Older Americans Social Isolation and Loneliness Prevention Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2677 To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to address social isolation and loneliness, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to address social isolation and loneliness, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Older Americans Social 4 Isolation and Loneliness Prevention Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) Social isolation and loneliness are growing 8 problems for older individuals. According to the 9 AARP Foundation, 35 percent of individuals aged 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2677 IS 45 and older feel lonely. According to the University 1 of Michigan, for individuals aged 50 through 80, 34 2 percent feel a lack of companionship and 27 percent 3 feel isolated from others. 4 (2) Social isolation and loneliness are health 5 risks for older individuals. According to researchers 6 at Brigham Young University and the University of 7 North Carolina at Chapel Hill, older individuals who 8 are less socially connected than other older individ- 9 uals are at a risk of increased mortality comparable 10 with the risks of smoking, obesity, or air pollution. 11 Social isolation and loneliness leads to negative men- 12 tal and physical health outcomes, including increased 13 premature death rates of up to 50 percent. 14 (3) Social isolation and loneliness among older 15 individuals have economic consequences for the 16 United States. According to the AARP Foundation, 17 Stanford, and Harvard, spending under the Medi- 18 care program under title XVIII of the Social Secu- 19 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) is $134 more per 20 month for each socially isolated older individual than 21 for each older individual that is not socially isolated. 22 (4) To inform and support building resources 23 and infrastructure to address social isolation and 24 loneliness among older individuals, experts rec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2677 IS ommend a coordinated, broadly focused national 1 campaign to raise public awareness of the prevalence 2 of social isolation and loneliness as a public health 3 issue through research and evaluation of efforts ad- 4 dressing social isolation and loneliness. 5 (5) The Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 6 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.) is a clear vehicle that offers an 7 opportunity to begin a national campaign to raise 8 awareness of social isolation and loneliness among 9 older individuals as a public health issue and help 10 determine how programs under that Act are ad- 11 dressing or can potentially address social isolation 12 and loneliness and strengthen the aging network’s 13 response to the problem of social isolation and loneli- 14 ness among older individuals. 15 SEC. 3. ADDRESSING SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS 16 FOR OLDER INDIVIDUALS. 17 (a) SUPPORT FOR SCREENING FOR SOCIAL ISOLA- 18 TION AND LONELINESS.—Section 102(14) of the Older 19 Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002(14)) is amend- 20 ed— 21 (1) in subparagraph (K), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 22 and inserting a semicolon; 23 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (L) as sub- 24 paragraph (M); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2677 IS (3) by inserting after subparagraph (K) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(L) screening for the prevention of social 3 isolation and loneliness and coordination of sup- 4 portive services and health care to address so- 5 cial isolation and loneliness; and’’. 6 (b) INCREASED FOCUS OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY 7 ON SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS.—Section 8 202(a) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 9 3012(a)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (30), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 11 inserting a semicolon; 12 (2) in paragraph (31), by striking the period 13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(32) develop objectives, priorities, and a long- 16 term plan for supporting State and local efforts in- 17 volving education about, prevention of, detection of, 18 and response to social isolation and loneliness among 19 older individuals.’’. 20 (c) ADVISORY COUNCIL ON SOCIAL ISOLATION AND 21 LONELINESS.—Section 202 of the Older Americans Act 22 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3012) is amended by adding at the 23 end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2677 IS ‘‘(h)(1) The Assistant Secretary shall convene an ad- 1 visory council on social isolation and loneliness— 2 ‘‘(A) to review and evaluate efforts to address 3 social isolation and loneliness among older individ- 4 uals; and 5 ‘‘(B) to identify challenges, solutions, and best 6 practices related to such efforts. 7 ‘‘(2) The Assistant Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(A) select as members of the advisory council 9 convened under paragraph (1) individuals who are 10 aging network stakeholders; and 11 ‘‘(B) select such members in a manner to en- 12 sure geographic diversity of the members. 13 ‘‘(3) The advisory council convened under paragraph 14 (1) shall— 15 ‘‘(A) in carrying out activities under subpara- 16 graphs (A) and (B) of such paragraph, ensure con- 17 sideration of consumer-directed care models; and 18 ‘‘(B) submit a report to Congress on the find- 19 ings of the council with respect to such activities. 20 ‘‘(4) The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 21 App.) shall not apply to the advisory council convened 22 under paragraph (1).’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2677 IS (d) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES AND SENIOR CENTERS.— 1 Section 321(a) of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 2 U.S.C. 3030d(a)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘behavioral 4 health screening’’ and inserting ‘‘behavioral health 5 screening, screening for social isolation and loneli- 6 ness,’’; 7 (2) in paragraph (24), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 8 inserting a semicolon; 9 (3) by redesignating paragraph (25) as para- 10 graph (26); and 11 (4) by inserting after paragraph (24) the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(25) services that promote or support social 14 connectedness and reduce social isolation and loneli- 15 ness; and’’. 16 (e) SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS OF SOCIAL 17 ISOLATION AND LONELINESS.—Section 411(a) of the 18 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3032(a)) is 19 amended— 20 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 21 inserting a semicolon; 22 (2) by redesignating paragraph (14) as para- 23 graph (15); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2677 IS (3) by inserting after paragraph (13) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(14) projects that address social isolation and 3 loneliness among older individuals; and’’. 4 SEC. 4. BEST PRACTICES FOR HOME- AND COMMUNITY- 5 BASED OMBUDSMEN. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for 8 Aging shall issue a report updating the best practices for 9 home- and community-based ombudsmen that were in- 10 cluded in the report entitled ‘‘Best Practices for Home 11 and Community-Based Ombudsmen’’, issued by the Na- 12 tional Direct Service Workforce Resource Center of the 13 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and prepared 14 by the Research and Training Center at the University 15 of Minnesota and The Lewin Group (January 2013). 16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The report required under 17 subsection (a) shall include— 18 (1) a comprehensive review of different ap- 19 proaches undertaken by long-term care ombudsman 20 programs providing advocacy to individuals receiving 21 home- and community-based services; 22 (2) identification of elements or strategies for 23 effective advocacy to individuals receiving home- and 24 community-based services; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2677 IS (3) analysis of the strengths and challenges of 1 practices of States with home- and community-based 2 ombudsmen; and 3 (4) recommendations for providing effective ad- 4 vocacy to individuals receiving home- and commu- 5 nity-based services. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2677.IS S2677 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS