Urge Congress: Don’t Leave Older Adults Out Of Infrastructure

Congress has begun developing a $3.5 trillion infrastructure investment package -- so NOW is the moment to make sure U.S. Representatives and Senators hear our voices!

The infrastructure package must include:

$400 billion for home and community-based services to allow more older adults to get the help they need to grow older wherever they call home, including increasing pay for the staff who provide the help.
$7.5 billion to address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing for older adults with very low incomes through HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program.
$55 billion to increase Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes so they can pay wages that enable them to recruit and retain staff, especially front line workers.
$1 billion investment in the aging services workforce to implement strategies to strengthen recruitment, career, and training opportunities that our nation’s direct care workers need to care for millions of older Americans and people with disabilities.

Now is the time to act: send a message to your U.S. Representative and Senators today!

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Subject:

Please Don’t Leave Older Adults Out Of Infrastructure

Dear Official,

Aging services are an essential part of the nation’s infrastructure. There are 52 million people over age 65, a population that is expected to double by 2040. Right now, we don’t have the infrastructure for aging services that we need to care for and house older adults throughout the country. Now that Congress is negotiating an infrastructure package, it is critical that this infrastructure funding include:

•	$400 billion for home and community-based services to allow more older adults to get the help they need to grow older wherever they call home, including increasing pay for the staff who provide the help.
•	$7.5 billion to address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing for older adults with very low incomes through HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program.
•	$55 billion to increase Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes so they can pay wages that enable them to recruit and retain staff, especially front line workers.
•	$1 billion investment in the aging services workforce to implement strategies to strengthen recruitment, career, and training opportunities that our nation’s direct care workers need to care for millions of older Americans and people with disabilities.

As a constituent, I am asking you to support these key programs. And my fellow citizens agree that now is the time to focus on our nation’s older adults. In a recent poll, 86% of Americans say the government must make a bigger investment in services and care for seniors. This includes 92% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans, and 84% Independents. Please act to provide much needed funding to enhance and expand the aging services infrastructure for older adults in our country.

Regards, Your Name

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Thank you for taking action!

As a constituent who is concerned for older adults and those who serve them, I ask that you please co-sponsor the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677) and push for its inclusion in any future COVID-relief or other health care package.

Under current law, Medicare cannot reimburse home health providers for virtual care and, as a result, our home health members have been put in the untenable position of forfeiting adequate reimbursement to better protect their staff and patients. The HEAT Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677) would provide home health providers with the ability to receive reimbursement for providing telehealth visits with appropriate protections for patients and families.

Home health providers are a critical component of the aging services infrastructure and they need the flexibility provided by this legislation to ensure that they can safely serve their patients without forfeiting adequate reimbursement. Please act to protect older adults and those who serve them by co-sponsoring the HEAT Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677).