Advocacy
By Maddy Bynes, Special to Never Too Late Time to Get Loud About the Older Americans Act Appropriations
Already we’ve begun to freeze intakes for our home-delivered meals program, Pima Meals on Wheels. This means that when someone finds themself unable to provide a meal for themselves due to a disability and they reach out for assistance, they will be placed on a lengthy waiting list due to lack of funding. The impact of the current situation is not limited to home meal delivery services. Home care services, which include bathing and dressing, light housekeeping, and other essential services that enable older adults to age safely at home, are also experiencing an increase in new requests for their waiting lists. We need Congress to step up and increase federal appropriations for these highly valued services in our communities. Letting these funds expire will cause significant difficulties for thousands of older adults in our community. Help us advocate for additional funding for Area Agencies on Aging. Please visit advocate. pcoa.org today! PCOA Advocating for Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act This past March, W. Mark Clark, PCOA's President & CEO, and other leaders from Arizona visited Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress to discuss the importance of reauthorizing the Older Americans Act. Reauthorization is a process that happens every four to five years in which Congress assesses the success of the Act, adds or removes measures to modernize it, and decides on potential funding levels.
When the summer ends and legislators return, we will continue collaborating with our federal lawmakers on finalizing FY 2025 appropriations. As in previous years, we continue to work towards increasing the federal appropriations levels for the Older Americans Act. This year, more than any other, it is critically important that Congress recognize the investments made to the Older Americans Act over the past five years and continue those efforts. Since COVID-19 broke out in the U.S., Congress has appropriated more than twice the regular amount of funding into the Older Americans Act. For several years, this meant that Area Agencies on Aging, like PCOA, could provide the community with the services needed to remain healthy and safe. Was this enough money? Not by any means. During the pandemic, PCOA and other Area Agencies on Aging across the state maintained a waiting list for services. Because supply, demand, and inflation currently play a role in the services we provide, the waiting list remains. In September 2024, the federal funds provided to PCOA through the Older Americans Act to address the COVID-19 pandemic will expire. Congress has not increased funding to supplement the expired funds. The result will be that PCOA, and other Area Agencies on Aging in Arizona, will see a sharp decline in funding, leading to longer waitlists of services, decreased staffing levels, and increased need in our community.
This reauthorization season, we are working with our state and federal partners to advocate for increased flexibility in the Older Americans Act to contract with health plans and systems to expand services for older adults. Additionally, we want to combine home- delivered meals with congregate/ community meals into one subtitle, allowing for more local flexibility on how Area Agencies on Aging spend funds to meet their community's needs. Finally, we are working to increase authorization levels. This increase will enable us to negotiate more during the annual appropriations season. To learn more and support us in our reauthorization effort, please visit advocate.pcoa.org .
July/August 2024, Never Too Late | Page 31
Pima Council on Aging
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