Aging services organization LeadingAge is urging the Senate to turn its attention to the care economy now that it has passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package.
“For millions of older adults who are skipping meals to make the rent, or who need help with essentials like getting in and out of bed, bathing, or require affordable 24/7 care — every dollar makes a difference,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said. “The upcoming reconciliation package must specifically provide for investments to address the nation’s most pressing aging service needs.”
The Senate Tuesday morning overwhelmingly approved the infrastructure bill, which includes investments in roads, bridges and broadband access. The Senate passed the measure, 69 to 30, with broad bipartisan support, including a yes vote from Republican Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY).
Passage of the infrastructure bill now allows the Senate to focus on President Joseph Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget bill, which includes expanded Medicare benefits and investments in housing and home care.
In a letter to Congress on Monday, LeadingAge laid out a wish list of pressing aging service needs, including $400 billion for home-and-community-based services, $7.5 billion for senior affordable housing, $55 billion in increased Medicaid reimbursement to nursing homes and $1 billion to strengthen recruitment and training for direct care workers.
Democrats have already started rallying around the massive 10-year package, but some are already conceding it could be a heavy lift to passage in an evenly divided Senate and a House of Representatives that narrowly favors Democrats.
“No one’s going to get everything they want,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told the Associated Press. “But we Democrats are all rowing in the same direction.”
