Tag Archives for Senior Agenda Coalition of RI

Report says nation not prepared to tackle senior housing crisis

Published in RINewsToday on March 11, 2024

With the graying of America, the nation is unprepared to provide needed housing and care for millions of seniors, warns a recently released 40-page report by the Cambridge-based Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.  The US population age 65 and over has skyrocketed 34% in the last decade, from 43 million in 2012 to 58 million in 2022. This growth is widespread, with urban, suburban, and rural communities across the country reporting increases in older residents, notes the report released on Nov. 30, 2023.

The report’s authors noted that over the same period, the share of households headed by older adults increased from 22 to 27% of all U.S. Households. The number of households headed by a person aged 80 and over will more than double between 2021 and 2040 to reach nearly 17 million households.  

Key takeaways of Harvard’s Housing Report

According to the report, “Housing America’s Older Adults 2023,” as the nation’s population of older adults swells, so, too, does demand for housing that is both affordable and able to accommodate older adults’ changing [health care] needs.   

Accessible housing is also in short supply, say the authors, noting that fewer than 4% of US homes offered the three key features of accessible housing—single-floor living, no-step entries, and wide hallways and doorways—at last measure.

As the US population ages, more older adults will struggle to afford either the home of their choice or the care they need, warns the report. “With subsidies for housing and LTC services scarce, many older adults will have to forgo needed care or rely on family and friends for assistance,” says Jennifer Molinsky, Project Director of the Housing on Aging Society Program at the Center. More funding would be a start, but there is tremendous need for creative alternatives to existing models of care and housing to better support the country’s rapidly aging population,” suggests the report. 

The report noted that seniors, whose incomes are often fixed or declining, increasingly face the “twin challenges” of finding affordable housing and the health care services they need to remain independent and at home. In 2021, an all-time high of nearly 11.2 million older adults were cost burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Cost burdens are particularly high for renters, homeowners with mortgages, and households aged 80 and over, the report emphasized.  

Costly long-term care (LTC) is out of reach for most seniors, the authors noting the cost of  LTC averaging over $100 per day, nationwide.  They say that most seniors who require these services, having very low incomes, have the fewest resources to pay for them. When LTC services are combined with housing costs, only 14% of single people 75 and over can afford a daily visit from a paid caregiver, and just 13% can afford to move to assisted living.    

The researchers say that government-funded rental assistance can provide crucial support to older adults with very low incomes, but demand dramatically outstrips supply. With homelessness on the rise among the older population, assistance is more important than ever, they add.  Even those with slightly higher incomes also struggle to qualify for government assistance; 29% of people living alone, aged 75+, have incomes above 50% of area median income, but cannot afford the cost of assisted living. Just 8% of this group could afford a daily visit from a home health aide, the report found.

Equity in housing as we age

The report also found that renters and homeowners of color face steeper burdens, too, in paying for housing.  While some older adults have home equity that can be tapped to pay for care or services, many do not. “This is not only because of the increasing number of older adults, but because of widening wealth and income inequality,” says Jennifer Molinsky, Project Director of the Housing an Aging Society Program at the Center, in a statement released on Nov. 30, 2023.  She served as the report’s lead author.

Older renters have only 2% of the net wealth of older homeowners and there are steep inequalities among owners as well; older Black homeowners have the lowest housing equity at $123,000, compared to $251,000 for older white homeowners, $200,000 for older Hispanic owners, and $270,000 for older owners who are Asian, multiracial, or another race, say the authors.

The report’s findings indicated that mortgage debt among older adults is rising, noting that between 1989 and 2022, the share of homeowners 65 to 79 with a mortgage increased from 24 to 41%, and the median mortgage debt shot up over 400%, from $21,000 in 1989 to $110,000.  Over 30% of homeowners age 80 and over are also carrying mortgages, up from just 3% three decades ago.

“Borrowing is often a way for older homeowners to access cash for basic needs or care,” says Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Center. “Given the importance of housing equity later in life there is a real need for safe and affordable mortgage products that work for older owners with limited incomes,” says Herbert.

The report’s authors suggested that financing incentives could provide better opportunities for those who wish to remain in their communities, but in more suitable homes; this would be particularly welcome in rural and other low-density areas where the choices are especially limited.

Climate change impacts housing

Finally, the growing threat of climate change is impacting older homeowners. The report’s authors noted that some states long favored by older adults because of their warmer weather are increasingly experiencing extreme heat and harsh storms. In addition to health risks, property damage is a rising concern, particularly for the increasing number of older people without insurance. “Severe storms in Florida caused $228 billion in property damage from February 2020 through April 2023, a state that is home to 8.3% of the nation’s older population,” says the report.

Tackling the senior housing crisis in Rhode Island

“Accessibility and affordability of housing has reached a crisis level, impacting all age groups. This excellent report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University confirms that the impact on older Americans is particularly acute. That is why my focus on housing issues is at the top of my agenda, and why I am fighting so hard to pass legislation encouraging the development of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), the number one priority of AARP.  The Harvard study makes it very clear that the need for housing and housing-based care for older adults is growing at an alarming rate, and in Rhode Island, I am dedicated to increasing the availability of suitable housing opportunities for our older residents,” says House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick).

“The housing report provides comprehensive information on the significant challenges related to the housing needs of older adults. The challenges in Rhode Island are amplified by an old housing stock usually lacking accessibility features and our low rate of housing production,” says Maureen Maigret, policy advisor for the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI.

Maigret, a former Director of the former Department of Elderly Affairs, identifies one particularly relevant section of Harvard’s Housing Report that discusses dual problems faced by older adults with both housing and support needs and how few have the financial means to pay for both housing and even a small amount of home care. This is important for Rhode Island with its high costs for long term care and a growing older population.

The Senior Agenda Coalition of RI (SACRI) applauds House Speaker Shekarchi and so many members of the legislature, specifically for their intense efforts to address the state’s housing needs, says Maigret. “We support the Governor’s budget proposal for a $100 Million Affordable Housing Bond issue but recommend the amount be increased along with an increase in the suggested amount of funds for priority projects for vulnerable populations including economically struggling seniors from just $7.5 Million of the bond dollars,” she says.

SACRI also supports legislation to ease development of ADUs, proposals that include accessibility features in new housing production, continuing the state Home Modification grant program and increasing the income cap for the state Property Tax Relief program, a program that helps both older homeowners and renters) to $50,000,” she says. 

ADUs and the Ocean State

Last week, Senator Victoria Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown) introduced S. 2630, that would allow homeowners to develop an accessory dwelling units (ADU) within the existing footprint of their structures by right, or build an attached or detached ADU if the lot is large enough. This is the companion bill to the one introduced in the House.

ADUs, sometimes referred to as in-law apartments, backyard cottages or “granny flats”, are accessories to existing housing, created as a conversion of part of a house (such as a walkout basement), an attachment to a house, a garage conversion, or a smaller, detached dwelling. They have become increasingly popular around the country in recent years as states and municipalities balance the need to create more housing with preserving the character of residential neighborhoods.

Seniors, especially, have taken to ADUs as a way to downsize while continuing to stay independent in the community. Now the Senate is poised to pass legislation to boost ADU development.

S. 2630 is similar to H 7062, sponsored by Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) which passed the House on Feb. 14, but it differs primarily in how it allows municipalities to apply several code regulations.

If the Senate passes an ADU bill this year, lawmakers will have an opportunity to reconcile the two bills, either passing the house or senate version, or reconciling them somewhere in the middle, or making changes that aren’t in either. Lawmakers must now compromise, on behalf of their older constituents to hammer out legislation for Gov. Dan McKee to sign into law. This would be a first step in tackling the Senior housing crisis in Rhode Island.  It’s a no brainer – and passing it this year is critical to addressing the crisis in housing.

For a copy of Harvard’s Housing report, go to https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/housing-americas-older-adults-2023.

Medicare to negotiate select drug prices with Big Pharma, lists first 10 drugs

Published in RINewsToday on September 4, 2023

While critics are attempting to go through the courts to put the brakes on allowing Medicare to negotiate and set drug prices, last week, the Biden administration announced its list of 10 drugs that will be subject to price negotiations mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  

Earlier this month, more than 70 groups and a petition signed by 150,000 individuals called on Merck & Co., Bristol Myers Squibb Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharma US, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to drop their lawsuits to block the drug price negotiation provisions from taking place, and several organizations filed an amicus brief in support of the Biden administration’s historic law. 

With President Biden signing the IRA into law in Aug. 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began hammering out the regulations by issuing on March 15, 2023 its initial guidance for its Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. At that time, CMS had received over 7,500 comments on its initial guidance from consumer and patient groups, drug companies and pharmacies.  On June 30, 2023, the federal agency released its revised guidance detailing the requirements and parameters for the program. With the publishing of the listing of 10 drugs on August 29, 2023, for the first time, Medicare is now able to move forward in negotiating prices directly with drug companies, with the goal of lowering prices on some of the costliest prescription drugs. 

According to CMS, the selected 10 drugs accounted for $50.5 billion in total Part D gross covered prescription drug costs, or about 20%, of total Part D gross covered prescription drug costs between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, which is the time period used to determine which drugs were eligible for negotiation. The negotiations with participating drug companies begin now until 2024, and any negotiated prices will become effective beginning in 2026. Medicare beneficiaries taking the 10 drugs covered under Part D selected for negotiation paid a total of $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2022 for these drugs.

It’s a Long Wait…Lower Prices to Take Effect Jan. 2026

CMS will publish any agreed-upon negotiated prices for the selected drugs by September 1, 2024; those prices will come into effect starting January 1, 2026. In future years, CMS will select for negotiation up to 15 more drugs covered under Part D for 2027, up to 15 more drugs for 2028 (including drugs covered under Part B and Part D), and up to 20 more drugs for each year after that, as outlined in the IRA.  CMS will provide opportunities for public comment at patient-focused listening sessions in Fall 2023.

“For far too long, pharmaceutical companies have made record profits while American families were saddled with record prices and unable to afford life-saving prescription drugs,” says Secretary Xavier Becerra, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Although drug companies are attempting to block Medicare from being able to negotiate for better drug prices, we will not be deterred,” she pledges. 

With the announcement of the first drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiation, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure noted it marked a significant and historic moment for the Medicare program. ”Our goal with these negotiations is to improve access to some of the costliest drugs for millions of people with Medicare while driving competition and innovation,” she said.

Adds Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, CMS’s Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare, “Promoting transparency and engagement continue to be at the core of how we are implementing the new drug law and the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, and that is why we set out a process for the first round of negotiation that engages the public throughout.” 

“No one should have to choose between paying for lifesaving medication and other basic necessities, like food and housing,” says Rep. Seth Magaziner, representing Rhode Island’s Congressional District 2.  Nearly 191,000 Rhode Islanders are enrolled in Medicare Part D and could be eligible for cost savings that results from CMS’s negotiating with drug makers, he says, noting that.  Rhode Island seniors paid an average of $6,022 in out-of-pocket costs per year for one of the drugs selected for Medicare Price Negotiations.  These drugs are used to treat some of the most common diseases like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, blood clots, and cancers.   

But PhRMA and U.S. Chamber of Commerce express strong concerns over imposing government price controls on the price of medications.  

CMS’s release of 10 drugs selected for negotiation “is the result of a rushed process focused on short-term political gain rather than what is best for patients,” says PhRMA) President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl. “Many of the medicines selected for price setting already have significant rebates and discounts due to the robust private market negotiation that occurs in the Part D program today,” he claims.

“Giving a single government agency the power to arbitrarily set the price of medicines with little accountability, oversight or input from patients and their doctors will have significant negative consequences long after this administration is gone,” warns Ubl.

Furthermore, “insurance companies and their Pharmacy Benefit Managers may further restrict access to medicines through increased utilization management, higher copays and more restrictive formularies, notes Ubl.

USCoC also expresses strong concerns over HHS’s move to impose government price controls on medications. While USCoC is supportive of affordable medications, it warns that an implementing government price controls scheme is both “counterproductive and will restrict access to critical medicines, delay treatment for patients, and jeopardize the search for new lifesaving cures,” says Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley. 

“In its rush to implement the IRA’s price control scheme, the Biden administration failed to examine the likely negative side effects of the policy, charges Bradley.

Celebrating a Sweet Victory

“The negotiated drugs list is a watershed moment for medicine affordability. Drug corporations pretend this is a catastrophe, but I would rather see that money in seniors’ pockets than Big Pharma’s,”  says Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines program at Public Citizen

“Drug corporations, in crude arrogance, are suing to limit price negotiations under the IRA. But the list shows instead how important it is to expand those negotiation powers. Several monopolized drugs that are expensive for Medicare today are exempted from price negotiation, and will remain expensive,” predicts Maybarduk, explaining that for a many-years long grace period after a drug first comes to market. “During those years, drug makers will exploit patent monopolies with minimal checks on profiteering. That profiteering period is even longer for biologics, which comprise some of the most exorbitantly priced drugs,” he says. 

“This is an historic day in the effort to lower prescription drug prices for seniors.  The Biden administration has released the names of the 10 life-saving drugs that will be subject — for the first time ever — to price negotiation between Medicare and Big Pharma,” stated Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

According to Richtman, the Inflation Reduction Act provides for this reform, in addition to a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap for patients’ Medicare Part D drug costs and penalties for drug-makers who hike prices above the rate of inflation. Medicare price negotiation alone is expected to save seniors and taxpayers billions of dollars in drug costs over next the decade.

“This is a sea change in the government’s ability to lower prescription drug prices for older Americans, who all too often are compelled to ration medications or forgo filling prescriptions because of soaring costs. NCPSSM has fought for Medicare to be empowered to negotiate prices for some twenty years now,” adds Richtman., noting that the next step is to enlarge the number and type of medications subject to negotiation, to deliver maximum relief to seniors on fixed incomes.   

“Allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for these first 10 drugs will finally bring much needed access and relief to American families, particularly older adults. We cannot overstate how monumental this law is for older Americans’ financial stability and overall health, said AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond. 

“The big drug companies and their allies continue suing to overturn the Medicare drug price negotiation program to keep up their price gouging. We can’t allow seniors to be Big Pharma’s cash machine anymore. AARP will keep fighting to protect Medicare negotiation from any efforts to undo or weaken it, so all older Americans can afford their lifesaving medicines,” Says LeaMond.

And Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, says CMS’s listing of 10 drugs are among the most outrageously priced drugs on the market, calling these drugs, “Pharma’s prized cash cows.”

“This is just the beginning,” says Lawson, predicting that within a decade, Medicare will have the power to negotiate lower prices on well over 100 drugs. “That’s a huge win for seniors and people with disabilities,” she adds, noting that it is the biggest legislative defeat Big Pharma has ever suffered – and it won’t be the last.

Final Note…

Vincent Marzullo, who serves on the Board of the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI as well as a member of Congressman Magaziner’s Senior Advisory Committee, says that despite CMS’s  announcement of the 10 drugs to be negotiated, consumers won’t realize a penny in savings until January 2026, 28 months from now. “Unfortunately, urgency seems not to be a feature of the Inflation Reduction Act at least when we will get lower priced prescriptions,” he says.

View a fact sheet from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at: https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/705b9c384d493e442a1d4004905cf8ae/ASPE-IRA-Drug-Negotiation-Fact-Sheet.pdf.

More information on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is available at https://www.cms.gov/inflation-reduction-act-and-medicare/medicare-drug-price-negotiation.

New Legislative Commission to work on improving programs, services to seniors 

Published in RINewsToday on June 19, 2023

During May, designated as Older Americans Month, the Rhode Island House of Representatives approved H 5224-SUB A, sponsored by House Deputy Majority Leader Lauren H. Carson (D-District 75, Newport), creating a legislative commission to study the services and programs for 240,000 older adults in Rhode Island – and to make recommendations for ways to improve and coordinate them. The number of seniors is expected to skyrocket to almost 265,000 by 2040, constituting an increase of nearly 75% since 2010.

On May 11, 2023, over three months since the resolution was dropped in the legislative hopper, it passed by a whopping bipartisan vote of 69 to 0 (with 6 members absent). There was no opposition to H 5224- SUB A from any organization. It seems that any House lawmaker or organization opposing this resolution would also oppose “motherhood and apple pie.”

With a number of House GOP concerns addressed in the state’s $14 billion budget, House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale directed his caucus to support passage. The House Republican Caucus also unanimously voted for H5224 – SUB A, and fully supported the mission of a legislative commission which is charged with collecting and analyzing the current state of affairs in regard to Rhode Island’s growing senior population.

Carson’s resolution calls for “a collaborative study of Rhode Island’s current services, and recommendations for potential initiatives that would help residents, agencies, providers, and the government to better assist the growing population of older adults in our state achieve well-being and maximum independence in ways that value, empower and engage them,” adding that such an effort is essential to the state’s future resilience and prosperity.

According to House Communications Director Larry Berman, 21 House legislative Commissions will be operational when Carson’s legislative commission becomes operational. The House Policy Office will staff the Commission.  The number of meetings (open to the public) has not yet been determined. The meeting agenda will be determined by its Chair, with input provided by the 16 Commission members, House lawmakers, members of the public, and aging advocates. 

Because H 5224 – SUB A only creates a House legislative commission, there is no need for a companion measure to be introduced in the Senate,” says Berman who notes that this Commission will begin in the Fall of 2023. It is charged to report its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives no later than May 7, 2024. The Commission would then expire on August 7, 2024.

Providing a Road Map to Fix Systemic Policy Flaws

“This commission will provide valuable information to the House next year to provide a roadmap for providing service and programs for older Rhode Islanders, including funding options that will be strongly considered,” stated House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi  (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), after passage of the special legislative committee.

“We have had excellent results with other commissions that have studied housing and shoreline access that have led to legislation that the General Assembly has adopted.  Representative Carson is an extremely thoughtful and dedicated legislator who will work hard with commission members to develop great plans for the future,” says Shekarchi.

“Rhode Island should invest much more than we do in services that enable people to age in place and safely remain in their communities. Those services are far more cost-efficient overall, and encourage an active, more fulfilling lifestyle for people as they age. Considering that nearly a quarter of our population is over 60, and Baby Boomers will continue to swell those ranks, now is the time,” said Carson. “This commission will take a look at the services we have, how we could improve and better coordinate them and offer them to more individuals, where the gaps and needs are, and what we need to do to better enable our population, as we grow older, to safely remain in the community and lead full lives,” she says.

The 16-member commission, all appointed by the House Speaker, will include three members of the House of Representatives, two Rhode Island residents over the age of 65, three directors from the Rhode Island Senior Center Director’s Association, a community action program director from the Rhode Island Association of Community Action Agencies, a member of the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, and a member of a Rhode Island organization representing adults with disabilities.

In addition, the directors of the Office of Healthy Aging, the Department of Health, AARP Rhode Island, Age-Friendly RI and the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI or their designees will participate.

H 5224 – SUB A instructs the commission to study key statistics about services for older adults in Rhode Island, examining strengths, vulnerabilities, and demographic and financial statistics; assess the current state, federal and local services currently available, as well as any duplication of services; recommend ways to coordinate services within agencies and focus on better service delivery, including housing options and various living arrangements, health status and health care resources; provide recommendations for the creation of a portal to coordinate aging services in employment, education, independent living, accessibility and advocacy, as well as local older adult centers and services; provide recommendations on mental health, transportation, food access, and health care; provide recommendations for the funding of services through state, federal and private grants and for more efficient distribution and use of these dollars; and explore more regionalization of services.

Towards the Creation of a Strategic State Plan on Aging

“The newly established legislative commission to study the services and programs for our rapidly growing older population can become the launching pad for the state to move forward to create a multi-sector Strategic State Plan on Aging to coordinate Rhode Island’s programs and services for older Rhode Islanders, says Maureen Maigret chair of the Aging in Community Subcommittee of Rhode Island’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council who also serves as a policy consultant and board member of the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI.  She notes that 10 states have already developed this “master plan” and she hopes Rhode Island will also join their ranks. 

At the Senior Agenda Coalition  of RI’s August 2022 Gubernatorial Forum, she warned that the state’s aging and long-term services were fragmented, spread across a number of state agencies, charging that these agencies often lacked stable leadership and a coherent and overarching vision. Creating a Strategic Plan on Aging builds on work being done now by the Office of Healthy Aging and Subcommittees of the Long Term Care Coordinating Council, and would be a fix for this,” says Maigret. 

According to Maigret, at the August Forum Gov. Dan McKee stated he would issue an Executive Order for initiating a Master Plan on Aging, but that has not happened. Aging advocates are still waiting for this to happen.

“We look forward to joining with older-adult focused direct service, advocacy, non-profit, and state colleagues, and older adults themselves, to discuss how Rhode Islanders want to age and what we can build collectively to make that possible, says Director Maria Cimini, of the state’s Office of Health Aging (OHA).

“At the OHA we are thrilled there is interest and a commitment of time and resources to understand and plan for our state’s aging population, from where we sit, this opportunity will equip us to advocate for policies that empower and uplift our senior population, fostering dignity, purpose, and respect for all older adults,” adds Cimini.

Don’t Forget the Rhode Island’s Poor and Minority Elders

Susan Sweet, long-time advocate for poor and disadvantaged elders and the founder of The R. I. Minority Elder Task Force which provides limited financial assistance to low-income seniors in crisis reports: “We are seeing a large uptick in elders in crisis situations lacking basic needs such as food, utilities, housing, and personal items. Minority group members, immigrants, retirees as well as general population seniors are suffering more intensely since Covid, inflation, and lack of affordable housing matters have exacerbated the existing poverty among elders. In particular, homelessness among elders is at a peak we have not seen before.”

Sweet is hopeful that this new Legislative Commission will consider and react to the particularly difficult situations that confront the poor and minority elder populations. “I have seen many plans for services to elders that either ignore or do not implement agenda items addressing these populations and I hope that this commission will prioritize the severe privations that they face on a daily basis,” she says.

“With the lessons learned over the past 2 years and the devastating impact of COVID on our older adults, it’s critical that we reexamine our aging infrastructure, the needs for services, and the local service capabilities to this growing population,” Vin Marzullo, who served 31 years as a career federal civil rights & social justice administrator at the National Service agency.

“A serious, adult conversation is long overdue with the aging community, service providers and lawmakers about designing our plan for a more “Age-Friendly” RI, – which supports local senior centers as the local hub for the delivery of services,” suggests Marzullo.

The nursing home industry supports the mission of the newly enacted legislation committee. “Included in their charge is to, among other things, provide recommendations regarding available health care services.  Rhode Island’s nursing facilities play a vital role in health care for our older adults – providing care and services to over 18,500 seniors each year.  Many of these individuals are provided with short-term skilled nursing, physical, occupational and/or speech therapy following a hospitalization – enabling them to safely transition from the acute hospital level of care back home with continued services,” says John E. Gage, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Health Care Association.

“Of course, every Rhode Islander wants to remain independent, healthy and in their home for as long as possible.  When this is no longer viable, however, our state needs a strong spectrum of care, including home care, assisted living residences and skilled nursing facilities to support them as their care needs change.  Workforce is perhaps the most daunting challenge facing these health care providers, and this will need to be a focus for years to come,” notes Gage.

H 5224 A cosponsors are Representatives Samuel A. Azzinaro (D-District 37, Westerly), Thomas E. Noret (D-District 25, West Warwick), Susan R. Donovan (D-District 69, Bristol, Portsmouth), House Majority Whip Katherine S. Kazarian (D-District, East Providence), Karen Alzate (D-District 60, Central Falls, Pawtucket), Jason Knight (D-District 67, Barrington, Warren),  and Kathleen Fogarty (D-District 35, South Kingston.

A copy of H 5224 A may be accessed here: http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText23/HouseText23/H5224A.pdf.

The House Floor vote (5/11/23) – 48 minute 48 second mark may be accessed here: https://ritv.devosvideo.com/show?video=d12583542bad&apg=84a99049.

The Health & Human Services Committee heard this resolution on March 15, 2023.  See the 1hour and 50-minute hearing by going to https://ritv.devosvideo.com/show?video=e3ea82fcb949&apg=6aae3d42) 

Herb Weiss, LRI -12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who has covered aging, health care and medical issues for over 43 years.  To purchase his books, Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly and a sequel, compiling weekly published articles, go to herbweiss.com.