The Leadership Council of Aging Organizations(LCAO), of which NASUA is a member, has sent recommendations to Congress on key elements of upcoming health reform initiatives. While we are encouraged that the principles of Project 2020 are included under Chronic Care Supports & Services, because of the unfunded mandates throughout, NASUA abstained from supporting the recommendations as a whole. The recommendations focus on the following five areas:
Under-65 Population
Recommendations include offering a nationwide plan, setting premiums by community, keeping health care affordable, and elimination of the two year waiting period for SSI and Medicare
Medicare
Recommendations include addressing gaps in coverage, maintain choice of providers, expand access, improve prescription drug coverage, align payments to Medicare Advantage, and provide enhanced coverage for low-income beneficiaries
Medicaid
Recommendations include expanding eligibility to a simpler, more uniform system; incentivize states to cover more people; provide permanent additional federal funding; create an automatic trigger for FMAP increases; and reverse punitive DRA asset transfer provisions of the DRA
Chronic Care Supports & Services
Recommendations include expanding access to home based services; expand access and eligibility to Medicaid and non-Medicaid Home and Community based services to reach parity with institutional care, including Project 2020 principles; and improve the quality of life for nursing home residents
Systemic Reform
Recommendations include instituting care coordination, supporting a well trained workforce, improving caregiver support programs and employing Health information technology
The actual document can be viewed on the LCAO page of the NASUA website:
http://www.nasua.org/issues/federal_policy/LCAO_materials.html
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