AHCA/NCAL Throws Support Behind Sen. Boxer's Caring for an Aging America Act

The association praised Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) for introducing the act, which seeks to improve the recruitment and retention of direct care workers in long-term care settings with specialty training in geriatrics and gerontology.

Seventy million Americans will be over the age of 65 by the year 2030, according to projections from the federal government. That's about double the number of senior citizens in 2000.

Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of the AHCA/NCAL, said the bill helps address the workforce issues that threaten the long-term care profession's ability to continue providing the quality of care and services that patients need. He also promised that AHCA/NCAL would work to garner bipartisan support for the bill.

Key provisions of the Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008 include:

• Geriatric and Gerontology Loan Repayment Program. This establishes a new loan repayment program as part of the Health Professions and Public Health Workforce programs under Title VII of the Public Health Service Act. This program would be available for physicians, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and social workers who have completed specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology and agree to practice full-time for at least two years in long-term care settings.
• Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program Expansion. This expands the nursing education loan repayment program as part of the Nursing Workforce Development Programs under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. The Secretary of Health and Human Services must ensure that registered nurses who have completed specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology and choose to practice in either home- and community-based or facility-based long-term care settings receive funding under this program.
• Career Ladder Program Expansion. This expands the Career Ladders Grants Program under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act for nurses and direct care workers by offering specialty training in the provision of long-term care.
• Health and Long-Term Care Workforce Advisory Panel. This establishes a new advisory panel, The Health and Long-Term Care Workforce Advisory for an Aging America, to guide the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor, and Congress on workforce issues related to health and long-term care for the aging population. The panel would be comprised of officials from the departments of Health and Human Services and Labor, academic institutions, consumer groups, aging advocates, health professional and paraprofessional associations, organized labor, nationally recognized researchers in the areas of long-term care workforce and geriatric care, health care and long-term care associations, and private foundations.