Issue Brief
Senior Care and Services
Background
Demographically, Pennsylvania is one of
the “oldest” states in the nation. In
particular, PA ranks second or third in
the percentage of its population age 85
and over.
These individuals are often in frail
health and deserve compassion and
appropriate services. In recognition of
this important reality, legislation was
passed last summer to call for the
examination of the fragmented senior
care and services delivery system.
Act 16 of 2007 created a Senior Care and
Services Study Commission, which
Governor Rendell signed into law on June
30, 2007. While the law
stipulates that the members of the
commission be appointed within thirty
days of passage, in the nine months
since it was enacted, the commission has
not been appointed.
The Commission is charged with
addressing the following:
1.
Population projections
through 2025;
2.
Estimates on the proportion
of each population segment who will
require care and services in the
various long-term care settings
(e.g., including but not limited to
nursing facilities, assisted
living/personal care, adult day
care, and home health/home care);
3.
An inventory of all
current public funding (e.g.,
state general funds, federal funds,
lottery funds, and tobacco
settlement funds) currently
dedicated to senior care and
services;
4.
Projections on future funding
needs based on the expected
population, and identification of
potential sources of additional
revenues to meet those needs.
The Commission is required to hold no
fewer than 3 public input sessions
across the state within six (6) months
of its establishment, which begins when
the last member of the Commission is
appointed. They will then use the
public input, and the analyses called
for above to prepare a ‘Final Report’,
with recommendations on how
Pennsylvania’s projected need for senior
care and services can best be met no
later than 18 months of the
establishment of the Commission. This
report will be made available to the
Governor, Legislature, and the public
via the Department of Aging Website.
ELCA Policy Base
(Caring for Health: Our Shared
Endeavor, 2003)
The aging population of Pennsylvania
impacts a wide range of issues. First
and foremost, as our citizens age their
health and care should be a priority.
“A Christian perspective on
health…shares the concern of the apostle
Paul that ‘our spirit and soul and body
be kept sound and blameless’
(1 Thessalonians 5:23). This understanding
of human wholeness means that concern for
health should attend to the physical,
mental, spiritual, and communal decisions of
a person’s entire well-being.” (ELCA Social
Statement – Caring for Health: Our Shared
Endeavor). This Commission is charged
with assessing what the long-term care needs
are of the Commonwealth’s population,
including both physical and mental
wholeness.
Moreover, as a church, we have committed
ourselves to supporting “equitable access
for all people to basic health care services
and to the benefits of public health
efforts” as well as encouraging “faithful
moral discernment guiding…public
policymaking in health care services.”
Therefore, as a faith community we need to
encourage this Commission’s work to be
completed so that we may be ready as a whole
community, individuals, congregations,
service ministry organizations and our
government, to care for our aging neighbors.
What You Can Do:
Visit, call and/or e-mail your State
Representative and State Senator to let them
know how important the long-term viability
of Pennsylvania’s senior care and service
delivery system is to you. Specifically,
you are encouraged to:
·
Ask them to advocate for the immediate
appointment of the commission.
·
Ask them to ensure that the Commission moves
forward with its appointed work in a timely
manner.
·
Ask that they keep you posted on any news
related to meetings, hearings, and findings
of the Commission.
April 2008
