President Trump’s budget proposal for FY2026 calls for many cuts and the dismantling of programs that are critical to the independence of older Americans. Through the Older Americans Act of 1965, over 600 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) in this country have been providing services that allow older adults to remain independent and thriving in the community of their choice. The Area Agencies on Aging, like Connections in western, southwestern and south central Iowa, have provided crucial information, resources, and services like home-delivered meals, often referred to as Meals on Wheels, transportation, personal care, and emergency response systems to help aging adults retain their independence and live in their own homes for as long as possible, often delaying or negating the need for access to the Medicaid system for nursing home care.
The president has eliminated the Administration for Community Living, which was the federal agency tasked with serving aging adults, persons with disabilities and their caregivers, and has alarmingly split the Older Americans’ Act into two parts, each housed within a different federal agency. In-home services are being proposed to fall under CMS, and meals and nutrition are slated to be housed in the Administration for Children and Families. This is potentially devastating to the aging consumers as we try to serve the comprehensive needs of each older client. Having to piece meal service delivery together with multiple federal departments can only ensure that aging individuals may not be able to access the services that they need and therefore may not be able to remain independent.
In addition, the president’s budget has eliminated many vital programs that older adults depend on in the current economic and housing environments. What follows is a partial but significantly impactful list of the programs that his budget seeks to eliminate:
- SHIP, which is the Senior Health Insurance Program where volunteers help Medicare beneficiaries navigate enrollment in a person-centered way that provides options for what is the best type of Medicare to take based on a person’s unique and individual circumstances and statuses.
- Long Term Ombudsman is the entity that allows nursing home residents a voice in the quality of their care and provides a means of reporting if they have been mistreated.
- Title IIID of the Older Americans Act which is the title in the Act that promotes health and well being of older adults with evidence-based health and wellness programs like Chronic Disease Self-Management and peer based and led activity and exercise programs.
- Falls Prevention for Older Adults is designed to educate and strengthen older adults so that they don’t have debilitating falls, lose their independence and have to enter long term care either at a higher cost to themselves or to the public on Medicaid.
- LIEHEAP or the Low Income Home Energy and Heating Program, which many aging adults rely on to remain in their own homes, and without it could be forced to move to residential care.
This is just a brief listing of the devastating impact the president’s budget could have on older adults. The list does not address the reality that programs proposed to remain in existence are already underfunded. Many AAAs are having to consider wait lists and prioritizations simply to meet the current demand for service.
If you care about how our elderly friends, family members and neighbors are treated, please consider contacting Senator Grassley, Senator Ernst, Representative Feenstra and Representative Nunn and let them know that older Americans deserve respect, dignity and resources and support to live independently in our community. Tell them to keep the Older Americans Act together under the Administration for Children and Families, and ask them to protect some of these vulnerable programs that the elderly so desperately need.