WASHINGTON, D.C. - Comprehensive legislation was introduced today in the Senate to reauthorize and expand the Older Americans Act, the landmark law that supports Meals on Wheels and other essential programs for seniors.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, and 14 co-sponsors introduced the bill, which provides basic necessities such as meals, home care and job training. The co-sponsors include Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate leader, and Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Among the new programs for seniors and their families, the legislation would authorize funding for the coordination of dental care to low-income older Americans, focus more on economic security and provide special assistance to veterans, Holocaust survivors and LGBT seniors. The legislation also includes increased support for family caregivers and would make gerontologists and geriatricians eligible for the National Health Services Corps.

Under another initiative, the Bureau of Labor Statistics would be required to improve how it calculates inflation to more accurately reflect seniors' out-of-pocket expenses for health care and prescription drugs. A cost-of-living measure tailored to the real-world expenses of seniors could be used to make more accurate annual adjustments in Social Security benefits, for example. The Alliance for Retired Americans said that the provision in the bill is "vital to the health and economic security of millions of older Americans and their families."

To see the bill, click here.