CMA, NSCLC announce “Justice Partnership”

The Center for Medicare Advocacy and the National Senior Citizens Law Center announce a new affiliation called the “Justice Partnership“. Thegroups are planning a major conference in Washington, DC to focusadvocates and policymakers on the challenges facing lower income olderpeople and people with disabilities. The conference will take placethis October.

For two decades the Center forMedicare Advocacy and the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC)have worked together. The two organizations have shared histories,interrelated missions, and have successfully collaborated insignificant litigation, projects, and grants to advance the rights ofolder people and people with disabilities.

The Justice Partnershipgrows out of a mutual concern that the safety net for older Americans,created over the last several decades, is unraveling. By collaboratingmore closely, both organizations will strengthen their ability toadvance the legal rights of lower-income older people and people withdisabilities and to ensure fair access to quality health care. Thepartnership comes as Michael Kelly takes the helm as NSCLC’s newexecutive director.

Kelly says he is excited aboutthis new affiliation, “Together we will be able to tackle importantwork for our clients that neither organization could take on alone.”Judith Stein, executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacyagrees. “The Justice Partnership will expand our geographic horizons, our expertise, and our ability to solve the real problems of real people,” says Ms. Stein.

In celebration of the NationalSenior Citizens Law Center’s 35th anniversary and the Center forMedicare Advocacy’s 21st anniversary, the first major venture of the Justice Partnershipwill be a national conference about challenges facing lower-incomeolder people.  The conference will be held at the Kaiser FamilyFoundation in Washington, DC on October 19th. It will assembleadvocates, policy-makers, and academicians to examine creativesolutions to meet the needs of an aging society.