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My most popular reads as an “age beat” journalist in 2022

Published in RINewsToday on January 2, 2023

 As an ‘age beat’ journalist for over 43 years, I have freelanced more than 867 stories covering aging, health care and medical issues. These authored and coauthored pieces have appeared in national, state, trade and association publications and even statewide news blogs. In 2022, my articles appeared weekly in 52 issues of RINewsToday.com. Here are the top five articles read on this state-wide blog last year.

“Aging in Place in Your Rhode Island Community,” published in the May 2, 2022 issue of RINewsToday. 

According to this article, the aging of the nation’s population continues with seniors choosing to live out their remaining years, aging in place in their communities. The article discusses the findings of a study of adults age 50 and older conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Research and the SCAN Foundation. This study confirms that a majority of older respondents would like to age in place and are confident they can access needed health care services that will allow them to stay at home for as long as possible.  

In this article, Mary Lou Moran, Director, Pawtucket Division of Senior Services at the Leon Mathieu Senior Center, who noted, “the coordination, accessibility, and connection to services and programs is critical to the successful delivery of services and is where much work needs to be done.  

 Moran stressed the importance of senior centers located in communities throughout the state that delivered needed information and assistance to seniors on accessing the needed services to age in place. Social isolation, access to transportation, food and housing insecurity, economic stability, and connectivity to services, are obstacles to enabling a person to stay in the community in their homes, says Moran.

 Maureen Maigret, policy consultant and Chair of the Aging in Community Subcommittee of the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, also described state programs that assist seniors age in place in Rhode Island.

 Finally, the article gave a history of the National Village to Village Movement and its impact on Rhode Island.  It noted that The Village Common of Rhode Island (TVC), with programs in Providence, Barrington, Edgewood/Cranston, and Westerly, provides supports to keep seniors at home through the efforts of almost 200 trained and vetted volunteers.

TVC supports include transportation, running errands, home visits and telephone assurance, minor home repairs and light yard work, assistance with technology, and a virtual caregiver support program. A robust weekly calendar offers virtual events, and a monthly newsletter keeps members and guests informed.

 To read this article, go to https://rinewstoday.com/aging-in-place-in-your-rhode-island-community-herb-weiss/

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“Calls for Rhode Island to Become more “Age Friendly,” published in the Jan. 24, 2002  2022 issue of RINewsToday. 

This article gave a background of a United Nation’s initiative to create “age friendly” communities.  Over two years ago, a proposal was endorsed by the 73rd World Health Assembly. It was presented to the U.N. General Assembly Dec. 14, 2020, (Resolution 75/131), leading to the proclamation of a U.N. Decade of Healthy Aging (2021-2030).

The four-page Resolution expressed concern that, despite the predictability of population aging and its accelerating pace, the world is not sufficiently prepared to respond to the rights and needs of older people. It acknowledges that the aging of the population impacts our health systems but also many other aspects of society, including labor and financial markets and the demand for goods and services, such as education, housing, long-term care, social protection and information. It thus requires a total whole-of-society approach to make “age friendly” changes.

Maureen Maigret, policy consultant and chair of the Aging in Community Subcommittee of Rhode Island’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, noted that many Rhode Island communities are involved to 1 degree or another in what we consider age-friendly activities. “The initiative is usually led by the local senior center and in some instances volunteer programs such as RSVP and AARP and The Village Common of RI,” she says.

 According to Maigret, over the last five years the state’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council Aging (LTCCC) in Community Subcommittee has adopted and continues to work to support WHO’s decadelong initiative, adding the domains of Food & Nutrition and Economic Security and Supports to Remain at Home.

Newport was the first community to join the AARP age-friendly network; Cranston, Providence and Westerly following. The state’s Office of Healthy Aging has adopted its State Plan on Aging, calling for Rhode Island to become an age-friendly state, says Maigret.

 Maigret called on Rhode Island’s cities and towns review their community’s Comprehensive Plans to see how age-friendliness is addressed. “This is what Newport did. 

To read this article, go to https://rinewstoday.com/calls-for-rhode-island-to-become-more-age-friendly-herb-weiss/

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“Bill would (Re)create a RI Department of Healthy Aging,” published in the March 21, 2022 issue of RINewsToday. 

This article described a legislative proposal on Smith Hill to transform the state’s Office of Healthy Aging (OHA) into a department making it far more visible and effective as an advocate for the state’s growing senior population.  H. 7616, introduced by Rep. Lauren H. Carson (D-District 75, Newport), would expand the office in the Department of Human Services (DHS) into a full-fledged state department, expand its director’s authority, and appoint local senior centers as hubs for service delivery, with authority to bill Medicaid for transportation services.

The RI Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) was created by law in 1977 and remained a department until 2011, when the legislature changed it to a division within the Department of Human Services (DHS). In 2019, the department was re-named the Office of Healthy Aging (OHA), shifting narratives and perceptions associated with growing older. At press time, the Office of Healthy Aging remains a division under the Department of Human Services. 

  “Restoring the OHA to a department status will strengthen its position at the budget table and elevate the importance of programs supporting older residents of our state. We hope that will make a difference,” says Bernard J. Beaudreau, Executive Director of the Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island.

 .“The legislation proposed by Rep. Carson elevates the conversation about the importance of age-friendly policies that enable Rhode Islanders to choose how we live as we age,” said AARP Rhode Island State Director Catherine Taylor. “AARP Rhode Island looks forward to being part of this conversation and continuing to advocate fiercely at both the state and local levels for enhanced home and community-based supportive services, accessible and affordable housing and transportation options, and full inclusion of people of all ages and abilities in community life,” she said. 

According to Maureen Maigret, policy consultant and chair of the Aging in Community Sub-committee of Rhode Island’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, H 7616 is a very significant bill that will help to stimulate a long due discussion as to how the state should fund senior programs and services in light of the state’s growing age 65 and older population. This age group is projected to represent at least one in five of  the state’s residents by 2040.

 To read this article, go to 
https://rinewstoday.com/bill-would-recreate-a-ri-department-of-healthy-aging-herb-weiss/

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 “RI Candidates for Governor Spotlight Senior Issues at Forum,” published in the August 8, 2022 issue of RINewsToday. 

This article reported on a 143-minute Rhode Island Gubernatorial form where five Democratic and one Republican gave two minute responses to seven questions previously given to them by the Senior Agenda Coalitionof Rhode Island (SACRI).   These questions were intended to how these candidates if elected Governor would fix Rhode Island’s fragmented long-term care continuum and provider payment systems.

According to Bernard J. Beaudreau, Executive Director of the Providence-based SACRI about 300 seniors and aging advocates came to personally see the Gubernatorial candidates outline their position on aging issues. Multiple platforms on Facebook and YouTube were promoted by a variety of senior advocacy groups that resulted in the over 300 virtual audience. Some held “watch parties” at one or more of the 12 senior centers, with approximately 135 people participating from throughout the state.

 Maureen Maigret, chair of the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council’s Aging in Community Subcommittee and SACRI Board Member reported that all candidates supported: “making the Office of Healthy Aging a full cabinet/department with review of sufficiency of resources; expansion of Medicare Savings Program which I have been advocating for at least 5 years and adding a state COLA to SSI payments; requiring better data on minority older adult inclusion; addressing community living, housing and transportation needs of older persons and developing and implementing a comprehensive, interdepartmental strategic Plan on Aging.

 To read this article, go to 
https://rinewstoday.com/ri-candidates-for-governor-spotlight-senior-issues-at-forum-herb-weiss/

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“Larson Pushes to Get Social Security Reform Proposal for House Vote, published in the  June 13, issue of RINewsToday. 

This article reported that the House Ways and Means Committee was preparing for a full mark-up on H.R. 5723, Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust, authored by Committee Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT) this summer.  

 Larson says that over 200 House Democrats [no Republican has yet to support the proposal], are cosponsoring H.R. 5723. Forty-two national organizations (aging, union, veterans, disability, and consumer health organizations) are calling for passage of H.R. 5723, including the Leadership Council on Aging Organizations and the Strengthen Social Security Coalition representing hundreds of national and state aging organizations.

 According to a legislative fact sheet, H.R. 5723 both expands the program’s benefits and financially strengthens its. Here are a few provisions:

 Specifically, it would give a benefit bump for current and new Social Security beneficiaries by providing an increase for all beneficiaries (receiving retirement, disability, or dependent benefits).

The proposal would also protect Social Security beneficiaries against inflation by adopting a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), to better reflect the costs incurred by seniors who spend a greater portion of their income on health care and other necessities.

This legislative proposal protects low-income workers by providing a new minimum benefit set at 25% above the poverty line and would be tied to wage levels to ensure that minimum benefits does not fall behind.

 It is expected that Larson will reintroduce this legislative proposal next Congress.  To read this article, go to https://herbweiss.blog/2022/06/13/larson-pushes-to-get-social-security-reform-proposal-for-house-vote/

Ramping up COVID-19 Vaccine Plans

Published in RINewsToday.com on January 17, 2021

As state health officials say they are clamoring for more doses of COVID-19 vaccine, just days ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt there is no “reserve stockpile” of COVID-19 vaccine doses left to release to states, and all vaccine has now been released to fulfill orders by the states. Azar’s comments come after his announcement on January 12th that the states no longer need to hold back a second shot because there is confidence that Pfizer and Moderna, manufacturers of the vaccine, could keep up with the demand.

In the January 12th announcement, Azar noted several steps the states should take immediately, and the federal government was taking:

Expand groups getting vaccinated to include all those over the age of 65 – Vaccinate those 16-64 with co-morbidities – Expand channels to include those more familiar with people to reach them where they are, such as pharmacies – release all supply to order by states.

Azar encouraged states that are holding back “second shots” to not do so, saying, “Every vaccine dose that is sitting in a warehouse means another life lost…”

In response to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of Washington, DC-based Leading Age and acting President and CEO, of the Visiting Nurse Associations of American, had some thoughts. “With COVID-19 death tolls topping 4,000 a day, it’s chilling to hear that vaccine stockpiles may have been misrepresented, and that older Americans who have been dying in record numbers might suffer as a result,” she said in a Jan. 15 statement.

Making it a Priority of Giving COVID-19 Vaccines to Seniors

“We hope these reports are not true. For weeks, state policy makers, distribution partners and aging services providers have been basing their vaccine allocations and strategies on vaccine stockpile estimates,” Sloan noted.    

“Because more than 265,000 people 65 or over have died of COVID, we have been pleased that many states have made the right decision to prioritize older Americans and their caregivers for immunizations, and that the process is underway in long-term care.  We hope this news is not a setback for those people, as well as others waiting for vaccinations in home health, hospice, PACE programs, adult day or other settings,” says Sloan.  

Rhode Island’s plan not changing

However, Rhode Island has chosen not to prioritize the distribution of it COVID-19 vaccine to older Rhode Islanders. The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) expects residents age 75 and older who reside in the community to be vaccinated in February or possibility March. Specifics as to vaccinating residents ages 50 to 74 have not been announced. While other states are beginning mass vaccination sites at stadiums, no such plans exist in Rhode Island.

AARP Advocates for those over 50

“Since the start of the pandemic, over 95 percent of the deaths from COVID-19 have been among people 50 and older,” AARP Rhode Island State Director Kathleen Connell and State President Phil Zarlengo said in a Jan. 8 letter to Gov. Gina Raimondo, urging the state’s top official to “ensure that Rhode Islanders age 50 and older are prioritized to receive a vaccine.”  (see Weiss Commentary printed here on January 11). 

AARP is fighting for older Americans to be prioritized in getting COVID-19 vaccines because the science has shown that older people are at higher risk of death.  On Jan. 11, the Washington, DC-based AARP sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar calling for his agency to take immediate action to address the issues that have slowed down vaccinations across the country.

RIDOH’s plans

On Jan. 15, in a Vaccine Update, Nicole-Alexander Scott, MD, MPH, Director, Rhode Island Department of Health, stated: “There was a lot of news this week about the federal government urging states to vaccinate people who are 65 years of age and older. We want to get vaccine to people older than 65, too. The limiting factor is not federal rules, or our approach in Rhode Island. The limiting factor is the amount of vaccine we are getting. We are getting 14,000 first doses of vaccine a week. There are close to 190,000 people in Rhode Island who are 65 years of age and older. It would not be honest or fair of us to say that all Rhode Islanders older than 65 can get vaccinated tomorrow, because we just don’t have the vaccine.” 

It is unclear if RI is holding “second shot” vaccine doses in storage. There is about a week’s lag from receiving the doses and distributing them. On January 15th, the state said they had administered a total (first and second shots) of 51,220 shots. On January 12th, the most recent report provided, the state says it has received 72,175 doses from the federal government.

Scott added:” We’ve seen the confusion and frustration that has resulted in states that have opened eligibility to groups that they did not have enough vaccine for. In Rhode Island, we are vaccinating older adults incrementally and thoughtfully. That means that when we tell you you can get vaccinated, you know that there is a real, physical vaccine waiting for you – not just that you fall into a broad category that is eligible to get a vaccine when we eventually have one. Please know that if we could, we would make sure that everyone got vaccinated immediately. But we’re just not getting enough vaccine right now, so we’re doing the best we can with what we have.”

Rhode Island’s report

After listening to the state’s reports on plans for getting out the vaccine to the group the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending, those over 65, and those under 65 with underlying medical conditions, there seems to be an overall lack of urgency in ramping up for this new directive, said Nancy Thomas, Publisher of the RINewsToday.com, who was on the update webinar this week, with other reporters. “There are no plans – or none they are willing to announce – for how people will register, or sign up, for when the 65 and over category is ready to go. Questions about how people will identify themselves at the site also were yet to be determined. When asked about mass vaccination sites, officials said they may consider schools, but had no plans for using McCoy Stadium or other large sites. We’ve seen states all around us opening up stadiums – many of whom are still vaccinating medical workers – but ramping up to do as many as they can until supplies are exhausted for that day. Massachusetts even has swag – pins, wristbands, and banners – to build up the sense of excitement, which also builds compliance. We have asked RIDOH about public education campaigns and they say they have a campaign coming.  

With such a large percentage of seniors in Rhode Island, are we ready to ramp up? Some states are vaccinating 24/7, with appointments at 2am and such. I guess a sense of frustration weighs on me and on others who do not see big plans, forward looking plans in the near future. Meetings with the public focus more on reporting of what has been done and where we’ve been, rather than where we’re going,” Thomas said.

Biden Releases COVID-19 Vaccination Plan

President-elect Joe Biden, speaking a day before he unveiled his COVID-19 Vaccine Plan on Jan. 15 in Wilmington, Del, unveiled a $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” to combat COVID-19 and to shore up a wobbly economy. The emergency vaccination and relief package combine funding to reduce the economic impact of the pandemic (including direct stimulus payments of $1,400 per person, extending unemployment compensation, raising the minimum wage, continuing eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to increasing the Child Tax Credit) with strategies to fight to combat the virus itself.

About $400 billion of Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” is directed to controlling the virus by setting up mass vaccination centers, funding more sophisticated scientific analysis of new strains and creating teams of local health workers to trace the contacts of infected people.

President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan 15 press conference, lasting a little more than 19 minutes, warned that “We remain in a very dark winter. He noted that COVID-19 infection rates are creeping up 34 percent, COVID-19 related hospitalizations are increasing, and 3,000 to 4,000 people are dying every day of COVID-19.  “Things will get worse before they get better,” he said.

When releasing his five step COID-19 Vaccination Plan, Biden stated, “This is the time to set big goals and to pursue them with courage and conviction because the health of the nation is at stake.”  His strategy of getting 100 million Americans vaccinated during his first 100 days in office relies on the following steps: encourage states to vaccine more people age 65 and over including front line workers; creating thousands of community vaccination centers at gyms, sports stadiums and community centers; activating local pharmacies to give vaccines; ramping up supplies of vaccines by triggering the Defense Production Act and distributing vaccines quickly; and regularly updating state and local officials as to how much vaccine they are getting and when to expect the delivery.  Biden promised to give regular updates pertaining to the meeting of his goals, “both the good news and the bad.”

Mask Mandate – Wear that mask

During his first 100 days, Biden will be issuing an executive order to require masks for federal workers, on federal property, and on interstate travel, like trains and planes.  He is also urging governors to require masks in cities and states.

“I know masks have become a partisan issue,” says Biden, stressing “it’s a patriotic act.  Experts say that wearing a mask from now until April will save more than 50,000 lives, he noted.

Biden called on Congress to make his COVID-19 Vaccination Plan happen. “I’m optimistic. I’m convinced the American people are ready to spare no effort and no expense to get this done,” he said, stressing it “will take many months to get where we need to be.”