Home-based care organizations have come together to express their support for the Older Americans Act (OAA) and to warn Congress that disrupting the OAA could leave older adults without access to in-home care.
On May 22, over 50 health care providers and advocacy organizations, including Addus Homecare, the National Alliance for Caregiving and LeadingAge, sent a letter to Congress highlighting the implications of restructuring the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and “splintering” the OAA.
“LeadingAge joined the letter because we support the OAA and are concerned about what will happen to programs authorized by it, given the HHS restructuring, which includes the dismantling of the Administration of Community Living (ACL), which houses OAA programs,” Mollie Gurian, vice president of policy and government affairs at LeadingAge, told Home Health Care News. “We support the letter’s message to advocate that the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over OAA specifically intervene and make sure these programs stay together under the Administration on Aging, even if that ends up in a new part of HHS.”
Washington, D.C.-based LeadingAge is an association of more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and organizations.
In March, the HHS announced a significant restructuring, including the consolidation of HHS’ 28 divisions into 15 new divisions. A leaked copy of the HHS’ 2026 budget would split the programs that make up the OAA into different agencies, according to the letter, which its authors said would undermine the program’s coordinated approach.
“The OAA works so well because of that coordinated approach, allowing state and local agencies and their community provider partners to provide a wide range of person-centered services to meet the needs of older adults and caregivers as efficiently as possible,” the letter read.
The OAA was enacted in 1965 as a federal law designed to support older Americans. It provides grants to states for community planning, social services and training in the field of aging, with the aim of helping older individuals maintain their independence and live with dignity within their communities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Additionally, the OAA established the Administration on Aging (AOA) to oversee these programs and serve as a federal focal point for issues related to older individuals.
As part of the reorganization effort, HHS would divide OAA programs between two agencies: the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
“If the proposed breakup of the programs in the OAA goes forward, it will severely impact the ability of older adults to get the services and supports they need to remain living at home and in the community versus facing placement in institutional settings, as well as drive cost inefficiencies through unnecessary and wasteful administrative burden on federal, state and local aging agencies,” the letter read.
President Trump signed the Supporting Older Americans Act in 2020, reauthorizing the OAA. At that time, Susan Collins (R-Maine) praised the legislation after it was passed unanimously in the Senate.
“For more than half a century, the Older Americans Act has served as a lifeline for millions of seniors by enriching their lives and improving their overall health,” Collins said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will help ensure that the OAA continues to match the goals we set to permit seniors to age with dignity, respect and community.”
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