News/Press Releases

• At #AGS18, @WeillCornell’s Dr. Tony Rosen will be honored for #geriatrics research reviewing programs with potential to combat abuse of older adults in communities across U.S. http://ow.ly/KI6t30jsnJo

New York (April 12, 2018)—Advancing care for older people across health specialties, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Tony Rosen, MD, MPH—Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Attending Emergency Physician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center—will receive this year’s Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for Emerging Investigators in the Surgical and Related Medical Specialties. Presented at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18, held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.), the award will recognize Dr. Rosen for a comprehensive review of programs to address the abuse of older individuals that he and colleagues conducted.

“Expanding access to the care we all need as we age means forging new in-roads for geriatrics across all healthcare specialties,” noted AGS Board Chair Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF. “As an emergency medicine physician with an interest in older adult care, Dr. Rosen’s career—and his expertise—help to exemplify that need, and how we hope to meet those needs at the AGS.”

• Dr. Heather Whitson, leading #geriatrics clinician-investigator in promoting resilience and recovery as we age, to deliver prestigious @AmerGeriatrics Yoshikawa Lecture at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/ahSB30jbkEl

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology at the Duke University School of Medicine and Deputy Director at Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, will be honored with the 2018 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation. A past program chair for the AGS annual conference, Dr. Whitson will deliver a plenary presentation on individualizing health and promoting resilience in medically complex older adults as part of the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.).

“Dr. Whitson is not only recognized nationally as a leading geriatrics researcher but also as a creative and compassionate clinician,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair. “That blend of expertise at the lab bench and in the clinic and classroom reflects everything we have come to expect from AGS members.”

Geriatrics health professionals remain concerned that increasing costs for people in their 50s and 60s and expanding access to insurance lacking minimum protections could raise costs and jeopardize care quality.

New York (Mar. 13, 2018)—Experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed concern over recent proposals by the Trump Administration to increase health insurance costs for older adults purchasing coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace and to expand so-called “short-term,” limited-protection health insurance. Such coverage—which would not be subject to important protections under present law safeguarding essential benefits and coverage for pre-existing conditions—risks increasing costs and the stability of health coverage at a time when more Americans than ever before are poised to benefit from increased longevity thanks to better care.

“We oppose changes that increase costs and impede access to key services for older Americans, families, and caregivers,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA. “We agree that health care can be improved, but that can’t happen with ‘short-term’ solutions that short-change our options, benefits, and costs.”

New York (Feb. 16, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed deep disappointment with proposed cuts that could curtail training for the health professionals we all will need as we age, as well as impede a range of services for older adults—all outlined by President Trump in his budget plan for 2019.

Among several concerns, the AGS noted that the budget would eliminate $451 million from training programs that educate family caregivers, as well as our doctors, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, and many other health professionals essential to our care as we grow older. While Congress has ultimate say on spending, the Trump proposal is already premised on a flawed assumption that “[t]here is little evidence that these programs significantly improve the Nation’s health workforce.”

The AGS remains especially concerned about the potential impact of cuts to the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) under Titles VII and VIII. This is the only federal program aimed at improving the quality, safety, and affordability of our care by increasing the number of professionals with the skills needed to preserve and promote health, safety, and independence for all older Americans.