Tell Congress: Housing is Infrastructure

Congress is considering hundreds of billions for affordable housing as part of an infrastructure package. This package must include affordable housing for older adults.

ACT NOW by contacting your U.S. Representative and Senators and urging them to invest in our affordable senior housing infrastructure.

Tell Congress to:

Expand the supply. Invest at least $2.5 billion in HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program to build 27,000 affordable senior homes. This $2.5 billion proposal is consistent with the 116th Congress’s S. 2951, H.R. 5187, and H.R. 2 (the House-passed Moving Forward Act).
Fund more service coordinators. Invest $1 billion for 3,867 three-year Service Coordinator contracts for the HUD-assisted senior communities currently without one. Only half of HUD-assisted senior housing has a service coordinator, the mainstay between residents and home and community-based services.
Provide internet access in affordable housing. Ensure that the more than 2.2 million older adults in federally-subsidized affordable housing buildings have basic internet access. We urge any package to include the Broadband Justice Act (H.R. 1904), which authorizes $5 billion for broadband as a utility and such sums as may be necessary for wiring and installation for all HUD, USDA, and Housing Credit homes.

Establish a capital pool for age-friendly retrofits to meet building design needs in the HUD-subsidized housing stock. LeadingAge supports a $1 billion pool of capital funds, administered by HUD under a new Age-Friendly Retrofit Program, to help current and future older adult households live in independent housing for as long as they choose to do so. Funds can be used for COVID-responsive ventilation systems, to make more federally-subsidized units fully accessible to meet existing and future needs, and to create and/or modernize physical spaces for services.

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Subject:

Please Support Affordable Housing for Older Adults

Dear Official,

Millions of older adults spend more than half of their incomes for housing, leaving precious little for food and medicine. The nation’s need for affordable housing far outstrips the supply. Please support the following affordable senior housing investments in any infrastructure package:

-Expand the supply. Invest at least $2.5 billion in HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program to build 27,000 affordable senior homes. This $2.5 billion proposal is consistent with the 116th Congress’s S. 2951, H.R. 5187, and H.R. 2 (the House-passed Moving Forward Act).

-Fund more service coordinators. Invest $1 billion for 3,867 three-year Service Coordinator contracts for the HUD-assisted senior communities currently without one. Only half of HUD-assisted senior housing has a service coordinator, the mainstay between residents and home and community-based services.

-Provide internet access in affordable housing. Ensure that the more than 2.2 million older adults in federally-subsidized affordable housing buildings have basic internet access. We urge any package to include the Broadband Justice Act (H.R. 1904), which authorizes $5 billion for broadband as a utility and such sums as may be necessary for wiring and installation for all HUD, USDA, and Housing Credit homes.

-Establish a capital pool for age-friendly retrofits to meet building design needs in the HUD-subsidized housing stock. LeadingAge supports a $1 billion pool of capital funds, administered by HUD under a new Age-Friendly Retrofit Program, to help current and future older adult households live in independent housing for as long as they choose to do so. Funds can be used for COVID-responsive ventilation systems, to make more federally-subsidized units fully accessible to meet existing and future needs, and to create and/or modernize physical spaces for services.

As a constituent, I ask that you support these bold initiatives and ensure that affordable senior housing is a critical piece of any infrastructure package that is passed by Congress.

Thank you.

Regards, Your Name

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Thank you for taking action! Join us all month for our Building Commuinities of Strength campaign by checking out our toolkit of materials and ideas on how to participate.

As a constituent who is concerned for older adults and those who serve them, I ask that you please co-sponsor the Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677) and push for its inclusion in any future COVID-relief or other health care package.

Under current law, Medicare cannot reimburse home health providers for virtual care and, as a result, our home health members have been put in the untenable position of forfeiting adequate reimbursement to better protect their staff and patients. The HEAT Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677) would provide home health providers with the ability to receive reimbursement for providing telehealth visits with appropriate protections for patients and families.

Home health providers are a critical component of the aging services infrastructure and they need the flexibility provided by this legislation to ensure that they can safely serve their patients without forfeiting adequate reimbursement. Please act to protect older adults and those who serve them by co-sponsoring the HEAT Act (S.4854/H.R. 8677).