Cathy Cress

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Build Back Better Bill Dead? What is Lost?

January 19, 2022

Sen Manchin Probably Killed the BBB Bill-

As the Voting Rights Bill is probably going to be killed by Senator Sinema & Manchin, Machin is also responsible for the probable death of the Build Back Better Bill.

IN December Senator Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia and the crucial holdout vote on Build Back Better Bill announced, “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation… I’ve tried everything humanly possible; I can’t get there.” Whether this is a death knell for the president’s legislative agenda or just a serious setback is still to be litigated.

President Biden had been in negotiations with Manchin, who has withheld his support for the bill, making him a key vote in the evenly divided chamber. Biden said Manchin has reiterated his support for the overall cost of the bill. He said negotiations are continuing but more time is needed. 

Though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to bring the Build Back Better bill up for this month, it is all but doomed. Even so, Democrats hope to revive it in some form that could win support from every member of their Senate caucus.

What Do Seniors Lose

A senior suffering from deafness without hearing aide

 

Hearing Aids for Seniors Gone

Medicare currently does not cover hearing, dental, or vision as it once did but the Build Back Better plan addresses costs for hearing. Changes would not begin until 2023, but it would allow for coverage of hearing aids — an expense that can range drastically, from       $1,000 to a few thousand dollars.

Negotiating Drug Prices Gone

Prescription Drug Prices Not Negotiated By US

The Build Back Better Bill would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for medications available at a pharmacy or doctor’s office. The current process for determining drug prices varies for the type of medication and how long they have been on the market. This bill offers a few changes, such as imposing a penalty fee for drug companies that raise their prices faster than inflation and laying out the framework for price negotiations.

Lost -Changes in Home- and Community-Based Care.

The spending bill earmarked $150 billion for in-home and community services through Medicaid over the next decade.  The BBB bill contains additional funding for a Medicaid program that provides home- and community-based care services for eligible elderly Americans and people with disabilities. According to Kaiser Family Foundation estimates, there are more than 800,000 people on Medicaid waiting lists for these services across the country. 

Americans don’t always consider home and community-based care or long-term care when making their retirement plans, but they should. Already, a 65-year-old couple retiring could expect to pay $300,000 in retirement for healthcare alone, but that doesn’t include the cost of a homecare aide or nursing home which could amount to thousands of more dollars every month.

If Aging is Your Field Call Your Representative Now

To 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 life care manager, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill Trouble, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Biden's new Affordable Drug Bill, Biden’ social and environmental infrastructure package, Big Pharma, Black Entrepreneur, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black entrepreneurs, Black Geriatric Care Manager, Black RN, Black Travel Nurses, Blog, Build Back Better Bill, Care Infastructure, Care Infrastructure cut out, Care Infrastructure Hearing, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver Infrastructure bill, case manager, Community and Home Care, Geriatric Care Management Business, geriatric care manager start up, hearing aides seniors, Hearing Coverage Medicare, Joe Manchin, Medicaid, Medicaid caregiver, Medicare, Medicare dental vision hearing coverage, Medicare Expansion, Medicare Hearing Coverage, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, pharmaceutical industry Tagged With: aging family, aging life and geraitric care manager, aging life care manager, aging parent care, Biden Build Back Better Bill, Biden Build Back Better Bill Dying, care manager, case manager, geriatric care manager, Hearing Coverage Lost, Hearing Coverage Medicare, Home and Community Based Care, Home and Community Based Care Lost, Mansion Blocking Build Back Better, Negotiating Drug Prices, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Sinema Blocking Build Back Better, soaring drug prices, Unaffordable drug prices

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

December 15, 2021

9

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:

  1. ACA Marketplace Subsidies
  2. Lowering Prescription Drug Prices and Spending
  3. Medicaid Coverage Gap
  4. Medicaid Home and Community Based Services and the Direct Care Workforce

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

Filed Under: Biden Infrastructure Bill Passing, Biden's Care Infrastructure Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Bill Trouble, Biden's new Affordable Drug Bill, Bild Back Better Bill, 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 Infastructure, Care Infrastructure cut out, Care Infrastructure Dental, Care Infrastructure Hearing, Care infrastucture Vision, caregiver infrastructure, Caregiver low salary, caregiver mental health, Medicaid caregiver, Medicare, Medicare Dental Coverage, Medicare dental vision hearing coverage, Medicare Expansion, Medicare Hearing Coverage, Medicare Vision Coverage Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging parent care, aging parent crisis, Biden Build Back Better Bill, Biden Build Back Better Bill Dying, Biden's Home Care Plan, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, Build Back Better Bill, care manager, case manager, Dental Coverage Medicare, geriatric care manager, Mansion Blocking Build Back Better, Medicare expansion 2021, Medicare Hearing Benefit, Medicare Part D Redesign, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Sinema Blocking Build Back Better

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

Biden Care Infastructure Bill Includes M edicare Dental, Vision & Hearing

July 18, 2021

Who Knows Care Infrastructure Is Important?

I believe my readers, being geriatric care manager nurses, social workers, know why the caregiver infrastructure is important. But the republican Senate and House do not>

Care Fuels’ Our Economy

Despite overwhelming evidence that care fuels our economy and that American families desperately need this help, care has somehow been tagged as “social” or “human” infrastructure and been omitted from the bipartisan infrastructure agreement.

 

 

 

Medicare To Cover Dental, Hearing Vision in Care Economy

But a new bill Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said late Tuesday the Budget Committee’s $3.5 trillion plan would include a historic expansion of Medicare to cover hearing, dental and vision care for the first time.

Although there’s no certainty that everything in the budget blueprint will make it through the full congressional process , Medicare advocates are hopeful that coverage of the extra benefits will come to fruition.

They’d also like to make permanent expanded marketplace subsidies and find a way to get Medicaid to low-income people in a handful of GOP-led states that still refuse to expand the program.

Some of this could be paid for by including a provision allowing the federal government to directly negotiate lower prices for drugs in the Medicare program — a provision that would actually save the government $345 billion, according to the CBO. 

Is That Infrastructure Says the Republicans?

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union”

“One of the areas that I am working on right now is the need to expand Medicare in order to provide dental care and hearing aids and eyeglasses for millions and millions of seniors who need these services but can’t afford it.”

“Is that infrastructure? I think it is,” he added.

“Look, Jake, the truth is, in so many ways, we are behind many other countries throughout the world in providing for working families and the elderly and the children. And I think now is the time to begin addressing our physical infrastructure and our human infrastructure. I want to see that happen as soon as possible.”

Call Write Go To Meet Your Congressman

Care may wait a long time 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 senior’s right to to not have their teeth rot, not hear their grandkids or be unable to read a book- do it now

 

Filed Under: Aging, Aging Life Care, aging life care manager, Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanfers, Biden's Caregiver Bill, Biden's Caregiver Infastucure Paln, Black Entrepreneur RB, Black Entrepreneur RN, Black RN, Black Travel RN, Blog, Families, Geriatric Care Management Business, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric social worker, Medicare, Medicare dental vision hearing coverage, Medicare Expansion, nurse advocate, nurse care manager Tagged With: aging family, aging life care manager, aging parent crisis, Biden's Infastructure Bill, Biden's infrastructure- Caregiver Bill, black aging family, black american geriatric care managers, Black Entrepreneurs, Black Nurse Entrepreneurs, Black RN's, Black travel nurses, Care infrastructure, care manager, case manager, dental, Dental Coverage Medicare, geriatric care manager, hearing, Hearing Coverage Medicare, Medicare, Medicare expansion 2021, Medicare vision, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Vision Coverage Medicare

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