From DC is Justice in Aging's weekly roundup of national news and resources about issues impacting older adults. To receive From DC in your inbox as soon as its published, sign up for our mailing list.
Here’s what we’re watching in Washington:
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.
