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Journalism fellowship and funding for special projects are opportunities to go beyond daily reporting and to have support and money to dig deeper into issues including environmental health.
Each year there are increasingly more fellowships and grants for extensive reporting, especially as newsrooms shrink and outlets close. Many are focused on climate change or public health while others are open to significant ideas including environmental health.
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We all know the toll that COVID-19 has taken on older adults in institutional settings. It’s prompted many aging advocates and policymakers to rethink how we deliver care to the frail elderly and whether the traditional nursing home model needs to change.
Many experts agree that more care should occur in community and home settings, but we lack enough clinicians to provide it and many states lack the resources to pay for it. However, home and community-based services (HCBS) can save money in the long term, studies have shown, and this care approach can work on many levels. Continue reading
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With practically everyone working overtime to cover COVID-19, you may have missed an important milestone last week. President Trump signed the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization into law on March 25 after the U.S. Senate earlier in the month unanimously passed the bipartisan legislation co-authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.) the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Aging Committee. (It passed in the House on March 11.) Continue reading
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The Older Americans Act (OAA) expires on Sept. 30, 2019, and there’s still no bill ready for either a House or Senate vote. Traditionally, this legislation receives wide bipartisan support, but legislators are still attempting to work out some differences between what the Trump administration wants and provisions Democrats and advocacy groups would like to add.
The Senate is at an impasse regarding funding authorization levels and the funding formula, including “hold harmless” provisions. The House Education and Labor Committee announced on Friday that their OAA bill will be introduced on Monday and the committee will mark it up and likely pass it on Wednesday. Continue reading
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The Trump administration earlier this month slashed funding for ACA navigators – a form of enrollment assistance – for the second consecutive year. For the 2019 enrollment year beginning November 1, the government will provide $10 million, down from $36 million last fall – which was down from $63 million the prior year.
In addition, they changed the rules of the game. In addition to guiding people through ACA market options, the navigators also will help people enroll in the new insurance plans authorized by the Trump administration that do not comply with patient and consumer protections in the ACA – and may well serve to undermine the ACA by drawing younger and healthier people. Continue reading
