FILED ON: 7/5/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4460

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act establishing a task force on Massachusetts older adults of all incomes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. (a) There shall be established a task force on older adults of all incomes, which shall study older adults, aged 60 years or older, and subpopulations of such older adults in the Commonwealth. Said study shall include, but not be limited to: a demographic and geographic profile for the aging population; program and support needs related to aging; the retirement and paid and unpaid work status of older adults and; the ways in which older adults  engage meaningfully with their communities and environments. The task force shall: (i) identify the current and future needs of the older adult population and; (ii) make recommendations for strategies to achieve a balanced array of culturally competent services and opportunities for older adults across all income levels to ensure such individuals are able to meet needs consistent with their choices, finances and functional abilities.

(b) The task force shall consist of 13 members as follows: the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on elder affairs or their designees, who shall serve as co-chairs; the secretary of elder affairs or a designee; the assistant secretary for MassHealth or a designee; the secretary of veterans’ services or a designee, the director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston or a designee; the president of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation or a designee; the president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts or a designee; 1 older adult board member of a local council on aging, who shall be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging and who shall not be an employee or paid consultant of the Association or of a local council on aging or of a senior center; 1 older adult member of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, who shall not be an employee or paid consultant of the Senior Action Council; 1 member of AARP Massachusetts, who shall not be an employee or paid consultant of AARP; 1 older adult member of the Multicultural Coalition on Aging, who shall be an individual member of the Coalition and who shall not be an employee or paid consultant of the Coalition or of any of its member organizations and; 1 member who shall be an unpaid family or friend caregiver of an older adult.

(c) The task force may establish advisory committees, hold regular public meetings and conduct fact-finding hearings or other public forums as it considers necessary. The task force shall file a report with the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate president and the clerks of the house of representatives and senate not later than eighteen months after the date on which the task force is first convened. The final report shall include, but shall not be limited to, the task force's activities, findings and recommendations for legislation, if any. The task force shall expire on July 31, 2018.