Dems on Aging

NEW: Trump Administration Responds to Ranking Member Senator Bob Casey and Senator Ron Wyden's Call to Publicly Release Names of Nursing Homes with COVID-19 Cases

Trump Administration Responds to Casey’s and Wyden’s Call to Publicly Release Names of Nursing Homes with COVID-19 Cases | United States Senate Special Committee on Aging United States Senate Special Committee on Aging

ICYMI: Last month, hosted a committee hearing about how ABLE accounts help people with disabilities save money & keep their benefits. During the hearing, Sen. Casey urged his colleagues to expand access to ABLE accounts and highlighted his bipartisan legislation ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which would do that. You can learn more by watching the hearing here:

United States Senate Special Committee on Aging United States Senate Special Committee on Aging

Today, hosted a cultural competency briefing for staff and advocates. Thanks to UN Human Rights Councill, SAGE, Movement Advancement Project & Mary's House for Older Adults for participating.

Across the country Republicans are using the myth of widespread voter fraud to push restrictive voter ID laws and limit the ability of millions of Americans to vote. The President is the chief perpetrator of this unsubstantiated claim, and even went as far as to create a “commission on election integrity. Yesterday, the Administration disbanded this commission, which was never anything more than a scheme to suppress the voting rights of certain Americans. In November, Senator Bob Casey released a report detailing how states are using the widespread voter fraud myth to make it harder for Americans to vote and how voter ID laws can hurt older adults and Americans with disabilities. Read the voting rights report here:

www.aging.senate.gov

Did you know that both the House & Senate versions of the GOP’s tax plans could open the door to attacks on Social Security benefits and include a sneaky tax hike? Their scheme would base inflation adjustments in the tax code on chained CPI-U, which if also applied to Social Security COLAs would cut benefits for seniors and persons with disabilities. Read more here:

www.aging.senate.gov

ICYMI: Last week, Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released a report, Barriers to Voting for Older Americans: How States are Making it Harder for Older Americans to Vote. Suppressive voting laws and issues of accessibility affect tens of millions of older Americans and people with disabilities. The report details how strict voter identification (ID) laws, closure of voting locations, inaccessible polling places and limits on early voting and absentee ballots are preventing seniors and people with disabilities from casting votes. Read the full report and the recommendations for addressing these challenges here:

www.aging.senate.gov

ICYMI: Yesterday during a hearing on ways to keep seniors safe from phone scams, Sen. Bob Casey and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro urged the Federal Communications Commission to finalize a rule to help curb illegal robocalls by con artists. During the Senate Aging Committee’s hearing, Attorney General Shapiro testified on the importance of preventive education on how to spot and steer clear of scams. Get up to speed on the topic and watch the hearing here:

United States Senate Special Committee on Aging United States Senate Special Committee on Aging

Thanks to Samantha and Kate, staff at the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging working with ranking member U.S. Senator Bob Casey, for visiting our Food Bank yesterday.

We had the opportunity to discuss senior hunger in southwestern PA with a focus on the importance of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (senior boxes).

WATCH: Pittsburgh father explains his fear of how the Republican health care bill might impact treatment for his daughter’s opioid addiction. “If Medicaid goes away and support for drug treatment is curtailed, it would be a disaster.” https://youtu.be/yMPREnWwsrI

Ann and Marvin on Impact of GOP Healthcare Bill on Drug Treatment Ann Sinsheimer and Marvin Sirbu, of Pittsburgh, Pa., are raising their two young granddaughters because of the opioid crisis. Marvin shares their concerns ab...

ICYMI: recently introduced the Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act, at the , to provide custodial grandparents with the support they need to help them raise thriving grandchildren. As an increasing number of older adults are stepping in to care for their grandchildren as a result of the opioid crisis, this bill would help connect them with resources to navigate school systems, address mental health issues, and build support networks.

The number of children being raised by grandparents is on the rise due to the opioid epidemic. Sen. Bob Casey is fighting to ensure there is federal support for programs that help grandfamilies.

Watch the video on how the opioid epidemic is taking a toll on families http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/01/health/he**in-orphans-feyerick/index.html

Get up to speed on the Aging Committee hearing on this topic here: https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/grandparents-to-the-rescue-raising-grandchildren-in-the-opioid-crisis-and-beyond

A generation of he**in orphans The he**in and opioid epidemic over the last decade has increased the number of children orphaned and/or essentially abandoned by their parents.