PRESS RELEASE For More Information, Contact David Gehm, 989-652-3667 Lutheran Homes of Michigan President/CEO provides testimony to US Congress, House Ways and Means Committee, Health Subcommittee. Frankenmuth, Michigan - Lutheran Homes of Michigan (LHM) President & CEO David Gehm testified Tuesday, April 19, 2005 before the House Ways and Means Committee, Health Subcommittee. In announcing the hearing, Chairman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT) stated, "As the Baby Boom generation ages, increasing strain will be placed on our system of long term care. We must find new and innovative ways to encourage individuals to prepare for their long term care needs. It is important for us to develop a thorough understanding of how the current system is financed, how care is delivered, and what challenges we face in helping individuals plan for their long term care needs." Gehm, who also serves as Treasure of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) in Washington DC provided the members of Congress with the perspective of a faith based, non profit provider of services to seniors across the entire spectrum of long term care services. In his remarks, he spoke specifically about the need to create new models of services to seniors, urging the Committee to foster innovative, consumer focused programs that link senior housing with needed services. Gehm testified, "The future of long term care, when innovatively and successfully created, will be led by a government - provider - consumer partnership that leverages emerging care technologies and fully embraces consumer focused culture change movement now underway. To be successful, we will need regulations rethought and funding designs which are aligned with services seniors and their caregivers want." Mid-Michigan Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), a member of the subcommittee, thanked Mr. Gehm for the work Lutheran Homes of Michigan does for the elderly and their families throughout Michigan. Mr. Camp is also on the Honorary Steering Committee for LHM's "Operation Enduring Thanks", a journey of remembrance for its World War II veterans to visit the newly dedicated WWII Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC this June. LHM is a non-profit, faith based agency that provides residential living and skilled home care services to hundreds of seniors in Michigan. As one of the states largest non-profit providers of seniors services, LHM has more than 800 employees, nearly 800 living units and serves approximately 1100 seniors and their families each year through home care and hospice services. AAHSA members serve two million people every day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations dedicated to providing the services people need, when they need them, in the place they call home. AAHSA members offer the continuum of aging services: continuing care retirement communities, nursing homes, home and community based programs, assisted living, and senior housing. AAHSA's commitment is to create the future of aging services through quality people can trust. Mr. Gehm's entire written testimony can be found at: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/hearings.asp?formmode=detail&hearing=399 More information about Lutheran Homes of Michigan can be found at www.LHMINC.org. Lutheran Homes of Michigan Service Sites and Programs: Lutheran Home - Monroe Creekside Village, Monroe (opening fall, 2005) Gibraltar Manor, Gibraltar (opening early, 2006) Our Saviour's Manor, Westland Saviors Grace Home Care, Livonia Lutheran Home - Livonia The Manors, Saginaw Lutheran Home - Frankenmuth Lutheran Home Care Agency and Hospice of Hope, serving the Saginaw Valley

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