II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4862 

To establish a commission on long-term care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a commission on long-term care. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Our Sen5 iors Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON LONG-TERM CARE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a commission 

8 to be known as the Commission on Long-Term Care (re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 (1) COMPOSITION.— 


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1 (A) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of 12 members, of whom— 

3 (i) 6 shall be appointed by the Presi4 dent; 

5 (ii) 2 shall be appointed by the Speak6 er of the House of Representatives; 

7 (iii) 1 shall be appointed by the mi8 nority leader of the House of Representa9 tives; 

10 (iv) 2 shall be appointed by the major11 ity leader of the Senate; and 

12 (v) 1 shall be appointed by the minor13 ity leader of the Senate. 

14 (B) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member ap15 pointed under subparagraph (A) shall have ex16 perience in one or more of the following areas: 

17 (i) Palliative care. 

18 (ii) Home and community-based serv19 ices delivery. 

20 (iii) Labor and workforce develop21 ment. 

22 (iv) Aging and geriatrics. 

23 (v) Advocating for the disability com24 munity. 

25 (vi) Long-term care insurance. 


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1 (vii) Advocating for patients and care2 givers. 

3 (C) DIVERSITY OF QUALIFICATIONS.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—In making appoint5 ments to the Commission under subpara6 graph (A), the President and the congres7 sional leaders shall make every effort to se8 lect individuals whose qualifications are 

9 not already represented by other members 

10 of the Commission. 

11 (ii) REPRESENTATION OF ALL QUALI12 FICATION AREAS.—If no member of the 

13 Commission has experience in an area 

14 identified in subparagraph (B), the Sec15 retary of Health and Human Services shall 

16 appoint an agency detailee or stakeholder 

17 representative who has experience in such 

18 area to be present for all meetings of the 

19 Commission. 

20 (2) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The appoint21 ments of the members of the Commission shall be 

22 made not later than 90 days after the date of enact23 ment of this Act. 

24 (3) MEMBER TERMS; VACANCIES.— 


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1 (A) MEMBER TERMS.—Members shall be 

2 appointed to the Commission for terms of 6 

3 years (in the case of members appointed by the 

4 President) and 4 years (in the case of all other 

5 members). There shall be no limitation on the 

6 number of terms a member may be appointed 

7 for. 

8 (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 

9 Commission shall not affect its powers, but 

10 shall be filled in the same manner as the origi11 nal appointment. 

12 (4) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall select 

13 a Chairperson for the Commission from among its 

14 members. 

15 (c) MEETINGS.— 

16 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days 

17 after the date on which a majority of the members 

18 of the Commission have been appointed, the Com19 mission shall hold its first meeting. 

20 (2) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

21 the call of the Chairperson. 

22 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

23 the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 

24 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 

25 (d) DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall not 

2 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, and on a yearly basis thereafter, submit policy 

4 recommendations to Congress, the President, appro5 priate Federal agencies, and the public with respect 

6 to the following: 

7 (A) Long-term care coverage for non-Med8 icaid eligible population. 

9 (B) Considerations for aging in place. 

10 (C) Financing options for long-term care 

11 for low and middle income individuals. 

12 (D) Caregiver supports and workforce sta13 bility and preparedness. 

14 (E) Access to comprehensive care, includ15 ing geriatric care as appropriate, coordination 

16 of medical and personal care needs, access to 

17 palliative care as needed, including both concur18 rently with curative treatment for serious illness 

19 or injury and as hospice end-of-life care. 

20 (F) Affordability of services. 

21 (G) Considerations for children and non22 senior adults with disabilities. 

23 (H) Support for adult children caring for 

24 aging parents, including through health bene25 fits, tax credits, and other tax incentives for 


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1 caregivers who are not able to claim their par2 ents as dependents for tax purposes. 

3 (I) Integrating meals, access to basic serv4 ices, wraparound community services. 

5 (J) Reducing hospitalization costs through 

6 increased access to home-based services, includ7 ing with options through the Medicare and 

8 Medicaid programs. 

9 (2) INTERACTION WITH OUTSIDE GROUPS.—In 

10 developing the recommendations under paragraph 

11 (1), the Commission shall regularly consult with— 

12 (A) a wide variety of stakeholder groups; 

13 (B) the Medicare Payment Advisory Com14 mission and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment 

15 and Access Commission; and 

16 (C) State and county aging agencies. 

17 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSE.—Not later 

18 than 6 months after the submission of a report re19 quired under paragraph (1), any Federal agency 

20 that is affected by a recommendation described in 

21 the report shall submit to Congress a report con22 taining the response of the Federal agency to the 

23 recommendation and the plans of the Federal agency 

24 to address the recommendation. 

25 (e) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may hold 

2 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 

3 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

4 the Commission considers advisable to carry out this 

5 Act. The Commission shall have the authority to ex6 ercise these powers via video conference or other re7 mote technology as it determines to be appropriate. 

8 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

9 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed10 eral department or agency such information as the 

11 Commission considers necessary to carry out this 

12 Act. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Com13 mission, the head of such department or agency 

14 shall furnish such information to the Commission. 

15 (3) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may 

16 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

17 under the same conditions as other departments and 

18 agencies of the Federal Government. 

19 (4) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use, 

20 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop21 erty so long as such gifts or donations are publicly 

22 disclosed. 

23 (f) COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

24 (1) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the 

25 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Sep 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4862.IS S4862

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1 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author2 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of 

3 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

4 away from their homes or regular places of business 

5 in the performance of services for the Commission. 

6 (2) STAFF.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

8 Commission may, without regard to the civil 

9 service laws and regulations, appoint and termi10 nate an executive director and such other addi11 tional personnel as may be necessary to enable 

12 the Commission to perform its duties. The em13 ployment of an executive director shall be sub14 ject to confirmation by the Commission. 

15 (B) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of 

16 the Commission may fix the compensation of 

17 the executive director and other personnel with18 out regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

19 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relat20 ing to classification of positions and General 

21 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay 

22 for the executive director and other personnel 

23 may not exceed the rate payable for level V of 

24 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

25 such title. 


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1 (3) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—At 

2 the discretion of the relevant agency, any Federal 

3 Government employee may be detailed to the Com4 mission without reimbursement, and such detail 

5 shall be without interruption or loss of civil service 

6 status or privilege. 

7 (4) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER8 MITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Com9 mission may procure temporary and intermittent 

10 services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 

11 States Code, at rates for individuals that do not ex12 ceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

13 pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule 

14 under section 5316 of such title. 

15 (g) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—The Com16 mission shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

20 as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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