Senate Appropriations Aug. 16, 02

Senate Rpt.107-216 - DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATION BILL, 2003

Below is information from Thomas.gov summarizing the Senate Appropriations Committee recommendations. Note that a 3 million dollar increase is recommended for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. This would bring the total Title VII funding to $15,449,000. The House is now developing its appropriations recommendations. 

For the summary of all of the Senate recommendations for the Administration on Aging budget go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp107&maxdocs=100&report=sr216.107&sel=TOC_633693&

Administration on Aging
Appropriations, 2002 $1,349,089,000
Budget Estimate, 2003 1,340,986,000
Committee Recommendation 1,383,907,000

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,383,907,000 for aging programs, $34,818,000 more than the fiscal year 2002 comparable funding level and $42,921,000 more than the budget request.

Protection of vulnerable older Americans

The Committee recommends $20,681,000 for grants to States for protection of vulnerable older Americans. Within the Committee recommendation, $15,449,000 is for the ombudsman services program and $5,232,000 is for the prevention of elder abuse program. The amount recommended for the ombudsman services program is $3,000,000 more than the fiscal year 2002 level and the administration request. The amount recommended for the elder abuse prevention program is the same as the fiscal year 2002 level and budget request. Both programs provide formula grants to States to prevent the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older individuals. The ombudsman program focuses on the needs of residents of nursing homes and board and care facilities, while elder abuse prevention targets its message to the elderly community at large.

The Committee recognizes the importance of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program in assisting residents of nursing homes and board and care facilities resolve abuse and neglect complaints. The Committee is aware of the Institute of Medicine's 1995 study which recommended a ratio of 1 ombudsman for every 2,000 nursing home beds to meet the needs of long-term care residents, as well as the DHHS Office of Inspector General's 1999 report recommending additional funding for the program. Therefore, the Committee has provided an increase of $3,000,000 for the Long-Term Ombudsman Program, which will allow the program to hire additional ombudsman staff, expand public information and education campaigns, and upgrade technology.

The Committee supports continued and additional funding for the long-term care ombudsman resource center and its training and clearinghouse functions, which provide information, technical assistance, programmatic, and other support for State and regional long-term care ombudsmen.