FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2006
CONTACT: Steve Forde
Telephone: (202) 225-4527

President Signs Bipartisan Legislation to Renew, Reform Programs for Older Americans

Measure also Includes Provisions to Evaluate and Improve Federal Youth Serving Programs

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee leaders today applauded the enactment of key legislation to reauthorize and strengthen services offered under the Older Americans Act, the chief federal law governing the organization and delivery of a number of services for older Americans.  The Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (H.R. 6197) was signed into law by President Bush earlier today, after the measure was passed without opposition by both the House and Senate last month.

 

Established in the 1960s primarily to govern social services for seniors, programs under the Older Americans Act have transformed into the first stop for seniors and their families to identify home- and community-based long term care options, as well as programs and services for which they may be eligible. 

 

“I’m so pleased that we can continue to deliver on our promise to seniors,” said Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), Chairman of the Select Education Subcommittee and author of the legislation. “Our bipartisan legislation renews and improves the programs that seniors use every day.”

 

H.R. 6197 promotes the key principles of President Bush's Choices for Independence plan, which emphasizes consumer choice, access to reliable information, and health promotion.  It would support community-based efforts to assist low-income and limited-English speaking populations with enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug program and launch Aging and Disabilities Resource Centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico to create a single point of access to the range of services available to seniors, including the new Medicare prescription drug program.

 

“I congratulate Representative Tiberi for spearheading this bipartisan effort,” said Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the House Education & the Workforce Committee.  “Our nation’s senior population is growing at a record pace, and ensuring the long-term fiscal stability of programs on which they depend is a top priority.  Congress has demonstrated a commitment to improving services upon which older Americans rely, and this reauthorization strengthens these programs so millions more can benefit from them for years to come.”

 

Specifically, the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006:

 

·         Promotes consumer choice, as well as home- and community-based supports to help older individuals avoid institutional care;

·         Strengthens health and nutrition programs while ensuring that no state loses funds to operate these programs;

·         Improves educational and volunteer services;

·         Encourages wealthier seniors to pay for many of their program benefits, maximizing the taxpayer investment for low-income seniors;

·         Increases federal, state, and local coordination; and

·         Reforms employment-based training for older Americans.

 

Also included in H.R. 6197 was language from the Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act.  The measure will evaluate, coordinate, and improve federal youth serving programs.  Within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would establish the Federal Youth Development Council.  The Council will be charged with:

 

  • Ensuring communication among federal agencies with programs serving youth;

  • Recommending ways to coordinate and improve these youth serving programs; and

  • Identifying areas of overlap or duplication and recommending ways to improve program efficiency.

 

More information on Education & the Workforce Committee efforts to strengthen the Older Americans Act is available at: http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/education/oa/oa.htm.

 

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