Enid Kassner, M.S.W., is Director of Independent Living and Long-Term Services and Supports for the AARP Public Policy Institute. She oversees research and policy development that focus on expanding consumer access and choice to an array of affordable long-term services and supports options, with an emphasis on improving home- and community-based services, supporting family caregivers, and making communities more livable. The mission of the AARP Public Policy Institute is to inform and stimulate sound and creative policies for all as we age. Ms. Kassner’s projects have included research on the practices used by state Medicaid programs to ensure the availability of backup home care workers; analysis of state- funded HCBS programs; and a description of the difficulty that consumers have when trying to compare long-term care insurance products.
Under Ms. Kassner’s direction, the AARP Public Policy Institute has published A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform and Across the States: Profiles of Long-Term Care and Independent Living, in addition to numerous other articles and research reports on LTSS and independent living issues.
Ms. Kassner has more than 25 years of experience in the field of aging as a policy analyst, researcher, author, lobbyist, and speaker on a broad range of issues, including long-term services and supports, Medicaid, and long-term care insurance. She holds an M.S.W. from the University of Maryland and a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin.