As Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership during this pandemic and for the work you have done throughout your administration to protect older Americans.
I’d also like to thank the older Americans and advocates we have here today, including those working hard at the state and local level.
As the President described, during this pandemic, we have taken every possible effort to keep older Americans healthy and safe. In addition to our public health and healthcare efforts, President Trump has secured historic investments in programs that support older Americans and help them live independently. Over the past month, HHS has disbursed more than $1 billion in grants to aging and disability networks, which are state and local agencies, like a Council on Aging, that provide services for seniors living in the community.
This is more than a 40 percent boost in the annual support we provide to these organizations.
Services we support include delivered meals, help with trips to the grocery store or doctor, and assistance with chores in the home. Back in March, we put out $250 million in grants specifically for meals, including through Meals on Wheels.
We’ve been pleased to see communities get creative with these funds. Some states are ensuring not only that the meals are getting to seniors, but that the meals are coming from local restaurants whose businesses are struggling.
It’s not just about meals and services. We also recognize that older Americans may be facing mental health challenges and feeling isolated. Florida’s aging network, for instance, is combating social isolation by providing electronic tablets to nursing home residents to help them communicate with loved ones.
We’re also working to protect the rights of older Americans in accessing healthcare. Our Office for Civil Rights has been taking action to ensure that states and healthcare providers do not discriminate on the basis of disability or age in the allocation of medical care.
We’ve already had two states remove such discriminatory policies from their triaging guidelines as a result of our work.
Finally, as the President and others mentioned, we’ve worked closely with states to ensure that they can test especially vulnerable populations, like those living in nursing homes and those who care for them.
This work to protect seniors and empower them will continue throughout the pandemic, as we re-open our country and keep America’s seniors as healthy and as independent as possible.
Thank you all for what you do in that effort.
