Washington (July 31, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health, and Retirement Security, today applauded the passage of the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2024 by the Senate HELP Committee. The legislation includes Senator Markey’s provisions to weatherize and improve the air quality of older Americans’ homes, improve caregiver assessments used to identify barriers to resources, expand family caregiver supports such as respite care and peer support, and promote medically tailored meals and other Food is Medicine interventions.

“For nearly 60 years, the Older Americans Act has been a lifeline for the health and wellbeing of vulnerable and aging adults,” said Senator Markey. “This reauthorization builds on this important law to provide older adults with their most basic needs: clean air to breathe, healthy food to eat, a safe place from the elements to sleep, and support for their support systems. The Older Americans Act reauthorization is a multi-generational promise to Americans that their needs and those of their loved ones will be met.”

Senator Markey’s provisions in the OAA Reauthorization Act include:

• Allowing home modification funding to be used for weatherization projects, based on his Home Modifications for the Climate Crisis Act
• Improving the air quality of older Americans’ homes and residences by requiring the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to provide information on methods to do so based on consultation with qualified experts, based on his Home Modifications for the Climate Crisis Act.
• Amending caregiver assessments under the National Family Caregiver Support Program to account for the accessibility, availability, and quality of information, supports, and services, based on his Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers (ABC) Act.
• The OAA Reauthorization Act would also provide grants to improve the quality and consistency of caregiver assessments across states. Caregiver assessments are used to identify family caregivers’ specific needs and related barriers for carrying out their caregiving duties, so recommendations for supportive services under the Act can be targeted to each caregiver.
• Including peer support as an eligible supportive service for family caregivers, based on his Family Caregiver Peer Support Act
• Including respite care as an eligible supportive service for family caregivers who provide care to older adults that need long-term care, including individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, based on his Respite Care and Resources for Everyone (CARE) Act and the Convenient Care for Caregivers Act. Senator Markey’s bills support the provision of respite and health care alongside other supportive services at the same time and location to promote their convenience and accessibility.
• Promoting the use of innovative nutrition interventions, including medically tailored meals and produce prescription programs, based on his Disease Intervention through Nutrition Education (DINE) Act.

Earlier this month, Senator Markey announced his “Caring for Caregivers” agenda, a comprehensive legislative agenda which calls for the economic security, support and resources, and protection and promotion of family caregivers and their loved ones’ health and wellbeing. In June, Senator Markey introduced the Elder Pride Act, legislation to establish an Office of LGBTQI Inclusion within the Department of Health and Human Services to advocate, coordinate activities, recommend policies for, and collect data on LGBTQI+ older adults. In October 2023, Senators Markey and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) introduced the Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers (ABC) Act, legislation that requires Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Social Security Administration (SSA), and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to review their eligibility, processes, procedures, forms, and communications to reduce the administrative burden on family caregivers. 

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