LeverAGE

10 states in the US have authorized Medical Aid in Dying legislation, and several more are have introduced it. On this episode of Leverage, Kim Callinan of Compassion + Choices and Dr. Chandana Banerjee of City of Hope talk with ASA’s Leanne Clark-Shirley about what Medical Aid in Dying means, how they see it as part of the continuum of care for people at end of life, and what providers and patients alike should know.

Hosted by: Leanne Clark Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership at ASA

Guests:
Kim Callinan, President and CEO, Compassion & Choices
Dr. Chandana Banerjee, Department of Supportive Care Medicine, City of Hope 

Resources:

• Event: City of Hope End of Life Symposium 
• Understanding Medical Aid in Dying
• In Your State 
• End-of-Life Information Packets

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias impact more than 6 million families, with 15 million projected to be affected by 2050. Although we’re learning that it is possible to reduce the risk of dementia and slow the rate of cognitive decline, we do not yet have a national effort focused on prevention. Kelly O’Brien from UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and Dr. David Hoffman of Maria College and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors talk about why we need a national dementia prevention goal, and how public-private partnerships can advance the fight against Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Hosted by: Leanne Clark-Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership at the American Society on Aging with Peter Kaldes, President & CEO of the American Society on Aging

Guests:

• Kelly O’Brien, Executive Director, Brain Health Partnership, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s
• David Hoffman, DPS, CCE, Associate Dean for Academic Initiatives and Government Affairs, Maria College, additional faculty appointments with Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College and University at Albany School of Public Health and Associate at Large Director, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors

Resources:

• A Shared National Goal to Reduce Dementia Prevalence 
• Call for a National Dementia Prevention Goal
• Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission 
• Public members of the advisory council on Alzheimer's research, care and services: 2020 recommendations

A large share of healthcare costs results from unplanned hospitalizations, many of which happen as a result of chronic diseases among older patients. But acute care doesn’t necessarily need to happen in the hospital. Innovative models are successfully responding to unplanned acute health episodes among older people, and interrupting care trajectories that typically lead to hospitalizations.

This LeverAGE episode covers initiatives like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new Acute Hospital Care at Home program, and West Health’s collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to develop innovative responses to older adults’ unplanned acute health events. These innovative models not only address costs, but also can improve health outcomes.

Host: Leanne Clark-Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership, American Society on Aging

Guests:

• Bruce Leff, MD, is professor of Medicine and director of The Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, [email protected]
• Amy Stuck, PhD, RN, is senior director of Value-Based Acute Care at the West Health Institute in San Diego. Contact, [email protected]

This episode was sponsored by West Health Policy Center

Resources:

• Generations Journal Vol. 43, Supplement 1, “Older Adults and America's Healthcare Cost Crisis” 
• The Hospital at Home Users Group
• Technical Assistance Center 
• West Health - Home and Community-Based Acute Care 
• Improved Cost and Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries Dispositioned From the ED to Receive Home Health Care Compared With Inpatient Hospitalization 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth and virtual care was growing, slowly. But since last March, telehealth use has skyrocketed as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quickly expanded access to telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries, and many private insurers followed suit. Healthcare organizations that had already adopted value-based care models were able to pivot to telehealth more quickly. In this episode of LeverAGE, ASA talks with a panel of experts about why that’s the case, how the use of virtual care has grown among older patients, what barriers still exist and what healthcare leaders and policymakers should do to remove those barriers and encourage growth in a sustainable way.

Host: Leanne Clark Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership, American Society on Aging

Guests:

•  Amy Herr, MHS, Director of Health Policy, West Health Policy Center, [email protected]
• Michael Kurliand, Director of Telehealth, West Health Institute, [email protected] 
• Jennifer DeYoung, Director of Policy, Building Blocks of Health Reform, United States of Care, [email protected] 

This episode was sponsored by West Health Policy Center

Resources:

• West Health is a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable successful aging. Solely funded by philanthropists Gary and Mary West, West Health includes the Gary and Mary West Foundation and the Gary and Mary West Health Institute in San Diego, and the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington, DC. 
• United States of Care is a nonpartisan organization committed to ensuring that everyone has access to quality, affordable healthcare. The organization aims to drive a unique cross-sector, people-centered approach to prioritizing, creating and advancing state and federal policies that meet the needs of people and result in a more equitable healthcare system.
• Playbook—Older Adults’ Experience of Virtual Care: Action Steps to Increase Access and Equity 
• Gary and Mary West PACE
• Avera eCARE Senior Care
• Landmark Health

Prescription drug prices are at unprecedented levels. There is a huge human impact to not being able to afford medications: according to a new study by West Health, over 1.1 million people insured by Medicare could die over the next decade because they cannot afford their prescription medications. For some time, drug spending in Medicare Parts D and B has grown faster than overall Medicare spending. Rather than negotiate drug prices itself, Medicare allows private insurers to negotiate prices on its behalf for pharmacy drugs under the Medicare Part D program. For drugs administered by physicians under the Medicare Part B program, Medicare currently pays whatever manufacturers charge, with no negotiation at all. This episode covers how negotiation rules could better serve patients and taxpayers, and what policy strategies might help drive costs down.

Host: Leanne Clark Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership, American Society on Aging

Guest: Ameet Sarpatwari, PhD, JD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Assistant Director of the Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL) within the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. [email protected]

This episode was sponsored by West Health Policy Center

Resources

• Generations Supplement Article: A Modest Proposal: Negotiate Medicare Drug Prices
• High Drug Prices and Patient Costs: Millions of Lives and Billions of Dollars Lost 
• Competition and price among brand-name drugs in the same class: A systematic review of the evidence 
• H.R. 3 Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act 

High healthcare costs, social isolation, loneliness, food insecurity, malnutrition and issues related to housing have impacted older people for decades, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made these issues even worse. In this episode of LeverAGE, we explore America’s healthcare cost crisis, and common-sense ways to lower costs and enhance care for all Americans as we age. We also cover the latest developments in California’s statewide effort to build a Master Plan for Aging, a 10-year blueprint that will help guide state government, local communities, private organizations and philanthropies to build environments that promote healthy aging. California is among the first in a handful of states to build a plan in response to our society’s aging, following a process that can serve as a model for other states and the federal government to follow.

Host: Peter Kaldes, CEO of the American Society on Aging

Guests:

• Shelley Lyford is President and Chief Executive Officer of West Health, Gary and Mary West Foundation, and West Health Institute; and Board Director of Gary and Mary West Foundation.
• Timothy A. Lash, MBA, is Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of West Health; President of West Health Policy Center; CEO and President of Gary and Mary West PACE; and Board Director of Gary and Mary West Foundation. 

This episode was sponsored by West Health Policy Center

Resources

• Generations | Winter 2019-20 | Older Adults and America's Healthcare Cost Crisis
• New COVID-19 Vaccine Site for Vulnerable Seniors at West PACE in San Marcos
• Inside California’s New Master Plan for Aging: An Opportunity for Reimagining and Reform

ASA Public Policy Committee co-chairs Paul Downey and Amy Herr host this episode of LeverAGE, talking with guests Michael Adams, Rebecca Morgan and Joyce L. Walker about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and ageism in the political world.

Hosts:
Paul Downey, President and CEO, Serving Seniors and ASA board member
Amy Herr, Director, Health Policy, West Health and ASA board member

Guests: 
Michael Adams, CEO of SAGE and Chair of ASA's Board of Directors; Rebecca Morgan, Boston Asset Management Chair in Elder Law, Stetson University School of Law and ASA board members; and Joyce L Walker Vice President of Community Development at PK Management LLC and ASA board member.

Please note: This episode was recorded in December 2020

Host and ASA CEO, Peter Kaldes, is joined on LeverAGE by Nkenge Harmon Johnson, the President and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, Oregon. The mission of  Urban League of Portland is to empower African-Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security and quality of life.

The Urban League of Portland's adult and senior services program is the only one in the state focused on providing services for older African Americans and is the only Urban League chapter in the nation to host a senior activity center where elders can visit Monday-Friday (pre-COVID). ULPDX continues to provide services and supports remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peter and Nkenge discuss her work at the Portland chapter of the Urban League and how they continued to support their community during both COVID-19 and the recent Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, as well as the federal response.

Mentioned in this episode:
Planning an Inclusive Car March

In this episode of LeverAGE, host Peter Kaldes, President & CEO of ASA, is joined by Dr. Leanne Clark-Shirley, Vice President of Thought Leadership at ASA, and Michael Adams, CEO of SAGE and Chair of ASA's Board of Directors, to discuss the Senate Confirmation Hearing for Supreme Court Nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. They address potential issues and cases the Supreme Court will hear in the coming weeks and months, and the impact of their decisions on older Americans.

Peter then interviews Bill Rivera, Senior Vice President for Litigation at AARP Foundation, about what's at stake in the Supreme Court for older adults and what Barrett's nomination might mean for older adults.  Rivera and his team at AARP Foundation recently published The Supreme Court 2020: What’s at Stake for Older Adults in America; A Preview of the 2020 Term. Peter and Bill explore a few of the cases that will be on the Supreme Court docket.

ASA recently shared Five questions to ask the Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Generations Now.

Host Peter Kaldes, President & CEO of ASA, welcomes Paula Basta, Director of the Illinois Department on Aging, to Leverage to revisit the 2020 Panel of Pundits.

Presented on September 8, Panel of Pundits 2020: The Decision Year, was moderated by Bob Blancato and featured Rich Browdie, Former President and CEO, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging; Jay Newton-Small, Co-founder and CEO, MemoryWell, Washington correspondent for TIME Magazine, and Journalist for Bloomberg News; Joel White, Founder and President, Horizon Government Affairs, LLC; John Zogby, Founder and Senior Partner, John Zogby Strategies; as well as Peter Kaldes.

In this episode, Peter and Paula listen to the Panel of Pundits, explore some of its topics and Paula weighs in with her views.

Mentioned in this episode:
Five questions to ask the Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett