Legislation introduced Thursday by Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) would establish a national advisory commission on long-term care services for older adults and others who need care and long-term support.
The legislation creating it does not appear to include skilled nursing or senior living providers, although the press release announcing the legislation, specifies that commission members would include representatives from the palliative and hospice care sectors.
Under the Supporting Our Seniors Act, the commission would assess and provide regular reports to Congress on service delivery, financing, workforce adequacy and other issues to increase older adults’ access to affordable long-term care services. The commission would include government and private-sector stakeholders along with family caregivers, home healthcare workforce representatives and long-term care service recipients.
“Establishing a national advisory commission will help us better prepare for future challenges including coordinating services, training a workforce to meet seniors’ and individuals’ with disabilities needs and providing information and options to empower them and their caregivers with the resources available,” Boozman said in a press release.
The bill follows a 2013 recommendation by the Commission on Long-Term Care to create a national advisory committee to continue and expand on their work, according to Rosen’s office.
A spokesman for Argentum told the McKnight’s Business Daily that the association “would enthusiastically support the advisory commission if its jurisdiction would focus on two senior living imperatives: workforce and financing,” primary priorities for the association. “We would welcome Congress’s additional attention on these important topics as well as others targeting the needs of aging Americans,” the spokesman said.
