Aging News Alert

Capitol Hill

 
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Continuing Resolution Keeps Government Open Through Dec. 11

Congress finalizes a short-term continuing resolution (HR 719) that will keep the government operational until Dec. 11. The FY 2016 CR will maintain funding at federal at FY 2015 levels until the House and Senate come to terms on year-long funding legislation.

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Senate OKs 'Falls Awareness Day' Resolution

Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among seniors. In 2013, more than 25,500 older adults died from injuries related to unintentional falls, and the death rate from falls among seniors has increased significantly over the past decade.

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House Panel Eyes Four Medicaid-related Measures

The Energy and Commerce health subcommittee held a hearing Friday (Sept. 18) to consider four more bills aimed at strengthening the Medicaid program.

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Energy & Commerce Leaders Press Obama on Heparin Probe

House Energy & Commerce Committee leaders have sent a letter to President Obama urging that he discuss with the Chinese President the heparin contamination case from 2007 and 2008 that led to the deaths and severe reactions of many Americans. Heparin is commonly used in cases of stroke.

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DeSalvo Nomination Garners Unanimous Approval by Health Panel

The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee has unanimously approved National Health IT Coordinator Dr. Karen DeSalvo's nomination for the position of assistant secretary for health.

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Bill Would Make SNFs Eligible for Universal Service Fund Money

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) has introduced legislation, the proposed Rural Health Care Connectivity Act of 2015 (S 1916) that would amend the Communications Act to permit skilled nursing facilities to apply for support from the Universal Service Fund’s Rural Health Care Program (RHCP).

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Senators Undertake Bipartisan Effort to Stop Medicare Cuts

Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) are pressing their colleagues in the Senate to tell the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider the proposed cuts to radiation oncology in the recently issued Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2016.

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SSI Restoration Bill Gaining Support – At Least from Democrats

The bill was introduced this past May in the Senate by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and in the House by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). As of Wednesday, July 29, ten senators and more than 30 representatives have signed on as cosponsors. Conspicuously absent from the list of cosponsors is the name of a single Republican lawmaker, including the current chair of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

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House Leaders Press Burwell for Answers on Flu Preparedness

Key leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee have fired off a joint letter to Health & Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, seeking documents regarding the Obama administration’s lessons learned from the previous flu season, as well as details about the nation’s preparedness efforts in advance of the upcoming flu season. The issue is especially important to the nation’s elderly population, in that this group is particularly vulnerable to influenza.

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Panel Approves DRIVE Act, Nixes Social Security Cost-Offset

The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee has unanimously approved S 1647, a six-year, $274 billion bill reauthorizing MAP-21, the funding and authorization legislation governing federal surface transportation spending. Meanwhile, advocates for the nation’s seniors praise the panel’s decision to not reduce Social Security benefits as a way to offset costs associated with the new transportation bill.

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