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U.S. House Spending Panel Approves FFY 2018 Funding for Aging Programs

This week the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved, along a party-line vote, a bill to fund the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2018. Overall, the Labor-HHS bill, which funds Older Americans Act (OAA) and many other aging programs, received an allocation that was $5 billion less than FY 2017 levels, which resulted in cuts to a number of federal workforce, education and health programs in the committee-passed bill.

It is notable that House leadership, in assigning top-line spending levels for all 12 appropriations subcommittees in FY 2018, broke parity between defense and non-defense spending required by the Budget Control Act. House appropriators are subsequently moving forward spending proposals that significantly increase defense spending while constraining overall domestic funding levels. While the committee also rejected many of the cuts and eliminations requested in President Trump’s FY 2018 budget, the budget environment for non-defense programs, including OAA and other aging programs, is shaping up to be incredibly difficult this year.

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) examined the House Labor-HHS spending bill with special attention to programs that help older adults remain in their homes and communities. The following analysis focuses on key programs that serve older Americans and their caregivers.

OAA and AoA/ACL Programs-Administration for Community Living (ACL), HHS:

Programs serving older Americans under OAA were largely level funded at FY 2017 amounts in this House Labor-HHS spending plan. Considering the current challenging federal budget environment, the fact that most core OAA programs were spared cuts, and that modest increases achieved last year were preserved, is a significant advocacy win. Overall the House bill would fund ACL at $2.237 billion, which is $243 million above FY 2017 levels.

This $237 million increase is deceiving, however, because the House bill proposes transferring the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP, OAA Title V) from the Department of Labor (DOL) to ACL. The total transfer from DOL to ACL outlined in the bill is $300 million (a $100 million, or 25 percent, cut from FY 2017), which means that the overall ACL allocation is actually $57 million less than the FY 2017 final funding level. Unfortunately, the bulk of that cut is due to the committee’s proposed elimination of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) (-$47.1 million) and Elder Justice support activities (-$2 million).

During full committee consideration of the Labor-HHS bill, Rep. David Price (D-NC) offered an amendment to restore funding for SHIP, SCSEP and Elder Justice to last year’s levels, but the amendment was defeated 22 to 30 along a party-line vote. Notably, however, both Rep. David Young (R-IA) and Labor-HHS Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) expressed interest in possibly rectifying at least some of this funding moving forward. Advocates will need to continue to push lawmakers to reject SHIP elimination and cuts to SCSEP and Elder Justice programs.

Older Americans Act Title III Programs:

In what can be considered a win for advocates in this incredibly difficult budget environment, funding for OAA Title III B Home and Community-Based Supportive Services ($350 million), III C Nutrition Services ($450 million for Congregate and $227 million for Home-Delivered Nutrition Services), and III E Family Caregiver Support ($150 million) was flat.

Native American Nutrition, Supportive Services and Caregiver Support:

OAA Title VI Native American Aging Programs that serve some of the most economically vulnerable older adult populations in the country were also flat-funded in the House Labor-HHS bill. Nutrition and supportive services would be funded at $31.1 million, and caregiver support services would receive $7.5 million, which maintains a recent, congressionally driven, significant increase to both programs that serve Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian elders.

Elder Justice and Adult Protective Services:

The budget request also level funds OAA Title VII Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program ($15.8 million) and Prevention of Elder Abuse and Neglect ($4.8 million) programs. Unfortunately, the bill rolls back a $2 million increase achieved last year for Elder Rights Support Activities, including the Elder Justice Initiative—an ACL priority under the Obama Administration—and funds these programs at $11.9 million ($2 million less than in FY 2017). This is the first House or Senate bill in several years that cuts funding for efforts to develop a national Adult Protective Services (APS) data system and to continue APS research.

Aging and Disability Resource Centers:

Funding for Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) was also level funded at $6.1 million. Since $10 million in annual mandatory funding for ADRCs expired in September 2014, advocates and Administration officials have been unable to fill that gap with additional discretionary (annually appropri