Aging Studies Institute Conference features keynote by William
Corr
The Syracuse University Aging Studies Institute held a conference on “Social
Support and Service Provision to Older Adults” in New York City last month at
which the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services William Corr was the
featured speaker. During his address
titled “A New Day for Older Americans: Addressing the Needs of Our Aging
Population,” he discussed the promise of the Affordable Care Act to meet
longstanding needs for our aging population, particularly caregiving and health
care disparities among minorities. While
the ACA has received plenty of political feedback, Corr said the federal
agencies particularly welcome input from scholars that can help expand the
health policy community’s knowledge base.
Corr told the group that among the most important features of the ACA
is that it addresses health care disparities in minorities, who make up half of
the uninsured and often do not have consistent access to health care until they
reach 65 and sign up for Medicare. They
then require more care, which drives up costs to the Medicare program. By providing subsidies and expanding Medicaid
eligibility, the Affordable Care Act provides minorities with consistent access
to health care throughout their lives, which would help over time to eliminate some
of those disparities.
Corr also spoke about the increasing demands of caregiving for elderly
Americans. Today, he said, more
Americans than ever have full responsibility for caring for aging parents and
grandparents and are shouldering much of the burden that hospitals used to
manage. Prior to the Affordable Care
Act, there was no national policy aimed at caregivers beyond the Family and Medical
Leave Act. ACA created national
standards of care for the elderly, particularly those with certain diseases
like Alzheimers and dementia, enabling family caregivers to acquire services to
relieve some of the burden while better assisting loved ones. These new standards are particularly
important as health care has evolved from the sole domain of medical
professionals to the responsibility of family caregivers.
ACA standards are necessary for
improving services, support, and long-term care, Corr added, and scholars can play
a critical role in helping to identify risk factors and challenges for family
caregivers. The conference preceding
Deputy Secretary Corr’s address included papers that considered how informal
care provided by family and friends articulates with formal long-term care
policies and programs to provide support to the diverse population of older
Americans. The topics addressed
included: long-term caregiving,
cognitive functioning among caregivers, care networks among LGBT elders,
supportive housing, and health care delivery to rural elders (for a complete
conference schedule go to http://asi.syr.edu/event/2014-cantor-conference/). An
edited volume based on the conference papers will be published later this year
in Baywood’s “Society and Aging Series."
The Aging Studies Institute is a collaborative
initiative of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the
David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University. Its mission is to coordinate and promote
aging-related research, training, and outreach at Syracuse University. With 40 faculty affiliates from more than a
dozen departments, ASI provides multi-disciplinary research and education that
is relevant to almost every academic discipline on campus. 02/10/14