“Age Wave” Attracts Aging Professionals and Then Some to ACUU at Albany Desmond

June 25, 2012 - PRLog -- Albany, NY - The Aging Concerns Unite Us (ACUU) annual conference is an important source of professional development for New York’s offices for aging, but this year another facet of state government attended the two-day event – the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

Why would the New York State Comptroller send staff to an aging conference? Likely for the same reason many others attended – the “age wave.”

In light of expected growth in the senior population, “a small group has been assigned to look at aging and New York State preparedness for aging, said Mary Roylance, who works for the Office of the New York State Comptroller, as she settled into Tuesday’s General Session at The Albany Desmond. Roylance and colleague Adele Banks, also from the Comptroller’s Office, attended the two-day event to learn about the needs of the state’s seniors.

Preparing for the growth of the senior population is on a lot of people’s minds – including apparently the New York State Comptroller – and was one of the themes of this year’s ACUU conference, as was Medicaid Redesign.

“New York State is discovering something we’ve known all along: the Area Agencies on Aging and aging services network help seniors ‘age in place’ rather than be institutionalized,” said Laura Cameron, Executive Director of the New York State Association of Area Agencies on Aging, even organizers. “And as the aging population grows, and costs escalate, the Aging Network will be an invaluable resource for improving care at a lower cost to New York State taxpayers.”

The need for everyone to work more closely in a cost effective manner so that seniors may age comfortably in their homes reached a crescendo at this year’s conference.
“It’s really starting to his home now as the baby boomer population starts to hit 65,” Doug Goggin-Callahan, Director of Education & NYS Policy for the Medicare Rights Center, told a packed house at his  Transitioning Medicare: Taking Confusion out of the Picture workshop.

The 16th annual conference included 32 workshops all together and covered everything from Health Homes – virtual “homes” for high-need individuals who account for a lot of the Medicaid spending – to depression screening for older adults, best practices for the Expanded In Home Services for the Elderly program, understanding the Uniform Assessment System, among others. Each day also included a General Session: Opportunities for the Aging Network and Innovative Programs.

Tuesday’s General Session featured Mark Kissinger, Director of the Long Term Care Division of the NYS Department of Health. He told members of the Aging Network in attendance to value themselves. “Know your costs. Not what’s been paid in the past,” he said. “You are the ones who keep people out of nursing homes. Value yourselves and make sure you negotiate with service providers.”

Sen. David Valesky, Chairman of the NYS Senate Aging Committee, also stopped by and urged the crowd to participate and pay close attention to the process for requesting a waiver to reinvest over a five-year period up to $10 billion of the $17.1 billion in federal savings generated by MRT reforms.  New York’s Medicaid Redesign Team is holding four public forums across the state to gather information for the waiver application.

“I always get so much out of this conference,” Jill Yasses, a specialist with the Genesee County Office for the Aging, said during lunch. “If wasn’t for something like this, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with what’s going on in Medicaid Redesign.”

ACUU ended with a General Session on innovative programs within the Aging Network, including a presentation on 4C Camps for adults in Delaware County. To view an Albany Guardian Society video on the summer camp for older New Yorkers, click on the link. http://youtu.be/JnKjEvy18D4click here.

Sponsors of ACUU included the New York State Office for the Aging, Philips Lifeline, Care Improvement Plus, CDPHP, Doyle Medical Monitoring, Emblem Health and Harmony Information Systems.

For handouts from the ACUU event, click on the link http://nysaaaa.org/acuu/2012%20ACUU/acuu2012_handouts.htm.

About NYSAAAA

The New York State Association of Area Agencies on Aging represents the state’s local offices for the aging established under the federal Older Americans Act to respond to the needs of Americans age 60 and over. The Association provides professional development and education that includes the annual Aging Concerns Unite Us (ACUU) conference, webinars, regional caregiver forums and a fall Leadership Institute. The Association works to strengthen and expand long term services and supports to individuals so they may age in place in the community.  A core philosophy is to work in collaboration with other agencies, which is accomplished through the Aging Alliance, a coalition of organizations representing Older New Yorkers. Looking to the future, the Board of Directors has approved a new name, the Association on Aging in New York, to create a more cohesive and inclusive network to address the diverse needs of an aging population, as well as individuals of all ages needing long term services and supports. For more information, go to http://www.nysaaaa.org The new web site will soon be operational at www.agingny.org