Nora A. Dowd Eisenhower

Nora A. Dowd Eisenhower, J.D., is the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and manages an extensive network of services provided in part through a statewide system of 52 Area Agencies on Aging. Services include pharmaceutical benefits, family caregiving, transportation, home and community based services, Alzheimer's programs, health and wellness education, senior community centers and nutrition programs, adult day services and protective services for older people at risk of abuse or neglect. As Secretary, Ms. Dowd Eisenhower advises the Governor, other cabinet officers, and members of the General Assembly on matters affecting older people. Secretary Dowd Eisenhower has worked to enhance important programs that protect the health and safety of older Pennsylvanians. In 2003, she helped to coordinate a historic bipartisan effort to expand the PACE/PACENET pharmaceutical assistance programs, making more than 115,000 additional older adults eligible for life-sustaining prescription benefits. PACE/PACENET is the largest state-funded pharmaceutical program for older adults in the United States. Before joining the Department of Aging, Nora served as the AARP Executive Director for Pennsylvania, where she directed the advocacy for almost two million Pennsylvanians over age 50. From 1995 to 1996, Nora also directed AARP's nationwide campaign designed to combat telemarketing fraud aimed at older consumers. While at CARIE (The Center of Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly), Md. Dowd Eisenhower directed a federal project designed to fight Health Care Fraud among the Medicare beneficiaries. She also coordinated education and outreach, and acted as the liaison with federal and state law enforcement authorities. Ms. Dowd Eisenhower also served for six years as Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, where she prosecuted cases involving a wide range of consumer fraud. From 1993 to 1995, she chaired the Attorney General's statewide task force on fraud and the elderly, conducting public hearings throughout the Commonwealth, developing innovative prosecution strategies, and organizing a nationwide conference on the issue. Ms. Dowd Eisenhower began her legal career as a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. where she prosecuted telemarketing fraud and other cases of consumer fraud.