Washington, DC, May 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USAging and more than 50 other national aging and health-focused organizations and enterprises have called upon Congress to protect the federal Older Americans Act (OAA) in a letter sent today to the leaders of the committees of jurisdiction for the OAA. The letter calls attention to a proposal to break apart OAA services under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reorganization.

“We’re pleased that so many other national advocates for older adults and caregivers are raising their concerns about this grave mistake,” said USAging CEO Sandy Markwood, “and we look forward to working with the Trump Administration, Secretary Kennedy and Congress to ensure that the OAA stays unified and is appropriately administered at the federal level by a human services agency.”

The OAA creates and funds critical supports and services that help older adults stay healthy, safe and able to remain living independently in their homes or communities. These services include in-home help with dressing, bathing and eating; rides to medical appointments; case management; adult day care; home-delivered and congregate meals; and many more.

“We are concerned, however, that the HHS reorganization threatens to disrupt this efficient, effective delivery system and leave older adults and caregivers stranded,” the letter says. “A leaked copy of the HHS budget for Fiscal Year 2026 would splinter apart the programs that make up the Older Americans Act.”

USAging and the other signers are concerned that the proposed HHS reorganization threatens to disrupt the OAA’s effective federal, state and local delivery system and leave older adults and caregivers without the supports they need. Dividing up the different OAA programs and spreading them across two different HHS agencies, as has been proposed, will severely impact the ability of older adults to get the OAA services that are critical to enabling them  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 signers are calling for members of Congress to ensure that the HHS reorganization does not break apart the OAA and instead keeps all of HHS’ OAA programs together and administered at the Administration on Aging (AoA) under an Assistant Secretary on Aging, even if AoA is moved under the Administration for Children and Families. 

Bethany Coulter
USAging
202.872.0888
bcoulter@usaging.org