FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2006
CONTACT: Steve Forde
Telephone: (202) 225-4527

House Backs Bicameral, Bipartisan Agreement to Reauthorize, Strengthen Older Americans Act

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (H.R. 6197), a measure reflecting a bipartisan, House-Senate agreement to reauthorize and strengthen services offered under the Older Americans Act, the chief federal law governing the organization and delivery of a number of social services for older Americans.  

 

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.  Key to the bipartisan House-Senate agreement – sponsored by Select Education Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) – was an accord on allocations made available to states to fund services for seniors. 

 

“Today, we’ve acted to renew and improve the programs that seniors across the country use every day,” said Tiberi.  “It’s the result of months of bipartisan effort and is an example of Congress at its best.”

 

The House-Senate agreement 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 Medicare prescription drug program.  Prior to today’s announcement, the House passed similar reauthorization legislation, the Senior Independence Act (H.R. 5293), in June.

 

“Supporting the needs of seniors is as important as ever, and to do that, we must ensure the long-term stability of programs on which they depend,” said Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the House Education & the Workforce Committee.  “The House-Senate agreement to reauthorize the Older Americans Act has been struck with these priorities in mind.  I commend Representative Tiberi for taking the lead and forging this bipartisan consensus.”

 

Specifically, the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 will:

 

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

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

·         Improve educational and volunteer services;

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

·         Increase federal, state, and local coordination; and

·         Reform employment-based training for older Americans.

 

Also included in the reauthorization measure was legislation authored by Committee Member Tom Osborne (R-NE) to evaluate, coordinate, and improve federal youth serving programs.  Within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act 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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