[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 171 (Tuesday, October 29, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1360-E1361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DIGNITY IN AGING ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 28, 2019

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4334, 
the ``Dignity in Aging Act of 2019.''
  H.R. 4334 reauthorizes the Older Americans Act (OAA), which 
authorizes funds to state and local programs to ensure aging seniors 
have access to food, transportation, and other basic services they need 
to live independently and with dignity.
  The number of Americans over age 65 is expected to reach 70 million 
by 2030, representing a 71 percent increase from today's 41 million 
older adults.
  Elder and long-term care is rapidly becoming one of the most daunting 
healthcare challenges of our day.
  By 2050, the global population of people older than 60 is expected to 
jump to two billion.
  In the United States, the number of Americans over the age of 65 is 
expected to double from roughly 50 million today to nearly 100 million 
by 2060.
  While the United States is currently ranked among the top countries 
in the world for the elderly, there are significant variations across 
the country in access to healthcare and quality of life.
  On average, the older adult population spends $18,424 annually per 
person, with more than one-third of those expenditures occurring after 
the age of 85.
  The Medicaid program accounted for more that 40 percent of overall 
U.S. nursing home costs in 2012, and 65 percent of these costs in 
graying states like Pennsylvania.
  Together with Medicare, these programs comprise more that 31 percent 
of all U.S. health expenditures.
  An aging America will experience increasingly severe and complex 
health conditions.
  Almost half of the U.S. population is expected to have at least one 
chronic disease by 2020.
  The number of aging individuals with three or more chronic conditions 
has also increased significantly within the last ten years, and this is 
expected to grow to 40 percent among the 65 and over population by 
2030.
  By 2050, the number of Americans needing long-term services and 
supports (LTSS) will more than double to 27 million.
  Our approach to caring for the aging is fiscally unsustainable for 
taxpayers and consumers alike.
  Absent changes to a fragmented system of care delivery which rewards 
high-cost rather than high-quality care, the burden of healthcare 
spending for the aging population will soon become unsustainable for 
taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid, as well as 
individual consumers paying out-of-pocket.
  Between 2015 and 2025, annual Medicare spending is projected to 
double to $1.2 trillion dollars.
  The median annual out-of-pocket costs for Americans age 65 will rise 
to $6,200, nearly double what it was in 2010.
  Unless policymakers act now, aging Americans and their loved ones 
will soon experience unsustainably high costs for healthcare

[[Page E1361]]

coverage as well as significant declines in the access to and quality 
of care.
  As Medicare and the Older Americans Act reach their fiftieth 
anniversaries continue to improve aging America's access to affordable, 
high-quality care, it will be necessary to identify, evaluate, and 
scaleup policy interventions that work.
  Today's health care workforce is inadequate to meet the needs of 
older Americans, many of whom have multiple chronic physical and mental 
health conditions and cognitive impairments.
  10 percent of Harris Counties population is 65 years and older.
  It is critical for the United States Congress to stand with aging 
seniors who need access to food, transportation, and other basic 
services.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4334 
to help older ensure that aging seniors are provided with essential 
services they need to live independently.

                          ____________________