Hear from LeadingAge National’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy Advocacy Ruth Katz and her assessment of the dynamics at work for this interesting election year. She will also discuss the policy work LeadingAge is doing on the national level in a year like no one could have imagined!

• Review current context, legislation and executive branch activity affecting federal programs that provide financing for aging services and housing providers.
• Discuss the changing public policy environment and future outlook for health care and long-term services and supports.
• Learn what LeadingAge is doing to advance policy priorities and how your organization can be involved in advocacy efforts.

Ruth Katz, Senior Vice President of Public Policy Advocacy, LeadingAge National 
Ruth Katz is Senior Vice President for Public Policy at LeadingAge, where she is responsible for leading strategy on public policy and advocacy to advance the nonprofit’s public policy agenda.  She works with LeadingAge leadership, state affiliates and members to solve policy challenges and find solutions that free providers to deliver high quality services to older people. The policy office works on affordable housing, health care quality, managed and integrated care, survey and certification issues, elder justices and other important concerns.  Prior to joining LeadingAge, Ruth was a longtime senior executive at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).  As Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, she led a group that focused on the development and execution of policy research and analysis for programs in aging, long term care and disability.  The Advisory Group for the National Alzheimer’s Project Act is led within this group.  Over many years, Ruth’s group initiated and led  programs, surveys, and initiatives, including serving as the initial lead on CLASS implementation (and the lead on its conclusion), the Cash and Counseling Demonstration (the first consumer directed long-term care program), the only nationally representative survey of CNAs, the caregiver supplement to the National Health and Aging Trends Survey, and the development of a model for estimating participation in and costs of long-term care reform proposals.