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Rep. Jim Hackworth - House District 33
IMMEDIATE RELEASE April
17, 2008
Legislation Focusing on Long-Term Care Advances
Bills dealing with credit card offers on college campuses passes House
NASHVILLE (April 17) – This
week the House Health and Human Services Committee advanced a bill that
would help seniors stay at home longer.
“For years, older
Tennesseans had only one choice when it came to retirement and that was
nursing homes,” said State Representative Jim Hackworth. “With
seniors living longer and more independently, we must offer more options
like companion care and in-home assisted living.”
The Long-Term Care
Community Choices Act of 2008 works to improve communication with older
Tennesseans by centralizing information and long-term care resources to
one entity to be controlled by Tennessee’s regional agencies on aging
and disabilities. These primary care centers would advise seniors
of available long-term care services and their specific eligibility.
The new legislation would
also create consumer-directed care options to allow family members,
friend or local neighbors to be hired as in-home caregivers and provide
seniors with the ability to remain at home. Those unable to live at home
would now have more choices beyond a standard nursing home, including
companion care, family-care homes and assisted living facilities.
“The more we do to expand
opportunities for seniors, the better these services can be and a
greater quality of life can be achieved,” said Hackworth.
“These improvements are just the start of what I hope will be a
continued emphasis on improving and expanding long-term care.”
The Long-Term Care
Community Choices Act of 2008 now moves to the House Government
Operations Committee for further consideration.
Bill to
Restrict Credit Card Companies Access to College Passes Unanimously
On Thursday, House Members
voted overwhelmingly to restrict access of college students to credit
card companies looking to recruit new customers.
“Students are not only
leaving college with thousands of dollars of school loans, but thousands
of dollars in credit card debt,” said Hackworth. “Many of
these students are unaware of the dangers that high-interest debt can do
to their long-term financial health, and I believe this bill will
hopefully limit their exposure to this danger.”
Under the new legislation,
credit card companies will not longer be allowed to solicit or offer
gifts for applying to students on campuses or through student
organizations. The bill also requires schools to give students the
opportunity to opt out of receiving solicitations generated from the
school’s student directory. Companies will still be allowed to solicit
during college athletic events, as long as it is in accordance with
college or university policies.
“We must give our students
every opportunity to succeed,” said Hackworth. “College is a time
to learn and we must protect that environment of learning from those who
would exploit our kids and their lack of knowledge.”
The bill is slated to be
taken up later this month in the Senate.
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