Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce legislation, with my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, that would reauthorize the only federally funded programs specifically designed to develop a health provider workforce to care for older Americans. The Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act would reauthorize the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, known as GWEP, and also reinstate the Geriatric Academic Career Awards program, known as GACA. The number of Americans aged 65 and older is growing rapidly. In Maine, we are reaching an aging milestone faster than other States--by 2020, the number of seniors is projected to outnumber children. This is 15 years aheadV the national projected date of 2035, at which point the number of Americans 65 and older will outnumber those under age 18 for the first time in U.S. history. The United States is facing a critical shortage of geriatric health professionals and direct service workers to support our aging population. Today, we need 20,000 geriatricians; however, fewer than 7,300 of our Nation's nearly one million physicians are board-certified geriatricians. By 2030, we will need 3.1,000 geriatricians and even more geriatric health professionals and direct service workers. We need to train 1,600 geriatricians per year over the next 12 years to reach the targeted need by 2030. As many as 90 percent of older adults are expected to have one or more chronic health conditions.…”