March 19, 2013

Consumer Voice to Host FREE Webinar on Consumer-Directed Home Care

Do you want to find out how consumers can direct their own care at home? The Consumer Voice is hosting a FREE national webinar to explain just that. The webinar will take place Tuesday, April 9th, 2013, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM EDT. Click here to register. This webinar will cover:

• What consumer-directed care is
• The different models of consumer-directed care
• What consumers need to direct their own care
• The experience of consumers and tips for directing your own care

 Participants will receive an agenda and presentation materials prior to the webinar. We hope you take the opportunity to register for this webinar today!

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Consumer Voice to Host Focus Groups for Consumers

The Consumer Voice is hosting two focus groups - one for nursing home residents and one for home care consumers - to get consumers' input and thoughts on issues related to their care and services.

The Home Care Consumer Focus Group (formerly called the Consumer Input Council) is ONLY open to individuals who receive long-term services and supports in their home. The Nursing Home Resident Focus Group is ONLY open to nursing home residents.

By participating in the Home Care Consumer Focus Group or the Nursing Home Resident Focus Group, participants will have a chance to tell us what they think about ideas for changes in care and services. They will also be able to tell Consumer Voice staff about experiences with their care. The feedback we receive will then be used to guide us in our policy work. Participants' names will not be shared outside the group, and nothing said will affect the services they are receiving.

The Home Care Consumer Focus Group's call will take place by telephone on a toll-free conference line on Monday, April 1st, 2013 from 2:00-3:30pm ET. Click here to register for the call.

The Nursing Home Resident Focus Group's call will take place by telephone on a toll-free conference line on Monday, April 8th, 2013 from 2:00-3:30pm ET. Click here to register for the call.

If you know someone who would be interested in joining either focus group, please pass this info along! If they have any questions, they can contact Sara Cirba at scirba@theconsumervoice.org or at 202-332-2275 x 221.

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White House Announces Appointees for the Long-Term Care Commission

On Tuesday, March 12th, the White House completed the selection process for the Long-Term Care Commission by announcing President Obama’s three appointees to this bipartisan working group. President Obama has selected Henry Claypool, Executive Vice President of the American Association of People with Disabilities and a previous leading aide at the Department of Health and Human Services, to serve on this commission, as well as Dr. Julian Harris, a physician and the Massachusetts Medicaid director, and Carol Raphael, the Vice Chair of the AARP board and former CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York.

 The Long-Term Care Commission (LTCC) was created by Congress as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act earlier this year – which repealed the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program (CLASS Act), the national voluntary long-term care insurance program authorized by the Affordable Care Act that failed to be implemented. The LTCC is tasked with presenting recommendations to Congress on the provision and financing of long-term care for the elderly and persons with disabilities in our nation within a period of six months following the appointment of membership to the body. Party leaders in Congress, as well as the White House, were designated to point three individuals with expertise in long-term care matters to the commission.

 In addition to the President’s nominees, the following individuals have been appointed to the commission by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi: Judith Stein, founder and Executive Director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy; Judy Feder, former senior health aide in the Clinton Administration and Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University; Bruce Chernof, physician and president and CEO of the SCAN Foundation; Laphonza Butler, president of the Service Employees International United (SEIU) Long Term Care Workers’ Union; Javaid Anwar, a physician and chair of Nevada’s Committee on Access to Health Care; George Vrandenburg, philanthropist and founder of USAgainstAlzheimer’s; Bruce Greenstein, Lousiana’s Secretary of Health and Hospitals; Judith Brachman, chair of the Jewish Federation of North America’s Aging and Family Caregiving Committee; Neil Pruitt, chairman and CEO of UHS-Pruitt Corp and board chair of the American Health Care Association (AHCA); Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute; Stephen Guillard, former CEO of several large-scale nursing home operators and previous chairman of Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care; Mark Warshawsky, pension expert and former official of the Treasury Department.

 The first meeting of the LTCC has yet to be held, but Consumer Voice will continue to keep our network informed of the commission’s progress in the coming months.

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Alaska State Long-Term Care Ombudsman calls for tougher laws to protect seniors from elder abuse

In an article in the March 2013 AARP Bulletin, AARP Alaska, along with the Alaska State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Diana Weber, call for the strengthening of Alaska's power of attorney laws. The State Ombudsman stresses that the state’s law should protect people who report suspected abuse, help seniors specify which powers they choose to grant and require agents to be accountable for working in the person’s best interest.

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