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For Immediate Release |
Contact: Todd Kluss |
Sequestration Impasse Carries Steep Price for Seniors, Science
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — is warning that federal budget sequestration will not only diminish many programs and services that older adults need in the near future, but also medical research vital to all Americans’ well-being across their lifespan.
“These arbitrary, automatic funding cuts endanger the economy, jobs, vital research projects, and the ability of millions of vulnerable older Americans to remain independent,” said GSA President Laurence Z. Rubenstein, MD, MPH, FACP. “It is imperative that Congress and the president act quickly to reverse the devastating consequences of the sequestration that begins today.”
With the across-the-board sequestration, it appears that FY 2013 funding will see cuts totaling $85.3 billion, with $31.4 billion in cuts from domestic discretionary programs and $11.2 billion in cuts to Medicare providers. Even though Congress exempted Medicaid and veterans’ health benefits from sequestration, numerous Older Americans Act programs will see a significant decrease in funding.
According to the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, a coalition of which GSA is a founding member, sequestration will have the following adverse effects on senior programs and those they serve: 4 million fewer home-delivered meals; nearly 2 million transportation rides lost;1.5 million seniors denied personal care services; almost 485,000 seniors losing access to health promotion and disease prevention; 290,000 senior households denied Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program assistance; and 114,000 senior households receiving reduced Section 202 unit maintenance and supportive services.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world's leading medical grant agency and home to the National Institute on Aging, will likely lose $1.6 billion. This translates into a 5.1 percent cut to medical research, damaging new research grants in particular — curtailing investigation into cures for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and other ailments.
“It is no coincidence that so many Nobel Prize winners have received NIH funding,” said GSA Executive Director and CEO James Appleby, RPh, MPH. “This money is the key to solutions for so many of the most critical research challenges that we face in basic science, new science, and translational science — and, of course, to all the ongoing work related to specific diseases.”
The NIH is just one of the many agencies that play a role in the important research being conducted across the nation; others include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
“In addition to the millions of Americans of all ages that will be hurt by sequestration, our economy and the jobs, products, and technologies that grow out of federally-funded research will suffer,” Appleby said.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,400+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
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Mildred M. Seltzer Distinguished Service Recognition
Presented to C. Joanne Grabinski, PhD, Eastern Michigan University, and Mary Alice Wolf, PhD, Saint Joseph University.
This award honors colleagues who are near retirement or recently retired. Recipients are individuals who have been actively involved in AGHE through service on committees, as elected officers, and/or have provided leadership in one of AGHE’s grant-funded projects.
Administrative Leadership Award
Presented to Tammy M. Bray, PhD, Oregon State University
This award honors administrators on AGHE member campuses who have made exceptional efforts in support of gerontology or geriatrics education.
David A. Peterson Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Best Paper of the Volume Award
Presented to Nina M. Silverstein, PhD, University of Massachusetts Boston; Elizabeth Johns, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston; and Judith A. Griffin, MA, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the article “Students Explore Livable Communities.” Honorable mention is given to Emily J. Robbins, MS, Miami University; Jennifer M. Kinney, PhD, Miami University; and Cary S. Kart, PhD, Miami University, for the article “Promoting Active Engagement in Health Research: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Gerontology Capstone Course.”
The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in scholarship in academic gerontology in AGHE’s official journal, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education.
Graduate Student Paper Award
Presented to Deborah Gray, MBA, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the paper “Weight and Wealth: The Relationship between Obesity and Net Worth for Pre-Retirement Age Men and Women.”
This award acknowledges excellence in scholarly work conducted by an AGHE Annual Meeting student attendee.
Book Award for Best Children’s Literature on Aging
Presented to Caitlin Dale Nicholson and Leona Morinn-Nelson for “Niwechihaw/I help” in the primary reader (pre-K to 2nd grade) category, and Ann Grifalconi and Jerry Pickney for “Ain’t Nobody A Stranger to Me” in the elementary reader (3rd to 5th grade) category.
This award recognizes portrayals of meaningful aging in children’s literature.