Posted on November 17, 2025
On November 5, 2025, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing concerning the Older Americans Act, a bill that still needs to be reauthorized. The hearing examined how the Older Americans Act (OAA) supports families living with aging-related diseases and the need to reauthorize the law.
Programs covered under the law supply more than 140 million meals, provide 14 million rides, and deliver 10 million hours of assistance each year, benefiting one in six older Americans and many people with disabilities who rely on these supports to live with dignity and independence. The committee underscored that OAA programs are cost-efficient long-term investments: every dollar spent returns an estimated 3.39 dollars by preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and institutional care through preventive and community-based services. As the U.S. experiences the largest aging population in its history, senators stressed the importance of modernizing the OAA to expand capacity, increase flexibility, and strengthen nutritional and health-promotion programs. Because the OAA expired last year, reauthorization is needed this fall to ensure programs remain effective and responsive to the evolving needs of older adults and people with disabilities.
However, the hearing did not emphasize the needs of older Americans who are losing their vision. This specific population requires specific services that are too often unavailable. ACB continues to advocate for the specific inclusion of such services in any reauthorization of the OAA. Therefore, ACB continues to support any advancement of the OAA; aging Americans are greatly in need of all services. However, ACB urges Congress to include pivotal services needed by persons who are losing their vision as a result of aging.