress, Congress&Infrastructure Bill, geriatric care infrastructure, infrastructure Medicare jobs, Nancy Pelosi

NY Times-The Mushrooming Home Care Aide Crisis

October 8, 2021

Crisis in Homecare Aides NY Times

The New York Times featured a story on the crisis in home care aides on September 25th,2021.The NYT article warned ranks of home care aides are expected to grow by more than those of any other job in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.But It’s also among the lowest paying occupations on the list. Yet in spite of geriatric care managers  and homecare’s dependence on these aides ,nearly one in five aides lives below the poverty line.  So we have a crisis built on high demand and low supply.

Geriatric Care management depends on home care aides.

Whether a Geriatric Care Manager is placing aides through a partnership with a private duty Home Care agency or employs them by being  a Care Managed Home Care Agency- working with elders means 90% of the aging clients will need  from 4 to 24 hour care from home care aides.

Home Care Aide Top Job In Growth

 

The ranks of home care aides are expected to grow by more than those of any other job in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s also among the lowest paying occupations on the list. Yet .in spite of geriatric care managers dependence or these aides ,nearly one in five aides lives below the poverty line. 

Seniors Want To Remain at Home

 By 2030, 21 percent of the American population will be at the retirement age, up from 15 percent in 2014, and older adults have long been moving away from institutionalized care. According to an AARP survey, three-quarters of Americans age 50 and older

indicated they prefer to remain in their current residence or community for as long as possible as opposed to a senior care facility.The

preference among older adults to remain in familiar homes and communities is termed “aging in place   “ 

Home Care Industry in Dire Straights

In 2019, national spending on home health care reached a high of $113.5 billion, a 40 percent increase from 2013, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But this growing industry , which Geriatric Care Managers and all aging services  critically need to support aging in place or care at home rather than an institution,  is in dire trouble.

The pandemic only made things worse. It exposed the vulnerability of not only the

elderly and infirm but also of those who care for them. As Covid-19 spread across the country, many families turned to home health care as an alternative to nursing homes, which had become hot spots for the virus. Shortages of personal protective equipment made the work risky. Many home care aides have not been able to work due to their own underlying conditions, family concerns or general anxiety. This has caused a crisis in the Home Industry, which care managers depend upon for staffing cases. Now with the Biden Mandate of requiring Medicaid and Medicare home care providers to get vaccination, there will be a whole new crisis with care providers under those giant government programs or work in hospitals .

Solutions to the National loss of Home Care Aides

There are many other factors fueling the loss of  paid care providers and there are great solutions offered by Leading Age a national non profit for aging and home care.

This includes , expanding training, increasing pay and increasing the caregiver pipeline to include college students, high school students and recent immigrants.

Filed Under: Blog, caregiver, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, caregiver mental health, Caregivers collapsing, Caregivers contracting COVId, COVID Homecare aide exposure, COVID impact homecare, homecare aides contract COVID, homecare living wage, homecare low wages, homecare staffing crisis Tagged With: AARP, Aging In Place, COVID-19 exposure, geriatric care manager private duty home care, home care aide crisis, home care aide low salary, Homecare industry disorganization, homecareaides live in poverty, New York Times, not enough private caregivers, private duty home care, solution homecare aide loss, Staffing crisis

Why are Care Providers for Clients So Hard to Find ?

September 8, 2021

Home care aides all over the US are AWOL. Care Management, home care agencies, nursing homes are severely understaffed and cannot find enough caregivers to staff cases for shifts. Why?

Disorganization of Home Care Industry

Staffing shortages have frustrated the home care and care management industry for

decades, according to Paula Hahn author of the New old Aging blog for the New York Times. . There is no national recruiting or training program for this huge industry.The home care industry has always been a hodgepodge of for-profit companies and chains, nonprofit programs and publicly funded care through Medicaid, all operating under a confusing welter of state and federal regulations, plus an uncharted “gray market” of clients who avoid agencies and hire privately. But Covid-19 has intensified the problem.

“I’ve never heard such frustration over finding workers, and I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” said Vicki Hoak, executive director of the Home Care Association of America, whose 4,000-member agencies collectively employ about 500,000 people. 

Bureau of Labor Predicted this in 2020 -Pre-COVID

This was foreseen and was by the Bureau of Labor statistics. They predicted in 2020 that the long-term care sector would need to fill an additional 6.2 million direct care job openings between 2019 and 2029 as workers leave the field for a new occupation or leave the labor force altogether due to retirement, disability, or some other reasons. Combining these departures and new jobs, they projected a 7.4 million total direct care job openings in the decade ahead 

Mammoth Growth in # of Seniors Who Want to Age

in Place

The bigger problem is the growing need for home care. Each day 10,000 seniors turn 65

in the US and the number of older adults will more than double over the next several decades to top 88 million people and represent over 20 percent of the population by 2050. . The majority want to age in their home and need home care, where today there are not enough home care workers to fill those jobs.

More $ Spent on Home Care than Nursing Homes

2015, was the first time nationally that more money was spent on home care than nursing home care. We’ve seen a culture and financing shift toward home and community-based care.”
Covid -19 now the Delta variant has wreaked more chaos into the home care market. Home care workers are mainly women and had to stay home with their children when school closed down. They were also hot hard by COVID themselves, working with seniors before a vaccine was developed.

Solutions to the National loss of caregivers

There are many other factors  the loss of care providers and great solutions offered by Leading Age a national non profit for aging and home care.

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, ALCA COVID-19 Crisis, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Black Entrepreneur, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black Geriatric Care Manager, Black RN, Black Travel RN, care economy, Care Infastructure, Care Infrastructure, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, caregiver mental health, CAREGIVER RESOUCES, Caregivers contracting COVId, Covid-19 and GCM SERVICES, Essential Workers deaths, Expanding Medicare to Home Care, GCM COVID 19 Crisis, geriatric care management emergency proceduress, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, Home Care Covid Safety, National Caregiver Loss, National Caregiver need, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, PPE and Essential Workers, private duty homecare agency Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging parent care, aging parent crisis, black aging family, black american geriatric care managers, black american social workers, Black Entrepreneurs, Black Nurse Entrepreneurs, Black RN's, Black start-up geriatric care management, Black travel nurses, Bureau of Labor prediction shortagen, care manager, caregiver low wage salary, caregiver training, Careprovider shortage, COVID exposure of caregivers, Covid-19 and caregivers, geriatric care manager, homecare crisis, Homecare Industry, Homecare industry disorganization, Leading Age, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, problem recruiting caregivers, recruiting caregiver, Recruiting caregivers, Solution to National caregiver shortage, unionization of caregivers, US caregiver shortage, Women of color caregivers

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 

 

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Biden Infrastructure Bill Passing, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill Trouble, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black RN, Black Travel RN, Blog, care economy, caregiver, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, Caregiver living wage, Caregiver low salary, caregiver mental health, Caregivers collapsing, Families, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric social worker, Infrastructure Bill, intergenerational conflict, nurse advocate, nurse care manager Tagged With: aging life and geriatric care manager, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, Care infrastructure, infrastructure Medicare jobs

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Contact

Use the form on the
Contact page to email Cathy.

Email

Latest trending news

Connect with Cathy

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

  • Home
  • GCM Manual New 5th Edition
  • Books »
  • Services »
  • About
  • Recommendations
  • Blog »
  • Contact

Copyright © 2012–2022 CressGCMConsult & Cathy Cress - Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management | Developed by wpcustomify

Powered byHow to get udemy courses for free