From DC: Proposal to Help Older Adults & People with Disabilities Access Home Care, Improvements to SSI Policies, and more

Here’s what we’re watching in Washington:

Newly Announced Proposal Would Help Older Adults and People with Disabilities Access Home Care

This week, Vice President Harris announced a new proposal to strengthen at-home care for Medicare enrollees by funding home care workers to provide eligible enrollees assistance with activities of daily living. The proposal also includes adding hearing and vision coverage to Medicare and eliminating Medicaid estate recovery. For more details, read Justice in Aging’s statement.

Learn about the harms of Medicaid estate recovery in our reports, How Medicaid Estate Recovery Perpetuates Poverty and When States Recoup Medicaid Costs by Seizing Family Homes, Poor Families Suffer While State Budgets Are Barely Affected.

Improvements to SSI In-Kind Support and Maintenance Policies

Due to regulatory changes, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who receive help from friends and family with food and shelter will now be able to retain more of their SSI benefits. Last week, three new rules on the SSI program’s in-kind support and maintenance (ISM) policies went into effect. Under the SSI program’s previous ISM policies, SSI recipients could have their benefits reduced by up to one-third if they received help with food and shelter costs.

With the new rule changes, however, help with food will no longer be included in ISM calculations; people living in households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be subject to ISM deductions; and people who pay at least a third of their benefits towards rent will also be exempt from benefit reductions due to ISM.

Justice in Aging and our partners advocated for these critical changes, which will help more SSI recipients keep the benefits they need and avoid deep poverty and homelessness. In the coming months, Justice in Aging will provide more resources to help advocates understand the new ISM rules.

Social Security Administration Announces 2025 Cost-of-Living Adjustment

On October 10, the Social Security Administration announced that its cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 will be 2.5%. This means that, beginning in January 2025, the maximum federal benefit rate for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program will be $967 for an individual and $1,450 for a couple.

The average Social Security retirement benefit is expected to increase by approximately $50, from $1,927 to $1,976. Information about changes to Medicare premiums for 2025 will be available at a later date at Medicare.gov.

New Justice in Aging Resources

Upcoming Justice in Aging Webinars

Justice in Aging Webinar Recordings

New from the National Center on Law & Elder Rights (NCLER)

On October 23^rd, NCLER will present a training on Legal Basics: Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports. This webinar will cover the basics of Medicaid LTSS eligibility for nursing home residents and home and community-based services (HCBS) enrollees. Attendees will better understand the different ways in which states cover HCBS and protections available to all LTSS beneficiaries. Learn more and register for the webinar.

Read NCLER’s recent alert on Resources for Responding to Natural Disasters and Storms, which provides information on how legal assistance and aging services providers can mobilize to assist before, during, and in the aftermath of weather emergencies.