BOSTON, Aug. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Seniorlink, Inc., a leading tech-enabled health services company, is pleased to announce that Lois Simon, Executive Vice President of Policy and Programs, is on a panel in Baltimore, Maryland at the National Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference. The conference, hosted by the National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD), brings together federal, state, and local policymakers, as well as those who administer, manage, and deliver HCBS programs, to discuss innovations in home- and community-based programs. 

As a participant on the panel entitled, “National Family Caregiving Policy – What Might the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, & Engage Family Caregivers Act (RAISE Act) Inspire,” Simon will be discussing the invaluable role of the family caregiver in care management.  The panel will be moderated by Grace Whiting, President and CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving and will also include Laura Sankey, Staff Vice President of Operations for Centene Corporation and Denise Brown, Founder of Caregiving.com as panelists.

The panel, which takes place at 4:15pm on August 28th, will examine the passage of the seminal RAISE Act legislation in January 2018 that rightly recognizes the important role family caregivers play in a value-based healthcare system, and how fully integrating them into the care process can help to deliver high-quality care, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. 

“With the current push toward value-based care, health systems, and managed care and government payers are rethinking care-delivery models and shifting their focus to the home.” Simon said. “If these approaches discount the tremendous value that a supported and engaged family caregiver brings, a huge opportunity will be lost.  

Over 44 million family members sacrifice their time, energy, money and personal health to care for a family member at home in the United States. The RAISE Family Caregivers Act compels the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain, and periodically update a nation-wide strategy to support these family caregivers within the next 18 months. HHS will convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council with the objective of developing the national family caregiving strategy.

More information about Seniorlink can be found at www.seniorlink.com. Details on the HCBS Conference can be found at www.hcbsconference.org.