March 23,2001

News Conference, Hearing Scheduled on Long-term Care


Event No. 1: news conference

Date/time: Tuesday, March 27, 2001, at 9:30 a.m.

Location: S-301, The Capitol

Description: Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, will announce hisintroduction with Sen. Bob Graham of legislation to help Americans afford long-termcare. Reps. Nancy Johnson, Karen Thurman and Earl Pomeroy will describe theirHouse companion legislation. Betty J. Severyn, an AARP board member; and ChipKahn, president of the Health Insurance Association of American, will describe theirorganizations’ unusual pairing to support this bipartisan, bicameral bill.

Event No. 2: hearing, “Society’s Great Challenge: The Affordability of Long-term Care”

Date/time: Tuesday, March 27, 2001, at 10 a.m.

Location: 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Description: Many Americans will need long-term care; most will have difficulty affording it.Long-term care is expensive in any form. More than 22 million family caregiversbear the costs of caring for a loved one out of their pockets. The taxpayers also paybillions of dollars for nursing home stays and home health care. Many Americansdon’t realize that government programs aren’t the answer to long-term care needs.Medicare’s coverage of long-term care is extremely limited; Medicaid coveragerequires spending down to poverty. Grassley will convene a hearing to spark freshdebate on options for making long-term care more affordable.

Witness List
< Carol V. O’Shaughnessy, Specialist in Social Legislation, Domestic Social Policy Division,Congressional Research Service, Washington, D.C.

< William J. Scanlon, Director, Health Care Issues, U.S. General Accounting Office,Washington, D.C.

< Bill Kays, husband of an Alzheimer’s patient, Vienna, Va.

< Gail Gibson Hunt, Executive Director, National Alliance for Caregiving, Bethesda, Md.

< Lisa Maria B. Alecxih, Vice President, The Lewin Group, Falls Church, Va.

< Steven Lutzky, Chief, Office on Disabilities and Aging, Washington, D.C., Department of