Weekly News Wrap-Up (August 17 - August 21)

Proposed Cuts Would Reduce Nursing Home Medicare Payments by $44 Billion Over 10 Years, AHCA Finds (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, August 21, 2009)
A House healthcare reform bill and a new government regulation together would cut Medicare payments to nursing homes by $44 billion over 10 years. That is according to a new analysis by the American Health Care Association.

U.S. Life Expectancy Rises to New Record in 2007 (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, August 20, 2009)
Life expectancy in the United States reached a new high in 2007, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, the mortality rate fell for the eighth straight year.

H1N1 Vaccine to be Available in the Fall, CDC Says (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, August 17, 2009)
Shipment of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus will begin in mid-October, according to a recently released “planning Q&A” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Administration of the vaccine is expected to begin in the fall, the agency said.

The National Advisory Board (NAB) was Invited to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Annual Summit to Present “Declaration for Independence” and Discuss State Long Term Services and Supports Programs
Four members of the NAB told an audience of legislators from across the country that the NAB’s Call to Action to transform our health care system to address long term services and supports was about people, not programs. Len Kirschner, Rob Sweezy, Jane Woods and Chuck Graham spoke to the National Conference of State Legislators on a panel entitled “Transforming the Systems of Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities.” The panel was moderated by Senator Renee Unterman (GA) who also serves as the Chair of NCSLs Human Services and Welfare Committee.