Issue Position: Advocate for Seniors

Issue Position

Representative Balser serves as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs. Her role as an advocate for seniors, has taken on even greater meaning in the era of COVID-19, a cruel virus primarily targeting seniors. In Massachusetts, 95 % of the deaths due to the virus are in people age 60 and older, with the average age 82. Representative Balser has advocated vigorously that seniors and especially those in long term care facilities get the testing and the resources that are needed for them and for those who care for them. She filed legislation that requires accurate and timely reporting of positive cases and deaths in senior facilities. Governor Baker signed the legislation and it is now Chapter 93 of the Acts of 2020.

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