THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, May 6, 1995                  TAG: 9505060286
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                         LENGTH: Medium:   69 lines

CONFEREES WONDER WHAT WILL BECOME OF RESOLUTIONS MUCH OF WHAT THE DELEGATES WANT INVOLVES KEEPING PROGRAMS INTACT AND FUNDED.

It's too early to determine the lasting legacy of the fourth White House Conference on Aging, which ended Friday.

But it's safe to say that it won't have the drama of the landmark legislation that emerged from the 1961 conference, including Medicare and the Older Americans Act.

Instead of new legislation, this year's conference called often for preserving the status quo.

If Congress heeds the conference, there will be no legislation that would cut Medicare benefits or beneficiaries. No legislation that would convert Medicaid, the health insurance plan for the poor, which covers most nursing home care for the elderly, into block grants.

And no legislation that would reduce the Older Americans Act's funding or scope.

Those were some of the specific recommendations that came out of the three-day conference, in which 2,250 delegates from throughout the country, including 36 from Virginia, discussed and voted on more than 60 resolutions about topics as diverse as Medicare and grandparents' rights.

Now that the conference is over, what happens to the resolutions?

The recommendations are supposed to be a blueprint to the Congress and the president for future legislation. But with a Republican Congress intent on cutting the deficit, finding additional funds - as many proposals seemed to require - or even maintaining the status quo, is questionable.

``We've done a great job in defining the needs, but we've been shortsighted as to the funding source,'' said Virginia delegate Suzanne Obenshain, of Harrisonburg.

By the end of the conference, Obenshain and several other Virginia delegates were frustrated by the overwhelming number of delegates and the complex task that had been put before them.

``I thought we would make an impact,'' said Ruby Clifton, of Cedar Bluff. ``But I found out we will never be heard because of the way the system was designed.''

Delegates spent two days discussing and revising resolutions from preconference meetings around the country. Friday, those changes were distilled into the conference's own resolutions, on which the delegates voted.

But making any significant change in those resolutions was difficult, said Alice Gaines, a delegate from Lynchburg. For instance, she tried and failed to convince her group not to recommend creating a new level of bureaucracy to deal with insurance for long-term care.

Even so, the experience itself was exhilarating for many.

``I'm going home with another dimension from having so many states and cultures talking about the same thing,'' said Virginia Beach delegate Suzanne Jacobson. ``That's why I think laws will result from this.''

Dr. George Podelco, a delegate fron Onancock and the executive director of the Eastern Shore Area Agency on Aging, said this year's conference was the most effective of the four held so far.

``We're at a crossroads now. The whole nation is examining itself and these issues are all at the forefront. The mood in the country and the state is for some sort of change.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related story also on page A9.

KEYWORDS: SENIOR CITIZENS by CNB