COVID-19 has shined a harsh light on America’s long-term care challenges. Fifty-four thousand nursing home residents and staff have perished during the pandemic, and the numbers continue to climb. Unpreparedness, understaffing, and a lack of accountability at skilled nursing facilities have aggravated this crisis — along with an ineffective response from the Trump administration. The[…]
With Independence Day close at hand, we’re reminded that good health is key to seniors remaining independent as they age. We have known for some time that good dental health, in particular, is fundamental to older Americans’ overall well-being. But a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control suggests that many seniors fall short[…]
As Congress considers another much-needed coronavirus relief bill, a group of lawmakers is attempting to inject proposals that could permanently tear our social safety net. Sixty members of the U.S. House — almost evenly split between the two parties — sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding that two austerity mechanisms be wedged into[…]
With about five months until the 2020 elections, President Trump is underwater with senior voters – a demographic that he won in 2016. Since these polling numbers came out, the President has been making gestures toward older voters – one might say to curry favor – without advocating major policy changes that would significantly improve[…]
For more than two centuries, the nation’s postal service has bonded Americans scattered across a vast continent. To most of us, the U.S. mail is an essential institution. For American seniors, it is nothing less than a lifeline. Today’s older Americans rely on the postal service for mail-order prescription medications, paying bills, casting ballots in[…]
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare President and CEO Max Richtman has assumed the chairmanship of the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO) as of June 3, 2020. The LCAO is a coalition of 69 national nonprofit organizations dedicated to the well-being of older Americans – and committed to representing their interests in[…]
On first blush, President Donald Trump’s $35 insulin discount policy may seem like a serious attack on high prescription drug prices. No doubt, it could help some patients. But the new policy is a limited gesture that is no substitute for comprehensive drug pricing reform. The timing suggests Trump’s insulin plan may be a political[…]
Older Americans helped propel President Trump to victory in 2016, but recent polling indicates that he is now underwater with senior voters. The president’s approach to the COVID crisis seems to be driving this change. In a recent Morning Consult poll, seniors’ approval of the President’s handling of the pandemic dropped 20 points since March,[…]
On May 15, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. The House-passed bill builds on previously enacted coronavirus relief legislation by providing older Americans and people with disabilities with additional financial and medical assistance that will help them survive the COVID-19 pandemic. While the[…]
In the torrent of news coverage about COVID-19, the plight of seniors does not always receive the priority it deserves. Older people are suffering disproportionately – not only because they are more vulnerable to the virus – but because of the federal government’s apparent inability to provide the testing and data necessary to slow the[…]