Aging/Older Adults

This brief highlights the critical services provided by the Older Americans Act (OAA). It also reviews the current funding challenges the program faces in light of rising inflation and increased demand for services from a growing population of older adults. The OAA was last renewed in 2016 for three years and is up for renewal again in 2019.

This study analyzes the financial burden experienced by people who require long-term services and supports. The study analyzes medical and LTSS spending among older Medicare beneficiaries, particularly the costs of assistive devices and personal care. The results show that for medical services covered by Medicare, beneficiaries with a high need for long-term services spend more than $2,700 a year out of pocket on average, twice as high as those without such need.

This resource provides a summary of the ten most-reported scams the Senate Aging Committee's toll-free Fraud Hotline (1-855-303-9470) in 2018. Common instances reported include IRS impersonation scams, sweepstakes scams, and computer tech support scams. This report also summarizes common scams by state and provides tips for avoiding scams.

This issue brief identifies key food sources of sodium, saturated fat, empty calories, and refined grains in the diets of congregate and home delivered meal participants. It also compares these key food sources for both participants and nonparticipants and explores differences between the two groups. Click here to read more about ACL's Nutrition

The purpose of this issue brief is to describe the types of foods that participants consumed as part of congregate and home delivered meals. The brief also examines differences between participants and nonparticipants in foods consumed over 24 hours

Medicaid value-based payment (VBP) models tie payment to outcomes including quality of care, health status, and costs. This guide presents a checklist of four issues for consideration as states identify issues to consider when developing and adopting value-based payment (VBP) models for HCBS within managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) programs. The guide also reviews strategies for stakeholder engagement.

This report explores the factors that are associated with the financial well-being of older Americans. It looks at the association of financial well-being and a range of topics including employment and retirement; housing situation; debt; family and living arrangement; health-related experience; and financial knowledge, skill, and behavior. The findings indicate that, in general, financial well-being increases with age into the late seventies, then declines.

This brief is based on surveys of local service providers and participants at congregate meal sites. The brief examines whether the effect of congregate meal participation on socialization outcomes differs for participants who attend meal sites that offer social activities and those who attend meal sites that do not offer these activities.

Age Wave conducted nine recent study reports in collaboration with Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the future of retirement. These reports were created by reviewing thousands of papers, reports, and datasets, conducting over 140 expert interviews and 43 focus groups, and surveying 50,000+ respondents. The nine reports cover a variety of topics regarding retirement, including family, health, leisure, and finances. All nine reports are followed by sample media coverage.

This three-part report begins with an examination of the causes of poverty for older women. It also explores the issue of intersectionality in light of disproportionate rates of poverty for both women of color and LGBTQ women. The second part of this report provides an overview of the various anti-poverty programs available for older women. Finally, the report concludes by offering specific policy recommendations for increasing older women’s economic security.