Apply for the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator Program
The U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) are accepting applications for the second cohort of the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator Program (HSPA).
HSPA provides technical assistance and peer-to-peer learning opportunities for states implementing Medicaid-funded housing supports to reduce homelessness for older adults and people with disabilities.
Participating states must form an interdisciplinary team of representatives from state and local agencies across the health, housing, aging, and disability sectors to join a 12-month learning collaborative. Applications are due to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) by 10am EST on December 20, 2024.
New Federal Guidance Clarifies Medicare Advantage Cards Do Not Affect SNAP Eligibility
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued new guidance to state SNAP agencies clarifying that they should not count Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits as income for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Medicare Advantage organizations often offer supplemental benefits that are administered using a flex card, debit card, or cash card. Justice in Aging and other advocates raised concerns that receipt of Medicare Advantage flex cards may cause older adults to wrongfully lose SNAP eligibility and advocated for this new USDA guidance.
This SNAP guidance builds on similar language regarding Supplemental Security Income and recent clarification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that “the [Medicare Advantage] debit card itself is not the supplemental benefit, rather, it is the mechanism through which the MA organization administers and pays for the covered supplemental benefit.”
Justice in Aging Files Amicus Briefs on Gender Identity Discrimination and Section 1557
Justice in Aging, along with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, SAGE, and pro bono counsel Stinson LLP, recently filed amicus briefs in two Fifth Circuit cases that could harm transgender older adults’ access to health care.
In these cases, a number of states are challenging the inclusion of gender identity discrimination as a form of sex discrimination in the final Section 1557 rule of the Affordable Care Act.
Our briefs urge the Fifth Circuit to consider the discriminatory barriers that transgender older adults will face in accessing health and long-term care if the lower courts’ preliminary injunctions (barring the inclusion of gender identity discrimination) are upheld.
Read our amicus briefs for State of Texas, et al. v. Becerra and State of Tennessee, et al. v. Becerra.
New Justice in Aging Resources
- Blog: Important Update: Medicare Enrollees Could Lose Financial Assistance for Drug Costs if They Do Not Act (12/12)
- Fact Sheet: New CMS Nursing Facility Guidance Confirms Rights to Reject Medications and Avoid Improper Financial Liability (12/5)
- Fact Sheet: Advocating for Older Adults in 2025 – Health and Long-Term Services & Supports (12/4)
- Fact Sheet: Advocating for Older Adults in 2025 – Economic Security & Housing (12/4)
- Fact Sheet: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) Basics in California (12/2)
- Blog: Four Areas Where Older Adults Need our Advocacy in 2025 (11/19)
Upcoming Justice in Aging Webinars
- The New Medicaid Access Rule: Primer and Advocacy Strategies (12/17)
- Equitable Guardianship Reform: Recommendations for Advancing Equity in the Guardianship System (1/14)
Justice in Aging Webinar Recordings
New from the National Center on Law & Elder Rights (NCLER)
On December 18th, NCLER will host a training on Life Planning Strategies for Supporting the Needs of Older Adults and Their Families. Life planning tools include wills, trusts, health care proxies, living wills, transfer on death deeds, and other will-substitutes. These tools promote self-determination and ensure that the wishes of older adults are affirmed even after their death. This training will discuss how life planning services can benefit older adults and how to take a person-centered approach to traditional estate planning and preservation of generational wealth. Learn more and register.
Read NCLER’s latest issue brief, How Can Legal Assistance Providers Better Meet the Needs of Tribal Elders? This issue brief focuses on Tribal elders, providing an overview of the most pressing and unique legal issues they face, as well as promising practices for reaching and serving them. Read the issue brief.
