Governor Hochul Announces Stakeholder Advisory Committee for New York State’s Master Plan for Aging

Governor Kathy Hochul as we speak introduced the stakeholder committee tasked with advising the Master Plan for Aging Council, which is creating the state’s first-ever Master Plan for Aging, a guiding doc to assist guarantee older New Yorkers can reside wholesome, fulfilling lives whereas growing older with dignity and independence. The 28 members named to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee will present their experience on age-friendly insurance policies, helps and well being companies to information the Master Plan for Aging Council because it develops a complete roadmap for assembly the socioeconomic wants of all generations of New Yorkers as they age.

“All New Yorkers deserve to age in their community with dignity and independence,” Governor Hochul stated. “The input provided by these stakeholders will provide the framework for the Master Plan for Aging and guide our efforts to ensure aging New Yorkers have access to quality long term care in healthy, livable communities where they can thrive.”

The advisory committee of stakeholders will make sure that the main specialists and the general public at massive have sturdy enter into the plan and finally assist set up tips for age-friendly insurance policies to offer alternatives for New Yorkers of all ages. Representatives embody well being care and help service suppliers; customers; casual caregivers; older adults – significantly these in communities experiencing disparities; well being plan corporations, labor and community-based organizations, employers, specialists on growing older, and educational researchers, amongst others.

The committee is tasked with contemplating suggestions and enter from peer specialists of their respective fields through a sequence of stakeholder engagement periods. In addition, the committee will have interaction in regional listening periods within the coming months, offering a possibility for direct enter from the general public on points that matter to them in addition to proposed options.

Last month, Governor Hochul signed an Executive Order establishing the Master Plan for Aging Council and tasking it with gathering enter from related stakeholders to draft steering for constructing wholesome, livable communities that provide alternatives for older adults. The council is chaired by state Department of Health Deputy Commissioner for Aging and Long-Term Care Adam Herbst, with Office for the Aging Director Greg Olsen serving as vice-chair, and related state company commissioners and administrators as its membership.

The council outlined the framework for the stakeholder committee’s make-up at its inaugural assembly earlier this month. The Stakeholder Advisory Committee consists of:

New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett stated, “I want to commend Governor Hochul for building on the State’s long history of providing a wide range of long-term care services and supports by working to create the State’s first Master Plan for Aging. The establishment of this Advisory Committee will go a long way towards our vision of a long-term care system that is inexpensive, accessible, and capable of meeting the particular needs and expectations of each person it serves.”

New York State Office for the Aging Director Greg Olsen stated, “New York has long been a leader in coordinating age-friendly policies across state agency programs and policies, from age-friendly community infrastructure to mental health supports, economic development to community-based services, and dozens of other interrelated areas. Thanks to Governor Kathy Hochul, the State’s Master Plan for Aging process is now pursuing an unprecedented level of coordination, bringing together experts from across the lifespan on a roadmap of new opportunities for New Yorkers as they age, recognizing that age-friendly communities are communities that support the entire family, regardless of age.”

New York State Department of Health Deputy Commissioner for Aging and Long-Term Care Adam Herbst stated, “Governor Hochul has empowered us to build a system of supports for aging that will be effective, efficient, and transparent. Through the Master Plan for Aging, the Office of Aging and Long-Term Care will partner with the Stakeholder Advisory Committee to consider the whole person as we champion the wellness of aging New Yorkers. The Master Plan for Aging gives us the opportunity to consider the intersection between factors like workforce, housing, historic inequities, and family support in crafting an aging system that works for all.”

Governor Hochul continues to champion initiatives to construct a extra age-friendly New York, which was designated as the primary age-friendly state within the nation by AARP and the World Health Organization in 2017. This 12 months’s price range supplies $181.5 million in state funding and $114.9 million in federal funding for Office for the Aging applications supporting the independence of New York’s older adults and their caregivers.

Governor Hochul additionally teamed with the state Legislature to increase eligibility for older adults Medicaid and the Medicare Savings Program. For New Yorkers aged 65 and up, the revenue limits will improve to 138 % of the federal poverty degree to make sure that extra New Yorkers have entry to dependable, reasonably priced well being protection.