Update Older Americans Act, AARP Tells HHS

We’re urging federal officials to update parts of a decades-old law that provides funding for programs that serve older Americans, including Meals on Wheels, family caregiver support and elder abuse prevention. The Older Americans Act (OAA) was last reauthorized and received a funding boost in 2020 but many of the regulations for its programs haven’t been meaningfully updated since the 1980s.

We wrote to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services last week urging them to modernize the regulations, offering better support for family caregivers and making sure programs and resources are available regardless of older adults’ race, ethnicity or socioeconomic background, among other measures. And we’re asking HHS to bolster data collection and encourage states to use this data to improve equity and support for underserved communities.

The Older Adults Act was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. AARP founder Ethel Percy Andrus was at the signing, and we’ve supported its programs and resources for decades, which benefit 11 million older adults and caregivers each year.

Read our letter to HHS.