Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008

1. H.R. 1669/S. 982, "Positive Aging Act of 2007". Support all provisions. The bill would improve access to mental health services for older adults by integrating mental health services into primary and community settings through demonstration projects that target urban and rural medically underserved areas. Interdisciplinary teams of mental health professionals working in collaboration wiht other providers of health care and social services would provide these evidence-based services. 2. H.R. 1424, the "Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act" - Support all provisions. The bill expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 by requiring group health plans that offer benefits for mental health and addiction to do so on the same terms as care for other diseases. 3. H.R. 2502, "Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007". Support all provisions. The bill would extend the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to geriatric training, forgiving $35,000 of educational debt incurred by medical students for each year of advanced training to obtain a certificate of added qualifications in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry. 4. S. 558, the "Mental Health Parity Act of 2007". Support provisions to prohibit private health insurance plans from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on mental health benefits unless comparable limitations or requirements are imposed on medical and surgical benefits. 5. Discussed with House and Senate staff the need to include older adults in clinical trials, following the 2007 release of a GAO report on this issue. 6. S. 1628, a bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize programs to increase the number of nurse faculty and to increase the domestic nursing and physical therapy workforce. Support all provisions. 7. S. 1854, the "Stop Senior Suicide Act". Support provisions to repeal the 50 percent Medicare outpaitent mental health coinsurance rate; improve interagency coordination; provide grants for elderly suicide early intervention and prevention strategies; and enhance the existing Suicide Prevention Resource Center. 8. Support H. R. 3411, the "Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 2007," to provide strategies to help to decrease the prevalence of young people with mental disorders who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. 9. S. 2708 and H.R. 6337, the "Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008. Support all provisions. The bill would provide for the establishment of a new geriatric and gerontology loan repayment program. 10. Reauthorization of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - discuss inclusion of provisions from S. 982 (the "Positive Aging Act of 2007") and S. 1854 (the "Stop Senior Suicide Act") with Senate staff. 11. Discussed with House and Senate staff the need for additonal health care professionals trained in geriatrics and the need for a study on the mental health care workforce that will be needed to treat older adults with mental disorders over the next three decades. 12. Support S. 2641, the "Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008". Support all provisions. The bill would increase public transparency and accountability of nursing home owners and operators, including nursing home chains, by requiring them to disclose the corporate entities that own nursing homes and their affiliated entities. 13. Support H.R. 6375, "Healthy Transitions Act". Support all provisions. The bill would establish planning and implementation grants to states to assist in the development of a coordinated service delivery system to maximize continuity of care and access to services for young adults who are transitioning to the adult mental health system. 14. Support H.R. 1424, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008". Support provision to provide mental health parity to require group health plans that offer mental health and substance abuse benefits to do so on the same terms as medical and surgical benefits. 15. S. 3335, the "Jobs, Eneergy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008". Support mental health parity provision. 16. S. 3155, a bill to reauthorize the "Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974". Urge that the bill include provisions to address the plight to young people with mental disorders intersecting with the juvenile justice system. 17. S. 3730, the "Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008". Support all provisions. This bill addresses the current and future shortage of health care personnel who are trained to care for older adults.

Client expense: $40,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE

H.R. 3582/S. 2061 -- Fair Home Health Care Act -- all sections S. 3730 -- Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008 -- all sections

Client expense: $170,000 · Firm income: Not reported

Government targets: Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SENATE