Gerontology Institute Publishes Special Journal of Aging & Social Policy on Health Care Reform

In April, the Taylor-Francis publishing group released a special issue of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy devoted to the topics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), long-term care, and elders.

This special issue, edited by UMass Boston’s Associate Professor of Gerontology Edward A. Miller, comprises nine critical essays which explore the effectiveness of the ACA in addressing these challenges and analyze whether its provisions will result in meaningful or marginal health care reform.

The ACA, signed into law by President Obama in March 2010, includes several provisions that aim to improve prevailing deficiencies in the nation’s long-term care system. The most prominent long-term care provision of the act is the now suspended Consumer Living Assistance Services and Supports Act. Other provisions include incentives and options for expanding home- and community-based care, a number of research and demonstration projects in the areas of chronic care coordination and the dually eligible, and nursing home quality reforms. There are also elements that seek to improve workforce recruitment and retention, in addition to benefit improvements and spending reductions under Medicare.

The Gerontology Institute at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies provides editorial leadership for the Journal of Aging & Social Policy, a peer reviewed, quarterly journal published by the Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis. The Journal is distinguished by its emphasis on policy and a significant portion of its editorial content and circulation is international.

For more information on the Journal of Aging and Social Policy and to view this issue, visit http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wasp20/current