When I think of Czars, I think of Russia.  I wish we’d stop calling our public officials czars . . . Anyway, I copied the word from Matt Sedensky, Associated Press reporter on aging, who recently interviewed Kathy Greenlee, assistant secretary for aging in the Department of Health and Human Services.  Pictured above to the left, she’s the country’s top political appointee on issues facing an aging America. 

A couple of key points from her remarks:

• "Aging is such a unifying topic," she said.  [She’s so right, we’re all doing it.]
  
• Among the issues Greenlee is most passionate about is keeping seniors in their homes and communities, if they choose, and out of nursing homes, which most want to avoid.
• "To move forward and expand community services, we have to have a whole lot of things happen in each individual state."  [Minnesota is primed to lead the nation on long-term care innovation; we’ve led in health care before, and I have no doubt that if we put our minds and willpower together, we’ll be a state that can show the way for the rest of the country in aging.]

You can read Matt’s full interview here.