CAST promotes the development of policy at the state level to advance the use of appropriate aging-services technologies (AST) that can transform the aging experience and enhance care and servcies for older adults. CAST has several state-level initiatives including:  

• Whitepapers on the state of aging services technologies in various states to showcase best practices in provider implementation as well as state policies that support aging services technologies. Whitepapers have been written on California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Ohio. CAST also researched state-level payment policies with regard to aging services technologies and utilized this information to synthesize key findings into a guide for all states that we recently published.  

• Aging Services Technology Demonstrations at state capitals (Pennsylvania, California, Texas) to advance awareness, understanding and use of aging-service technologies by policy makers, state departments  and providers. CAST created a demonstration guide for use by LeadingAge state-affiliates and state-level partners.

• Resources to guide state level advocacy, such as guidance regarding HIT initiatives in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), or the HITECH Act. Because the majority of HITECH Act  programs and initiatives will take place at the state level, effective action in states across the country will be critical in order to realize the full potential benefit for long-term care providers. CAST prepared an action guide and state-level advocacy ussue brief for LeadingAge state partners to complement LeadingAge CAST’s continued advocacy at the federal level.  
   
• Shared Learning through a CAST state policy workgroup that provides a forum for communication about aging services technology efforts across the country. Initiatives discussed range from state reimbursement for the using technology in providing care to HITECH Act efforts.