Jen Olsen, DrPH

Orange box with white text "If it sounds too good to be true (for caregivers)...it probably is

Yesterday, on the 60th anniversary of #Medicare + #Medicaid, CMS sent out an email creating false hope for many #caregivers with subject line "Did you know Medicare covers caregiver training?" Cue an image of a jumbo check & balloons showing up at your door

open.substack.com/pub/caradigm...

Medicare at 60: President Johnson’s signature brought life to President Truman’s vision The two presidents were friends who agreed on the need for ‘a healthier, stronger country.’

This @medicaleconomics.bsky.social interview with Clifton Truman Daniel (grandson of President Truman) #Medicare & #Medicaid origin story is a valuable read as we mark the 60th anniversary of President Johnson signing the legislation www.medicaleconomics.com/view/medicar...

This great primer on OAA from @ncoaging.bsky.social made me think about all the ways this key legislation is like the bevels on a diamond ring

caradigmshift.substack.com/p/a-diamond-...

Picture of solitaire diamond ring from a side view on orange background with text

How the Older Americans Act 60th anniversary makes me think about diamond rings
caradigmshift.substack.com/p/a-diamond-...
#OAA #olderadults #olderamericansact #caregivers

Prolonged Emergency Department Stays for Older US Adults This cross-sectional analysis investigates prolonged emergency department (ED) stays and ED boarding times among older US adults stratified by health care site type.

New research from @bidmcreseach.bsky.social validates the experience of millions of #familycaregivers: the amount of time #olderadults hold in emergency department is increasing (and this was before the #OBBBA was signed into law).
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

You should never judge one's risk threshold for COVID based on what you think you know about them. Physical health is just one factor, there's also

-social supports
-financial
-caregiving responsibilities
-mental health & invisible illnesses

Be curious & have compassion

That's after they already solved food insecurity and care for aging family members

2nd #measles case in #cville

Agree, definitely a leading indicator especially in rural areas where data are sparse

Going deep on LIHEAP What it is, why it matters, and how it impacts you (yes, you!)

Plenty of programs that impact #familycaregivers remain on the chopping block like LIHEAP (which I wrote about here: open.substack.com/pub/caradigm...), vaccine access, food assistance, disease prevention, health education, disease surveillance, etc, etc, etc

Could the very small, teeny, tiny (in relative terms) amount of $ that goes to #olderadult and #caregiver programs avoid being cut? The answer is a definite maybe. @kff.org analysis "...difficult to assess whether funding for any of the former ACL’s functions will be scaled back or terminated."

Sometimes you might hear about diseases or outbreaks and think "I don't have to worry about that, its not near me" Below details of #measles case in #cville (from VA DoH). Your local reminder that diseases don't stop spreading when #publichealth stops getting funded

Massively cutting Medicaid and SNAP isn’t the only way to find savings. We could just forgo tax cuts for Americans making over $500K instead.

My @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social Chart

After reading too much news, turned to @doriskgoodwin.bsky.social Team of Rivals for hope "To Lincoln's mind, the fundamental test of a democracy was its capacity to 'elevate the condition of men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all'."

Beautiful sentiment within an #obituary about a couple's relationship enduring thru #Alzheimers "It was through their example – always and during this challenging time, in particular – that their children learned the power of love, humility, humor, and hard work rooted in faith." #caregiver

In 2025, new role models must be more than builders. We need system-designers.
Not one home at a time, but thousands.
Not just raising walls, but reimagining the blueprint.

Rosalynn taught us to care by doing.
The next model must scale that care, without losing the soul in the structure.

Home State Health Insurance Assistance Programs provides free insurance counseling and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries, their families, friends, and caregivers.

Here's list of state-based orgs that provide unbiased Medicare assistance www.shiphelp.org

Here's a blog explaining how service works and why it matters medicare.chir.georgetown.edu/ships-provid...

Sadly, this a program that's at risk of losing all funding due to HHS cuts via elimination of ACL

Nurses Share Insider Tips for Your Next Hospital Visit

Here's accessible link to this invaluable resource for #caregivers from @nytimes. Read this while sitting on that uncomfortable bedside chair: Nurses Share Insider Tips for Your Next Hospital Visit www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/w...

More administrative barriers also opens the door for more fraudsters to provide "assistance" to people trying to make decisions and get coverage

What The House Medicaid Bill Means For Older Adults And Their Families Low-income workers who leave their jobs or reduce their hours to care for loved ones risk losing their own Medicaid benefits.

As Howard Gleckman thoughtfully points out, there are more questions than answers for #familycaregivers regarding #medicaid changes regarding work requirement: www.forbes.com/sites/howard...

Of "small slice of nonworking adults who can be considered able-bodied....they are exceptionally poor women on the older end of the working-age spectrum, who have no income of their own & live in poor families. Most have less than a HS education & left the workforce to take care of family members"

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:

1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.

It’s time more people understood this.

The Firm Running Georgia’s Struggling Medicaid Experiment Was Also Paid Millions to Sell It to the Public Deloitte Consulting is taking in tens of millions in tax dollars to build, manage and market Georgia’s Medicaid work requirement program. Yet only 3% of eligible residents have enrolled.

As Congressional Republicans push for Medicaid work requirements, here’s how it’s going in Georgia:

Deloitte Consulting is taking in tens of millions in tax dollars to manage the country’s only Medicaid work requirement program — and sell it to the public.

Only 3% of those eligible have enrolled.

It's also a #familycaregiver penalty-if you are full-time (or in reality more than full-time) caring for someone, you may not be able to seek other employment. BTW enabling family caregivers to have access to SNAP benefits is cost-saving approach because it reduces medical institutionalization costs

Going deep on LIHEAP What it is, why it matters, and how it impacts you (yes, you!)

There are so many acronyms in Federal #health budget talk. I decided to go deep on #LIHEAP, a program that directly impacts nearly 7 million households (inc. many #olderadults) who have to decide between "heat and eat" every freezing winter & scorching summer open.substack.com/pub/caradigm...

It's really incredible to see brands recognizing that holidays may not be happy for everyone, and that the inundation of marketing emails may be triggering/challenging/upsetting. So far, I've seen #Etsy and #DraperJames with messages about opting out of #mothersday content. #empathy #toxicpositivity

Today's lesson: Don't go berry 🍓 picking on a weekday morning unless you want to hear antivaxxer moms boast about all they learned from Instagram reels about measles 😤

This isn't just a Federal budget, as anyone who has worked with a health department knows all too well: "CDC passes about ¾ of its budget to state and local health departments. The greatest suffering from cuts to CDC would be felt not in Atlanta but in states and localities across the country."

The Cruelty of the OMB Budget Proposal: An Advocacy Guide to Public Health True priorities are revealed in a budget.

Here's a thoughtful analysis on how the proposed Federal budget impacts #publichealth and the populations served (or formerly served)

Budgets are reflections of a government's values😞

open.substack.com/pub/healthsc...

This info was presented by @brian-goldstone.bsky.social, citations may be in his book