WASHINGTON (May 22, 2025)--The US Department of Health and Human Services recently announced a planned reorganization that will dismantle the Administration for Community Living, an agency created to focus on the needs of older and disabled Americans.
The disruption to this agency would affect nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels, family caregiver supports and services that help keep people with disabilities and older adults in their own homes.
Alison Barkoff, who served in the role of Assistant Secretary of Aging and Administrator of the agency under President Biden, provided comments at a two-day Congressional forum held this week.
Barkoff, who is currently the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Associate Professor at the George Washington University, said the dismantling of ACL will profoundly affect “tens of millions of older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers who rely on ACL programs to live in their own homes and communities rather than in nursing homes and other institutions.”
“ACL’s aging and disability programs are cost effective–one year of home delivered meals costs less than one day in the hospital,” said Barkoff. “They also save hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Medicare and Medicaid by preventing unnecessary hospital and nursing home admissions.”
Approximately 11 million Americans rely on the ACL aging programs. About 70 million people in the US have a disability, with nearly a quarter benefiting from one of the agency’s disability programs, Barkoff says.
To schedule an interview with Alison Barkoff, please contact Kathy Fackelmann, kfackelmann
gwu [dot] edu (kfackelmann[at]gwu[dot]edu) or Katelyn Deckelbaum, katelyn [dot] deckelbaumgwu [dot] edu.