After a meeting on Friday with his Seniors Advisory Council, Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that he will introduce a bill to reauthorize the Older Americans Act. Sanders is the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. His panel has jurisdiction over the landmark law which supports Meals on Wheels and other programs for seniors.

Originally enacted in 1965, the act was the first initiative by the federal government to provide comprehensive assistance to seniors allowing them to remain independent in their homes and communities.

Programs provided through the law are needed now more than ever before as 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. One in five older Americans today survives on an average income of only $7,500 a year, so the need is greater than ever for Older Americans Act services such as meals, home-care, help coordinating long-term care, job training, and legal services.

"With huge numbers of seniors in need, we must redouble our commitment to help seniors live safely and comfortably in their own homes and communities," said Sanders. In Vermont, almost 1 million congregate and home-delivered meals are served each year.

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

The bill will be formally introduced after Congress reconvenes later this month.

View a list of supporting organizations »

Read Senator Sanders' statement about the Act » 

Older Americans Act Fact Sheet »