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Law Associations,
Industry Groups Support Older Americans Act of 2011
by Danielle Andrus,
AdvisorOne
January 30, 2012
Picture Credit: advisorone.com
The National
Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a professional association of attorneys
dedicated to improving the quality of legal services provided to the
elderly and people with special needs, announced on Monday their
support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., bill to reauthorize the Older
Americans Act.
The
Older Americans Act was initially passed in 1965 to provide support for
the elderly through community planning and social services. The law
established the administration on Aging. In 2006, it was reauthorized
and set to expire in 2011.
On
Jan. 26, Sanders introduced S. 2037, the Older Americans Act Amendments
of 2012. One of the major initiatives proposed in the bill is to revise
the Experimental Price Index for the Elderly to better reflect future
cost of living adjustments that impact people 62 or older.
Additionally,
the bill would clarify the definition of “economic security” when used
to determine income needs for housing, health care, transportation,
food, long-term care, and other basic needs. The bill also authorizes
improvements to the Meals on Wheels program and creates a pilot program
and community planning grant program for senior centers.
“NAELA
has been a long-time supporter of the OAA. It’s a win for everyone,”
NAELA President Edwin Boyer said in a statement. “Programs supported by
the OAA help seniors live independently in their homes, while
preventing taxpayers from having to pay for more expensive nursing
homes, hospitals, and other health care services.”
Sanders
is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging in the
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. On Dec. 15,
several industry groups wrote to Sanders in support of the Act,
including the American Bar Association, the Alliance for Retired
Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and
Medicare.
Max
Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve
Social Security and Medicare, wrote that “there is simply not enough
money allocated for OAA programs to meet the needs of our growing
elderly population.”
”By
helping seniors stay as independent as possible in their homes and
communities, these programs also save federal and state government
resources from being spent on sometimes unnecessary and often much more
expensive care in hospitals and nursing homes,” he wrote.
The
Alliance for Retired Americans also stressed the gap between demand and
services OAA funding is able to provide. “For years, OAA funding has
not kept pace with inflation or the growing population of individuals
eligible for services, yet demand by at-risk older adults in need of
supportive services has risen and will only continue to rise with the
growth in the aging population,” Barbara Easterling, president of the
Alliance wrote.
The
American Bar Association noted that it adopted a policy in August 2010
that supported the reauthorization of the OAA and put priority on elder
justice and the delivery of legal services.
“While
the draft bill does not contain all the elements enumerated in our
August 2010 policy, it goes a long way toward creating a high-quality,
coordinated legal services delivery system in each state that meets the
needs of older persons most in need,” according to the ABA’s letter to
Sanders.
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