September 28, 2021, Washington, DC— As Congress works to complete the Build Back Better reconciliation bill, a top Arizona aging services organization and the president of its national association called on Senator Sinema and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to embrace the opportunity to make needed, historic investment in aging services.

LeadingAge Arizona President Pam Koester released a letter to Senator Sinema asking for her leadership in prioritizing older adults in the legislation. “The billions of dollars required to ensure older adults and their families get the care and housing they need are not just numbers,” Koester wrote. “These funds will impact the lives of millions of older Americans who need help to eat and bathe and take their medicine, or who too often die on waiting lists for affordable housing that last for years.”

“The clock is ticking. This is the most important moment in decades for millions of older adults and their families,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president & CEO of LeadingAge, the national association of more than 5,000 nonprofit providers of aging services. “91% of people believe that older Americans should have the support and resources they need to lead a fulfilling life.”

In a separate letter to Speaker Pelosi and other House leaders, Sloan wrote that, “Older adults and aging services providers are desperate for these investments,” adding that the relief measures “cannot come soon enough.”

The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher for Older Arizonans & Their Families

• Arizona’s 65+ population is among the fastest growing in the United States, growing by 52% between 2009-2019. And more than half of all Americans are projected to need long-term services and supports at some point after turning 65.
• Half of the homeless population in Arizona is over the age of 50. Of those homeless people who died in the Phoenix area in the first nine months of last year, nearly 40% were over 55.
• In the next five years, Arizona is forecast to need at least 41,000 more home health care workers to meet rising demand.
• In Arizona, the average annual wage for home health and personal care aides is $26,050, and the average annual entry-level nursing and in-home care wage: $35,110. For comparison, the average wage for many fast-food cashiers in Arizona is $36,504.
• Nearly one-third of older Arizonans have severe tooth loss, and half of Arizona’s seniors are unaware that Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental exams.

Arizona’s Aging Services Providers Share Their Experience:

• Tom Egan, President and CEO of Phoenix-based FSL (Foundation for Senior Living), has described the growth in homelessness among older adults and their need for affordable housing.
  • “Every one of FSL’s 25 apartment complexes has 300 or 400 people on the waiting lists, and the wait time is three to five years. We’ve seen estimates that the reconciliation bill money would allow Arizona to nearly quadruple the number of units built each year. Keep that up for several years, and it will make a big difference.”

• Donna Taylor, chief operating officer of Lifestream Senior Living in Youngtown, noted that without support on Medicaid reimbursement and funds to recruit and train staff, long term care providers are facing hard choices as staffing shortages worsen.
  • “We’ve closed one of our two skilled nursing facilities because of staffing shortages. It was heartbreaking. Most of our workers stayed with us through the really tough times last year. But this is hard; our people are tired. We’re seeing staff leave now. The older adults who need care don’t leave, they don’t have that option. As a Medicaid long-term care provider, we fill in a gap for many families who can’t care for their loved ones at home, or for older adults without families. If it were not for organizations like ours, who will take care of these residents?”

• FSL’s Egan elaborated on the staff shortage crisis: “Much like our industry partners, FSL struggles with recruitment and retention of our direct care workforce, which impacts our ability to serve the community. The majority of this work is tied to government rates, and that makes it difficult to compete with hotels, restaurants and other entry-level employers who are raising wages at a rapid pace.”

The Vast Majority of Americans Support Investments in Older Americans:

According to a recent LeadingAge survey:

• 91% of Americans believe Older Americans should have the support and resources they need to lead a fulfilling life.
• 89% of Americans support public investment in affordable home care services to help older adults.
• 86% of Americans believe the government must make a bigger investment in services and care for seniors.
• 83% of Americans believe elected officials have failed older adults and the people who care for them by ignoring and underfunding America’s aging services for decades

LeadingAge’s Specific Requests

In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, LeadingAge called on lawmakers to ensure the upcoming reconciliation package specifically provides for investments to address the nation’s most pressing aging services needs:

• $190 billion for Home and Community-Based Services to allow more older adults to get the help they need in their homes or in their communities so they can grow older wherever they call home—including increasing pay for the staff who provide the help.
• $2.4 billion to address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing for older adults with very low incomes through HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program.
• $55 billion to increase Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes so they can pay wages that enable them to recruit and retain staff, especially frontline workers.
• $1 billion investment in the aging services workforce to implement strategies to strengthen recruitment, career and training opportunities that our nation’s direct care workers need to care for millions of older Americans and people with disabilities.
• Expanding Medicare coverage to include dental, vision, and hearing benefits, so that older Americans can get the dental care, glasses and hearing aids they need to live a healthy life.”

We represent more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers and other mission-minded organizations that touch millions of lives every day. Alongside our members and 38 state partners, we use applied research, advocacy, education, and community-building to make America a better place to grow old. Our membership, which now includes the providers of the Visiting Nurse Associations of America, encompasses the continuum of services for people as they age, including those with disabilities. We bring together the most inventive minds in the field to lead and innovate solutions that support older adults wherever they call home. For more information visit leadingage.org.