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Advocates

Picking Up Where the Last Congress Left Off

Happy New Year! We're starting 2025 with a new Congress and a new administration. There's a lot being discussed in the news, but where does aging fit in? Let's get into it.

The December Continuing Resolution

With a new Congress comes new agendas and priorities. But the 119th Congress must still face the tasks and questions left unaddressed by its predecessor.

Late last month, Congress passed a continuing resolution that kept the government running. It included short-term funding for programs that are serving older adults right now, including disaster relief and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA). (Many thanks to the thousands of people

who stepped up to advocate in support of MIPPA! The volume of messages sent to Congress was incredible.)

Like most continuing resolutions, though, this one punted a lot of the biggest questions to the next budget deadline. MIPPA was only extended through March 14, 2025. Our other priority—reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA)—was left out of the bill.

This means the 119th Congress must immediately start talking about funding priorities and how to pass another bill to keep the government open in just a few months.

A Familiar Dynamic

Unfortunately, this is a familiar situation. Advocates of all stripes who see their interests addressed by a funding bill often don't have long to enjoy their victory. But we still see a path to some big wins for older adults! In fact, our 2025 policy priorities are ambitious:

Fund and reauthorize the Older Americans Act
Extend the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act
Protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

These will require bipartisan support to succeed. That's why we're already forging relationships with the 74 new members of Congress and strengthening our position as a source of objective, trustworthy information about aging policy.

Here's the Plan

Helping Congress and the Trump Administration understand what older adults need means activating more voices from our community than ever before.

We know that there is overwhelming bipartisan support for our policy goals. Our most recent What Women Say survey proves this point. It showed 93% of women support government assistance to lower income older adults to help pay for basic needs, including food. 94% support strengthening Medicare efforts to help low-income older adults sign up for benefits they are eligible for but are not currently receiving.

Now, we need to bring that consensus to Capitol Hill. That will require all of us to stay focused and positive. We look forward to working with you to push for long-term solutions that help older Americans.

Stay tuned!

Sincerely,

The NCOA Public Policy & Advocacy Team

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