USAging released a statement earlier this week expressing “grave concern” over early reports of President Trump’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget which includes plans to break apart the coordination and delivery of Older Americans Act (OAA) programs and services upon which millions of older adults and caregivers rely. These include crucial supports and services such as in-home help with chores, dressing and bathing; rides to the doctor; home-delivered and community-served meals; and caregiver respite, among others.
“The recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reorganization eliminated the umbrella agency under which the OAA has been administered for 13 years,” said USAging CEO Sandy Markwood. “Last week, we learned that the Trump Administration plans to move just one portion of the OAA’s coordinated and interconnected services—the meals programs—to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) but will cast the rest of the OAA activities to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“USAging is extremely concerned about the breaking apart of one Act, which was developed to create a comprehensive system of home and community-based options for older adults, and the inappropriate placement of some of those key services in CMS,” Markwood stated. “These two actions would severely affect our members—the Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) that coordinate and deliver these services—and older adults who depend upon the coordinated delivery of these life-sustaining services.
“By breaking apart and moving pieces of this vital program to different HHS agencies, the Trump Administration is damaging the efficiency and the effectiveness of a successful 60-year-old Act and undermining the federal commitment to assist older Americans in aging well at home,” Markwood explained. “We hope they will reconsider this decision immediately and reunify all the OAA under ACF, which is a more appropriate fit than CMS.
“The leaked budget also made clear that the Trump Administration will be proposing to zero out several key OAA programs as well as other federal efforts to help older adults remain heathy, prevent falls, manage their chronic diseases, navigate Medicare, find aging and disability resources, and stay safe if they are living in nursing homes, as well as efforts to prevent or address elder abuse,” she noted. “We will be working with our AAA and Title VI Native American Aging Program members and Members of Congress to prevent any harms to vulnerable older adults in the FY 2026 appropriations process.”
The OAA creates community resources for older adults to access a wide array of programs and services, including information and referral to find help for their challenges with aging; congregate and home-delivered meals to address hunger, malnutrition and social isolation; evidence-based health and wellness programs to prevent falls and manage chronic disease; the provision of in-home care to support the dignity and autonomy of remaining in one’s home; transportation; the prevention of elder abuse; adult day care; and other needed options.
Family caregivers, who contribute more long-term care services and hours than any formal government program, can also access OAA-funded respite, training, support and help to navigate and sustain their caregiving roles.
“If the proposed breakup of the programs and the elimination of major initiatives in the Act go forward, it will severely impact the ability of older adults and caregivers to get the services and supports they need to remain living at home and in the community, and it will put them at risk of facing much more costly placement in institutional settings—a situation no older adult or caregiver wants to confront unless absolutely necessary,” Markwood warned.
These cuts will affect the programs CareWell Services provides to help seniors, caregivers, and adults with disabilities across southwest Michigan.
Take action to protect vital programs and services for seniors, adults with disabilities, and caregivers by contacting your representatives! Find out who your representatives are in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.
If you’d like more information on the services that are at risk or how to take action, contact CareWell Services at (269) 966-2450 or at info@carewellservices.org.