Project 2020 Introduced in House and Senate

June 12, 2009

It is with great excitement that we announce that the Senate and House introduced “Project 2020: Building on the Promise of Home and Community-Based Services” The Senate bill is (S. 1257). The House bill number has not yet been introduced. The legislation builds on the success of the Aging Services Network and is the result of a more than year-long partnership between NASUA and n4a.

We are proud to say that Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), key members of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced Project 2020 on the Senate side. Congressman Bruce L. Braley (D-IA) and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) will introduce Project 2020 on the House side; both are members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. We especially want to thank our friends in Washington, Iowa, Michigan and Maryland for all of their work developing their Senators’ and Congressmen’s support for the proposal.

We are also pleased to let you know that n4a and NASUA staff are continuing our efforts with the key health reform leaders—including staff for Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee, and Chairman Ted Kennedy of the HELP Committee—to advance Project 2020 as a part of broader health reform legislation.

Next Steps

While we are extremely proud of the introduction of the legislation, now more than ever is when we need your support in order to ensure that Project 2020 is included as a part of health reform legislation currently being debated by the House and Senate. We appreciate the extraordinary pressure that you are currently under and hope that you will make the time to help us fulfill our joint promise to you that we will advance this critical legislation.

If you would like to help on Project 2020, please join out blog to find out more.

Thank you for your support and leadership, without it we would not be where we are today. Please continue to help us to deliver on the promise of Project 2020.

Sandy Markword and Martha Roherty

Next Steps for Project 2020

We are pleased to announce that Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington-D) has agreed to sponsor Project 2020 in the next Congress the legislation has been drafted. n4a and NASUA have helped to circulate the draft on behalf of Senator Cantwell and we have received excellent suggestions for improving the overall bill. We are also hopeful to be able to soon announce a Republican sponsor for the legislation.

Over the past several months, Sandy Markwood, Executive Director of n4a and Martha Roherty, Executive Director of NASUA have given numerous presentations on Project 2020 and its importance. We have had the opportunity to reach thousands of concerned advocates in the Aging Services Network.

We encourage all of you to follow the progress of Project 2020 and submit your thoughts and questions on the legislation to us.

Working Together to Build Upon a Promise

In just 12 short years from now, in the year 2020, almost one in six Americans will be age 65 or older and the size of the age 85 or older population will have doubled.

That is why the National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) have joined forces on the PROJECT 2020 initiative, which is a coordinated national long-term care campaign to enable the Aging Services Network to strengthen and build upon the non-Medicaid community-based care system embodied in the Older Americans Act-while reducing federal Medicaid and Medicare costs.

To achieve this major policy initiative, n4a and NASUA have developed this blog for advocates, policymakers, caregivers, seniors and individuals with disabilities. As PROJECT 2020 moves forward, additional materials and resources will be added.

We look forward to working with all of you on PROJECT 2020. Together, we can build on the promise of home and community-based services before we reach 2020.