William O'Boyle: Casey holds hearing on long-term care for people with Alzheimer's Disease

May 23—U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, this week held a hearing entitled — "Taking Aim at Alzheimer's: Frontline Perspectives and Caregiver Challenges."

The hearing examined the need for long-term services to support individuals living with Alzheimer's disease, and highlighted the need for a bold investment in home and community-based services, both to expand services and lift up this vital workforce.

"More than 800,000 Americans, including adults with dementia, languish on wait lists for services like help with grocery shopping, bathing or housework, sometimes waiting for years on end," said Casey, D-Scranton. "An investment in home and community-based services is long overdue to help families who struggle day in and day out to care for their family members, friends and neighbors. I have heard from Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth, including dementia caregivers, about how important these services are to them. The time is ripe for America to live up to its values and for Congress to act."

More than 6 million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease, including 280,000 Pennsylvanians. In 2020, roughly 11 million individuals provided some form of unpaid care for a person with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, including 500,000 caregivers in Pennsylvania.

Casey invited Katelyn Montanez, a social worker and family caregiver from Ephrata, to testify at the hearing. Mrs. Montanez is a caregiver for her father with younger-onset Alzheimer's disease and is the Advocacy Chair for the Alzheimer's Association's Walk to End Alzheimer's in Lancaster.

"With someone living with Alzheimer's or dementia, consistency of care, including who is providing the care, is essential," Montanez said. "Unfortunately, burnout and turnover are very common with home health aides. Being an aide is hard work with little pay. Aides should be paid more for the work they do and have better access to dementia education and training for their workers."

If aides received proper training to work with individuals living with Alzheimer's and dementia, Montanez said they would have the tools they need to help redirect, would understand common behavioral issues, and it could lead to more successful interactions.

State highlights impact

of dementias on women

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging (PDA), in partnership with the Pennsylvania Commission for Women, this week joined the Alzheimer's Association Delaware Valley and Greater Pennsylvania Chapters for a virtual event focused on Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and their impact on women.

Secretary of Aging Robert Torres gave opening remarks during the virtual event, which also featured a commission member's personal story of a loved one who was diagnosed with the disease, the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer's on women and other health disparities, and the warning signs of the disease and next steps to take.

"There are 280,000 people aged 65 and older who are living with Alzheimer's in Pennsylvania, and that number is expected to increase as the aging population continues to grow," Torres said. "Not only does Alzheimer's disease and other dementias disproportionately affect women, but women are more often caregivers for family members who are living with the disease."

Torers said by knowing the facts and the impact of the disease, "we can create a Pennsylvania that is dementia-friendly and engage our communities to promote a better understanding and awareness."

As part of its State Plan on Aging, the department is also partnering to train the network of Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) care managers and person-center counselors to help them effectively interact and work with individuals living with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders in all stages.

PDA has partnered with the Jewish HealthCare Foundation, the license holder for Dementia Friends Pennsylvania, to work with the department and its Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) Task Force to empower Pennsylvania's communities to become informed, safe and respectful of individuals living with dementia as well as their families and care partners. This work aligns with several goals of the Pennsylvania State Plan for ADRD and the department's four-year State Plan on Aging of ensuring a network of age and dementia-friendly providers and communities throughout Pennsylvania.

AG calls for safeguards to

prevent COVID funding fraud

Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor this week urged the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact state-level safeguards to prevent billions of dollars in federal pandemic recovery aid from being misused through fraud or waste.

Pennsylvania will receive a total of about $55 billion in federal COVID relief aid, according to the state's Independent Fiscal Office. Approximately $7.3 billion in direct aid to the state and $6.2 billion to local governments will come from the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

"Pennsylvania did not win the lottery — these relief funds are our tax dollars," DeFoor said. "If the money is misused, it will be nearly impossible to get it back. Even if we could get it back, it would likely only be pennies on the dollar."

DeFoor called for safeguards at the state level to make sure all ARPA funds that flow through state government are used only as the law allows.

"Pennsylvanians are relying on us to make sure their money is being spent to help communities recover from the economic disaster caused by COVID," DeFoor said. "We need transparency, oversight and accountability for this massive amount of funding — up front, not after the fact."

DeFoor noted that a lack of such safeguards in a previous federal loan program designed to help employers, the Paycheck Protection Program, led to hundreds of millions of dollars being lost to potential fraud, according to federal prosecutors.

Pa. Treasury processing property

tax/rent rebate program payments

Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced this week that the Pennsylvania Treasury Department has started processing payments for the annual Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program.

Eligible Pennsylvanians can still apply through June 30, to receive a rebate this year.

"Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians depend on these payments every year," Garrity said. "To ensure that the payments are made on time, Treasury works with the Department of Revenue to process as many as possible well in advance of the disbursement date, which is set in state law. I urge all eligible Pennsylvanians to apply for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program as soon as possible."

Direct deposit payments are scheduled to be sent to recipients on July 1, while check payments are scheduled to be mailed on June 30. The program benefits about 550,000 Pennsylvanians each year with approximately $250 million in rebate payments.

Garrity encouraged applicants to sign up for the direct deposit option because it is more secure than sending paper checks, it will help ensure that payments are received on time, and it will cut the cost of administering the program.

The Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program benefits Pennsylvanians age 65 and older, widows and widowers age 50 and older, and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The program has annual income limits of $35,000 for homeowners and $15,000 for renters. Half of Social Security income is excluded.

The maximum standard rebate is $650. Some homeowners may qualify for supplemental rebates. The program has paid out $6.9 billion in property tax and rent rebates since it started in 1971.

For more information about eligibility and how to apply for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program, Pennsylvania residents can visit the Department of Revenue's website or call 1-888-222-9109. Applications can be submitted online with the Department's myPATH system.

In-person visitation to resume

at state correctional institutions

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary John Wetzel announced this week that in-person inmate visitation will be phased in at select DOC facilities in the coming days, with remaining facilities to follow.

On-site visits were suspended on March 13, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In-person visitation will first resume at five DOC facilities: SCI Laurel Highlands, SCI Waymart, SCI Muncy, SCI Cambridge Springs, and the Quehanna Boot Camp.

Decisions regarding the reinstatement of in-person visits at each location are based on inmate vaccination rates, percentage of COVID-19 cases among the inmate population, and results from the DOC's wastewater testing program that monitors for elevated levels of the COVID-19 virus.

"Our mission is to reinstate in-person visits while not significantly increasing the number of infections within our facilities," Wetzel said.

To comply with ongoing COVID-19 mitigation requirements, visits must now be scheduled online at least three days in advance.

Available visitation time-slots are determined by each facility, based on an inmate's housing location within the prison. Each visit will be at least one hour in duration.

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