I. FOLLOWING THE NARRATIVE: A quick summary of national media trends last week.
(* indicates that LeadingAge is featured in the story.)
Reporters kept a close eye on Congress as negotiations intensified following House committees’ release last week of reconciliation funding levels and progress on creation of a single bill inched forward; other areas of focus included the impact of employer vaccine mandates; the FDA’s take on COVID boosters, as well as the caregiving crisis and workforce shortages in long term care.
Reconciliation, employer vaccine mandates, boosters & worker shortages:
- The Hill: Manchin suggests pausing talks on $3.5 trillion package until 2022: report
- The Washington Post: A once-in-a-decade chance to overhaul health care gets personal for Democrats and advocates
- The Washington Post: Biden’s unlikely to get his full funding ask for home health care
- Forbes: Is Congress About To Take Historic Steps To Enhance Elder Care?
- The Associated Press: Manchin favors trimming Biden budget plan by more than half
- NBC: Biden wants billions for elder care. So far, Democrats are giving less than half
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: Senior living hopeful as House committees share proposals for $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package
- *McKnight’s Senior Living: LeadingAge to Congress: Don’t backpedal on commitments to seniors
- ABC News: Some nursing homes carry out successful staff vaccine mandates amid pushback over federal rules
- Kaiser Health News: Biden Releases a New Plan to Combat Covid, but Experts Say There’s Still a Ways to Go
- *HomeCare: Aged care workforce still approaching vaccination target on day of mandate coming into effect
- Bloomberg: Retired Seniors in U.S. Aren’t Covered by Biden’s Vaccine Plan
- The Washington Post: FDA panel endorses coronavirus boosters for older adults and those at risk of serious disease
- The New York Times: In a new review, some F.D.A. scientists and others say boosters aren’t needed for the general population
- MarketWatch: Nursing homes are now facing a COVID resurgence, and a staffing shortage will only make it worse
- Health Services Research: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Long-Term Care Workforce
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: ‘More than warm bodies’ needed to address LTC workforce crisis, congresswoman, industry experts advise
II. Other Clips that Influenced the Week: LeadingAge is a sought-out, reliable source for multiple trade and national media outlets (see that coverage posted in our LeadingAge Press Room). Other key clips that shaped the narrative last week:
- CNBC: Long-term care needs among retirees varies widely, new research shows
- DSnews: Legislation to Release $322B for Housing Programs Advances
- Reuters: White House welcomes inflation data, still concerned about U.S. housing prices
- The Washington Post: How one of the largest nursing home chains in Florida could avoid nearly all of $256 million fraud judgment
- Next Avenue: Millions of older Americans live on the economic edge—evictions will send them into homelessness
- *McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Nursing home reform bill ‘definitely’ has traction in Congress
- Skilled Nursing News: PRF Release Welcomed as Financial Strain of Staffing Crisis Worsens
- Washington Post: Billions of Dollars in Pandemic Aid for Hospitals and Nursing Homes is Being Handed Out
- New York Times: Letter to the Editor: The Use of Antipsychotic Drugs in Nursing Homes
III. What’s On Our Radar — this week’s likely priorities:
- Specifics in House reconciliation legislation; push to keep aging services a priority in House and as bill moves to Senate with Sept. 27 deadline looming
- Details from CMS on specifics relating to vaccine mandates
- Impact of vaccine mandates on staff
IV. National Statements & Products (all posted on the Press Room page):
