Advocacy News

Two senators Wednesday introduced bipartisan legislation designed to curb scams targeting seniors during the Senate Committee on Aging’s first hearing of the 116th Congress, “Fighting Elder Fraud: Progress Made, Work to Be Done”. The legislation, Stop Senior Scams Act introduced by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Bob Casey (D-PA), ranking member of the aging committee, would create a federal…

You may not think much about the stamps you use for mail—generally anything in stock at the post office will do. However, with the Alzheimer’s semipostal fundraising stamp, you’re not just getting postage: You’re getting a story. That’s because this stamp is the culmination of two individuals’ hard work and determination to raise funds that…

Legislation included in the BBA earlier this year may present Congress with a model to expand certain long-term care and supports. Passed with bipartisan support as part of the budget bill approved earlier this year, the “Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2018,” provides Medicare Advantage plans the…

As part of OIG’s ongoing efforts to fight waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare, Medicaid, and more than 100 other HHS programs, it recently released a report identifying vulnerabilities to fraud and poor care. The new report covers hospice care since 2005 and increases in utilization and reimbursement. OIG made more than a dozen recommendations…

On July 18, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Labor-Management Standards issued a final rule rescinding the so-called “persuader rule,” a controversial Obama-era regulation requiring employers to disclose advice received about labor unions. Specifically, the persuader rule altered the advice exemption under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, interfering with both employers’ access…

As part of efforts to continue to elevate the issue of long-term care financing and in response to draft legislation by Rep. Frank Pallone, Argentum is actively engaged with Congressional Committees including the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Veterans Affairs, and Senate Finance. While Rep. Pallone’s draft legislation would expand the Medicare program…

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), who currently serves as the Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, has filed H.R. 6563, which would establish a public long-term care benefit of the Medicare program for elderly and disabled individuals by creating a new Part E under Medicare entitled Long Term Care Services and Supports (LTSS).…

The House of Representatives is slated to pass over 59 bills coming from five different oversight committees addressing the opioid crisis.  The Senate Finance Committee has also unanimously approved legislation that combines 22 bills recently introduced by committee members.  The Senate opioid package includes provisions that would expand telehealth access for addiction treatment, remove lifetime…

To address the growing shortage of geriatric health care professionals and direct caregivers to support our aging population, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bob Casey (D-PA), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Aging Committee respectively, introduced the Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act. This legislation would reauthorize the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the…

In response to recent efforts by labor unions to garner support for stripping workers’ rights to secret ballots and private voting in union elections, in advance of the mid-term elections, Argentum joined Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) in strong opposition of S. 2810, the Workplace Democracy Act (WDA).  This far-reaching legislation would: Strip workers’…