LeadingAge and its members have focused their attention on the U.S. Congress in recent months as senators and representatives debated the provisions of HR 1, the over-1,000-page 2025 Reconciliation Bill that addressed taxes, spending, immigration, and health care.

Signed into law this summer, HR 1 calls for drastic reductions in the safety net programs on which so many older adults rely. Fortunately, there are still opportunities at the state level to reduce the bill’s impact on older adults and the organizations that provide them with essential services and supports.

LeadingAge state partner organizations are mobilizing to seize these opportunities before it is too late—but they need your help.

On the bright side, HR 1 includes several hard-fought “wins” for LeadingAge members, including a nine-year pause for mandatory nursing home staffing requirements, a permanent 12% increase in state allocations for the 9% low-income housing tax credit, and a lowering of the bond financing threshold for housing credit projects to 25%.

Unfortunately, the new law also includes a devastating $1 trillion cut in federal contributions to Medicaid, along with dangerous reductions in three additional areas: Medicaid enrollment access, insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and funding for the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP).

Is LeadingAge disappointed with the outcome? Absolutely.

Are we giving up? Not a chance.

Instead, LeadingAge National is ramping up its efforts to restore funding and access to programs in the federal arena. In addition, our state partners are gearing up to influence how their states go about implementing the new law’s provisions.

Most states will struggle with that implementation, given reductions in federal funding for programs like SNAP, new administrative responsibilities that are being passed to states, and the challenge of funding state Medicaid programs while complying with stricter provider tax rules. Each state will face different challenges, but every state will have very tough decisions to make.

LeadingAge members have the power to help their states make the right decisions. By actively engaging with advocacy experts in your state partner organization, you could help ensure that your state:

• Provides aging services providers with access to the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion initiative designed to help states improve access to care, enhance health outcomes, and address challenges faced by rural communities.
• Develops a State Medicaid Plan that addresses issues that are top-of-mind for aging services providers, including those related to workforce, technology, and care costs.
• Protects reimbursement rates and maintains funding for home and community-based services, now optional under Medicaid.

State policymakers need to hear your voice on these and other issues as they decide how to allocate valuable state funds. This is not a time to sit back and watch the drama unfold. It’s a time to work with your state partner organization to educate state officials about how federal funding cuts will impact the daily lives of their constituents.

LeadingAge will continue working in the nation’s capital to advocate for the needs of aging services providers and the people they serve. You can rely on that.

I know we can rely on you to be our voice in your state capital. The future of aging services in America depends on it.