In this Issue…

1. House Hearing examines assistance programs for Low-Income Medicare enrollees
2. 29 Senators sign letter supporting increased OAA funding
3. President Bush intends to nominate new CMS Administrator
4. Support Our Seniors Campaign buttons available
5. Long-Term Care Links

1. House Hearing examines assistance programs for Low-Income Medicare enrollees

On May 3, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on financial assistance programs for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Both the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) and Medicare Savings Programs (MSP) were discussed. MSPs are a limited Medicaid program that pay Medicare premiums and/or cost-sharing for eligible beneficiaries.

Witnesses on the first panel included Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) who discussed his bill, H.R. 1536. Rep. Doggett’s bill would make improvements to the LIS program to ensure that the remaining low-income Medicare beneficiaries without drug coverage enroll.

The second panel included Beatrice Disman, chair of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Medicare Planning and Implementation Task Force and Larry Kocot, senior advisor to the Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Disman testified that:
     • SSA is currently reviewing the paragraph at the end of the LIS application where applicants must sign. An applicant must sign under penalty of perjury and with the threat of imprisonment that everything in the application is correct. In The Next Steps: Strategies to Improve the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy report released in January, NCOA and the Access to Benefits Coalition (ABC) recommended that this paragraph be rewritten to be less threatening.
     • Twenty-two percent of new LIS applications are received via the Internet, surpassing the number of online applications SSA receives for retirement benefits. The LIS online application received one of the highest scores ever received by a private or public entity by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
     • Of the 632,000 people who lost their LIS deemed status at the end of 2006, more than 247,000 have reapplied with SSA and 168,000 have been found eligible. SSA also is going to personally call an additional 188,000 people who are no longer receiving LIS and who potentially have incomes below the federal poverty level.
     • From October 2006 through mid-April 2007, SSA has found approximately 350,000 new people eligible for LIS assistance.
     • SSA is launching a new LIS outreach initiative to correspond with Mother’s and Father’s Day with the theme “Show someone you love how much you care.” The goal is for the families, caregivers, and friends of low-income seniors to see if their loved one may qualify for the Extra Help.

The third panel included:
     • J. Ruth Kennedy, deputy Medicaid director, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, who highlighted Louisiana’s efforts to increase the number of people enrolled in MSP programs. Louisiana’s strategy included simplification of the application form, focusing on retaining people in the program once they are enrolled, and outreach and face-to face-interaction.
     • Dr. N. Joyce Payne, member of AARP’s Board of Directors, highlighted the asset test as the most serious flaw in the LIS program. Payne believes SSA should screen LIS applicants for MSP eligibility, as the two programs serve a similar population, and many of the impediments to LIS enrollment also exist in the MSP program.
     • Patricia Nemore of the Center for Medicare Advocacy pointed out that 80 percent of the people receiving assistance under the LIS program in June 2006 did so because they were deemed eligible by virtue of their enrollment in Medicaid, MSP, or SSI, and did not have to take any action to get it. Nemore underscored that the key to success in increasing the number of beneficiaries in means-tested programs is in using deemed eligibility, instead of making people complete an application. She also outlined ways the LIS and MSP programs could be aligned and offered some specific recommendations for improving the programs.

The written testimony for all witnesses can be found here. NCOA will be submitting a statement to the Ways and Means Committee for the record.

2. 29 Senators sign letter supporting increased OAA funding

NCOA is developing strategies with members of Congress who support our campaign to increase Older Americans Act (OAA) appropriations by 10 percent in the coming fiscal year. Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) organized a “Dear Colleague” letter in support of the increase to be sent to the chair and ranking minority member of the subcommittee that handles OAA appropriations. They succeeded in getting 27 additional senators to sign.

Thanks to everyone who called their senators and urged them to sign this important letter! Here is the full list of senators who signed: Lincoln (D-AR), Smith (R-OR), Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Brown (D-OH), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Clinton (D-NY), Collins (R-ME), Dodd (D-CT), Feingold (D-WI), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Obama (D-IL), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Roberts (R-KS), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Sanders (I-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Stabenow (D-MI), Voinovich (R-OH), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Wyden (D-OR).

3. President Bush intends to nominate new CMS Administrator

Bush intends to nominate Kerry Weems to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is the agency that runs both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Mr. Weems has been deputy chief of staff to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. He also has served as an acting assistant secretary overseeing budget and technology issues at HHS.

Mr. Weems would succeed Dr. Mark McClellan, who left the agency in October. Leslie Norwalk, has been serving as Acting Administrator since Dr. McClellan left the post. Mr. Weems’ appointment has to be confirmed by the Senate.

4. Support Our Seniors Campaign buttons available

To support the campaign to increase Older Americans Act funding by 10%, NCOA has buttons with the slogan “Support Our Seniors: Increase Funding for Food, Jobs & Care”. If you would like to have some buttons to support the campaign in your area, please contact Bob Tiller at Robert.tiller@ncoa.org or (202) 479-6658. Please let Bob know how many buttons you need and where to ship them.

5. Long-Term Care Links

• The Urban Institute has released a new study titled “Meeting the Long-Term Care Needs of the Baby Boomers: How Changing Families Will Affect Paid Helpers and Institutions” that projects to 2040 the number of people ages 65 and older with disabilities and their use of long-term care services. The simulations show that even under the most optimistic scenario long-term care burdens on families and institutions will increase substantially.
  
• A new AARP Public Policy Institute Report titled “Protections in Medicaid Estate Recovery: Findings, Promising Practices, and Model Notices” reviews promising practices and procedures that can be replicated throughout the country for protecting individuals and families affected by federally required state efforts to recoup long-term care and other related Medicaid costs from the estates of deceased recipients.
                                                                          ****
  Save the Date! NCOA’s annual Hill Day will be Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. Each year, NCOA invites activists to Washington, DC for a series of briefings on legislative issues affecting seniors and the chance to visit the offices of their elected officials. You are encouraged to join us! Additional information will be available soon in future editions of the Public Policy Update and on NCOA’s Web site.
  

The NCOA Public Policy Update is published by the National Council on Aging for its members. Copyright 2007. NCOA, 1901 L St., NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20036, www.ncoa.org.